Early therapies for children with Down syndrome

Dear Supporters,

With COVID restrictions easing in the country, the Physical, Speech and Occupational therapies have finally started in full-swing physically again. In this last quarter, through your generous donations, the following achievements were made possible:

• 360+ therapy sessions were scheduled weekly

• 22 new children enrolled in therapies this quarter

• As the family network that KDSP caters to, continues to grow, so does the need for Early Childhood Intervention (Physical, Speech, and Occupational) therapies. To meet the demand for therapies, ensuring that young children with Down syndrome receive interventions timely, KDSP hired 2 new physical therapists, 3 new speech therapists as well as 6 speech therapy interns. This means a lesser wait list for new families who want to avail these therapies.

• KDSP presented its paper, ‘The Virtual Shift: Early Childhood Intervention Therapies for Pakistani Children with Down Syndrome During COVID-19,’ at 2 conferences

1. ICON 2022, a conference hosted by the Indus Hospital And Health Network (IHHN)
2. At the 2nd International Annual Conference at Centre for Business and Economics Research (CBER), hosted by the Institute of Business Administration (IBA).

• Dr. Nadia Ashiq, Head of Physical Therapy at KDSP delivered a session at Indus University (IU) on “Child Growth & Development Patterns.” Engaging the audience with the latest research in the field, Dr. Nadia guided attendees on principles of typical and neurodivergent developmental trajectories.

• Ms. Samar Naqvi, CEO at KDSP and Dr. Nadia Ashiq, Head of Physical Therapy at KDSP were also invited by Iqra University for a seminar on World Down Syndrome Day, as more and more organizations shift to adopting inclusive practices.

A Family Testimonial:

“Therapies have made a huge impact on my son’s life. Although it has been only 10 months since Muhammad has started taking therapies at KDSP, there have been so many improvements. Earlier, his behavior worried us, he was usually distracted in his activities despite our efforts to keep him focused. His therapists however were a god-sent, he is much calmer now and even helps around the house. He helps set the dinner table and plays with his brother. Through speech therapy, Muhammad has also started stringing words together and can even form single sentences at a time. I am extremely grateful to KDSP and so proud of all that my son has achieved.”

-          Nazish, father of Muhammad

Through the contributions of our donors and wellwishers, KDSP has acheived all that it has this quarter. We look forward to receriving your unwavering support so that more children may receive early interventions to lead independent lives in the future.

Thank you!

Love,

Team KDSP