PATHWAYS.ORG EXPANDS FREE VIDEO SERIES TO HIGHLIGHT IMPORTANCE OF EARLY DETECTION OF DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS IN INFANTS
Pathways.org Revamps Web Site to Promote Education, Early Detection and Intervention to Help the Increasing Number of Children with Developmental Challenges Fully Participate in their Lives
CHICAGO (May 24, 2011) – Pathways.org, national non-profit organization, has enhanced its web site with more than 25 free videos in multiple languages to help parents and health care professionals visualize the subtle differences between typical and atypical development in infants and young children.
With 600,000 children at risk each year for early motor, sensory, and communication delays, the Pathways.org web site offers essential resources for parents and health professionals to help recognize early warning signs. Through stories about children with different types of developmental delays, parents can understand physical and behavioral activities that signal the need for intervention. They also can see how various therapies work and their beneficial impact.
“Ultimately, the goal of Pathways is to help children be the best that they can be,” said Dr. Rosemary White-Trout PhD, RN, FAAN, professor and department head of the Department of Women, Children and Family Health Science in the College of Nursing at University of Illinois and a member of the Pathways.org Medical Round Table. “The videos that Pathways has developed are an outstanding way to get the message across to clinicians and families.”
The advantages of video are just as applicable to medical professionals, clinicians and other health professionals. With early motor delays on the rise and occurring in 1 of every 40 children, these videos demonstrate are able to show developmental delays in infants as young as two months old.
“To actually see these differences in the actual movement has a much greater impact,” noted Dr. Garry Gardner, MD, FAAP Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and co-chair of Pathways.org Medical Round Table. “It would be as if you were reading about how somebody dances and picturing that from the written word as opposed to actually seeing them dance and see what the movement actually looks like.”
Each video was developed in collaboration with the expertise of the Pathways.org Medical Round Table. Founded in 1988, the Round Table includes 15 leading physicians, therapists, clinicians, nurse practitioners, and lay advisors – all of whom are sensitive to the medical and emotional needs of infants and children and their families.
In addition to the videos, the enhanced Pathways.org web site has numerous educational resources, links, checklists and tools for both health professionals and parents, including information on each state’s early intervention offices and advice to parents on preparing for a doctor’s visit.
More information is available on the web site or by calling Pathways’ “parent answered” help line, 1-800-955-CHILD (2445).
Christine Dodge
www.pathways.org
About Pathways.org
Since 1985, Pathways.org has used outcome-based research and multimedia to promote each child’s fullest inclusion. Pathways.org strives to empower health professionals and parents with knowledge of the benefit of early detection and intervention for children’s sensory, motor, and communication development. The Pathways.org infant milestones brochure has been recognized and endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners as a definitive resource concerning early development. Pathways.org also has an outpatient clinic that offers best practice pediatric occupational, physical, and speech therapy, and provides postgraduate training to health professionals. Pathways to Worship suggests methods to welcome worshippers of all abilities and their families into their house of faith. For more information, call the Pathways.org toll-free parent answered hotline at 1.800.955.CHILD (2445) or email friends@pathways.org. Pathways.org is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit public foundation.
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