Time management guidelines for the intervention of a child with Down syndrome using the Developmental "Resource Stimulation Programme" (DRSP)

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONAccording to the literature there are few effective early-intervention programmes for children with developmental problems in South Africa [1][2][3][4] . There is a need to ascertain, not only the effectiveness of an intervention programme, but also, at what age intervention should start, what the duration of the intervention should be, and what the frequency of intervention sessions should be 5 . This study, investigated the impact of the Developmental Resource Stimulation Programme (DRSP) on children with Down syndrome and provided the opportunity to establish the specific duration and frequency of intervention required by children with DS to achieve an occupational performance activity.The DRSP is a unique, child-parent-specific, one-on-one integrated programme for children with DS from birth to 42 months and spans seven age bands 6,7 . It was developed in order for both the parent and child to be actively involved during activity participation at home. The DRSP activities manual is easy to understand and/or read and consists of 85 activities. The activities cover cognitive, language, fine-motor and gross-motor development. The activities also utilise occupations such as play and social participation of the child. The manual consists of detailed sketches, descriptions of occupational activities for participation and clearly stipulates the outcomes (goals) of the programme. The materials used are everyday household objects such as three plastic mugs, four teaspoons and a facecloth. These objects are durable, inexpensive and they do not exclude any socio-economic group 8,9 . It is a systematic programme consisting of exercises and activities designed to address developmental delays experienced by children with DS in different age bands [10][11][12] . It was developed to assist parents of children with DS in developing countries. The development of the programme is described in more detail in the article "The impact of the "Development Resource Stimulation Programme on children with Down syndrome" published in this journal 13 . Background: The duration of an intervention session for an intensive early-intervention programme, the Developmental Resource Stimulation Programme (DRSP), for Down syndrome (DS) children younger than 42 months, was investigated as part of a larger research

A pilot study on high dosage intervention of children with CP using combined therapy approaches

“…Thresholds for time to produce changes in performance (given the variation in age, level of severity, and intensity of work in a session) warrant further investigation. A study using NDT intervention in children with Down Syndrome indicated that children older than 18 months can tolerate interventions for 20-40 minute sessions once every second week for six months 22 .…”

Editorial Comment

“…The second and third of the articles reporting on research with a paediatric population presented different aspects of a stimulation programme developed specifically for use in providing occupational therapy for children with Downs syndrome up to the age of two years. The first of these studies provides information on the impact that this specially constructed programme made on the developmental status of the child 5 ** and the second one 6 ** provides guidelines for the required number of sessions and the optimal length of each intervention session for the child 6 . Both these studies make use of the specifically developed programme which could be of use to all occupational therapists working with these and other children with potential developmental delay.…”