The digital landscape is evolving rapidly, with people spending an average of 7 hours per day on internet-connected screens. For children under five, screen time ranges from 0.9 to 3.5 hours per day, with potential negative effects on health and development. The World Health Organization recommends that children under five should not spend more…

Purpose: Adapted physical activity (APA) provides children and youth with disabilities more opportunities to be physically active. Nevertheless, it is not well known how APA implementation in different services has benefited them. This study reviews the existing literature on APA interventions to identify characteristics and program descriptions,…

A diagnosis of autism typically depends on clinical assessments by highly trained professionals. This high resource demand poses a challenge in low-resource settings. Digital assessment of neurodevelopmental symptoms by non-specialists provides a potential avenue to address this challenge. This cross-sectional case-control field study establishes…

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the experiences of stakeholders--including Canadian occupational and physical therapy students, parents of children with disabilities, Indian rehabilitation workers, and North American supervisors--participating in a novel global tele-rehabilitation program developed by Amar Seva Sangam in partnership with…

Background: Dental neglect results in dental caries, gum disease, and contributes to chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancers. Poor oral health habits developed in childhood persist into adulthood and can contribute to chronic diseases. School settings are a practical platform for teaching oral health skills. Purpose:…

The study aims to examine the readiness of Indian parents towards online classes at kindergarten and junior school levels, by identifying the perceived barriers, perceived effectiveness and health impact of online classes on young children. The study is based on data collected across a random sample of 750 parents of students studying at junior…

We celebrate the worthy efforts of creative educators working to reach marginalized children around the world, including children living in refugee camps.

With the recent advances in learning technologies, researchers are exploring the benefits of touch-based applications to reinforce handwriting skills in children with writing difficulties. One of the reasons for writing difficulties is the lack of fine motor skills. Hence, an Android application was developed for children with writing difficulties…

Very few studies exist on tele-health models of parent-mediated interventions delivered in low resource developing countries. The global COVID-19 pandemic catalysed a pilot of an online delivery of an evidence-based parent-mediated intervention (Project ImPACT) for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Mumbai, India. Context and…

Studies in the field of music and transfer of learning have established a correlation between music learning and achievement in subjects such as Mathematics. An experimental study was conducted to understand the impact of Carnatic music training on mathematical ability in early formative education. Students aged 5 years 6 months to 8 years 6…

The study assesses the acceptability and feasibility of a brief parent-mediated home-based intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), deliverable in resource-limited settings, with an emphasis on addressing parental stress from a socio-cultural perspective. 50 children (2-6 years), with a DSM 5 diagnosis of ASD were randomized…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are characterized by deficits in social communication, partly attributed to the inability to pick up cues from social partners using joint attention (JA) skill. These deficits have cascading adverse effects on language acquisition and the development of cognitive skills. Therapist-mediated JA…

A significant treatment gap exists in low and middle income countries such as India for children with autism spectrum disorder. The Autism Intervention Training Program, a comprehensive 6-month program for training professionals in transdisciplinary evidence-based practices to address concerns associated with autism spectrum disorder, was piloted…

Growing recognition of the harmful effects of child marriage has placed its elimination on the global and national agenda. To address this problem, the authors reviewed the global state of evidence on what works to prevent child marriage. Their research focuses exclusively on rigorously evaluated interventions, defined as interventions evaluated…

Humans are born with the natural ability to gain skills through play. Children learn about social norms, roles and responsibilities, and language through curiosity-driven, playful interactions and activities. Learning through play harnesses the power of children's imagination and inspires active engagement with the material. The Center for…