Methodology for the early identification of neurodevelopmental disorders in the primary and preschool children in rural India by applying intervention module developed for teachers

Abstract

Objective: Neurodevelopmental disorders NDD are neurologic processing problems that interfere with learning in children. Primary and preschool teachers who are essential links in public health reach out to such children do not receive any formal training to identify these disorders. Hence, a primary and preschool level intervention addressing the issue is proposed. Materials and Methods: Primary and preschool teachers of government and government-aided schools and Anganwadi/preschools in the Model Rural Health Research Unit Tirunelveli field practice area will be assigned into two groups. The training module will be developed and validated using neurodevelopmental screening tool (NDST). Before identifying the students using the NDST, the teachers in Group A will get training using the module. Group B is the control group, in which untrained teachers administer the NDST to the children and then will be trained. Neurologists will assess the same children over 1 year. Results: The effectiveness of teacher training for the early detection of children with NDD will be assessed. Thus, the validity of the screening for NDD by the teachers will be estimated. Conclusion: If successful, the module can be incorporated into the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram program of India for the early identification of children with NDD.

Evaluating the Impact of Training Teachers to Identify Learning Disabilities: A Pre-experimental Study on Knowledge Enhancement

“…However, most of the studies are done in private school settings where there are ample resources for teachers and students are available to screen and manage LD. While very few studies are done in government or municipal settings where there are constraints of material, economic, and human resources [23].…”