Former director of All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH) N. Jayaram on Monday said newborns have to be screened for a number of developmental disorders since they remain at high risk of death, stunting, developmental delay, and communication disorders.
“Early identification and intervention means that we are on the path to create a life akin to ours for some or most of these children. The cost of screening/identifying a baby with disability would be much lesser than the cost of managing the child later in his/her life. Therefore, early identification programs are a necessity,” advised Mr. Jayaram, who is professor and Head, Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, SDAUHER, Kolar.
In his keynote address on the topic ‘Current status of screening for speech, language and hearing disorders in paediatric population in India and the path ahead’ at the national seminar on ‘Early identification, and intervention of communication disorders in children’ (an RCI-CRE approved programme), at AIISH here, Mr. Jayaram, quoting UNICEF statistics, said India witnesses 73,787 births per day (26.932 million per year).
