The UPANAYAN’ early intervention programme

Abstract

The Upanayan programme is a product of Indchem Research and Development Laboratory, a scientific association recognized by Government of India, Ministry of Science and Technology. The objective of the project was to develop a computer assisted programme for the training of persons with mental retardation. The project was executed by an inter disciplinary team of experts. The focus of the training programme is the mother who is the intervening agent. The programme, developed in the first phase of the project, is an expert system for the infant stimulation and early intervention process for children below 2 years of age with the disability. The system comprises of: (i) a development check list of skills for assessment and programming, (ii) a profile to record the observations, (iii) intervention strategies in the form of activities to acquire all the skills in the check list.

The programme is designed for the Indian socio-economic conditions and is available in the form of a printed manual, and also as a computer software. The two can be used independently of each other.

The programme has been translated into Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Marathi.

With this programme as the basis, a centre for early intervention, Madhuram Narayanan Centre for Exceptional Children—was set up in Madras about 3 years back. Presently 210 children are receiving training there. The Centre has evolved intervention strategies based on parental involvement, with salutary effect on the parents as well as on the children.