Presenters:
Dr. Naila Khan, Professor, Child Neurology and Development
Bangladesh Institute of Child Health, Dhaka

Tara Vishwanath, Lead Economist, SASEP, World Bank

Chair:
Wendy Cunningham, Lead Specialist, HDNCY, World Bank

The earlier an impairment or disability is detected, the more can be done to minimize its negative impact.  However, these functional limitations in children are often difficult to detect, especially in developing countries with limited access to health care and screening, where mothers have little access to information about child development, teachers are not equipped with basic understanding to diagnose visual or hearing problems, or malnutrition and poor water and sanitation can wreak havoc on a child’s health and well-being.  By the time a problem is detected, it could have become permanent, or accommodation could be more difficult.

A unique community-based program in Bangladesh, originally developed with WHO assistance in the early 80s, has proven to be a highly sensitive instrument for detecting and developmental delays in children from 3-9 years old and linking them to appropriate services.  Called the Ten Question Screening Instrument (TQSI), it has been extensively tested and applied for over 20 years.  The Bank has, with OECD, begun adapting the instrument in Ethiopia and Cambodia to facilitate work in inclusive education and tracking children with disabilities through Education Management Information Systems.

Dr. Naila Khan presented details of the program and research on its impact over the years.

Learning Objectives

• Learn about a community-based instrument for early detection of impairments and disabilities in children and links to health, education and rehabilitation services.
• Distill lessons from the extensive analysis of data collected over more than 20 years and analyzed in several top universities as well as health, public health and education journals.
• Learn how such instruments could be adapted to Bank analytical and lending programs in ECD, education, and health in a comprehensive, cross-sectoral way.

Presentations

"Poverty and Childhood Disability: Promising Interventions" (1.8mb pdf)
by Dr. Naila Khan

"Poverty and Disability: A Panelist View" (21kb pdf)
by Tara Vishwanath