Grant to fund child development clinic

by Amanda Iacone
Staff Writer

Some Athens youngsters may get the medical help they need thanks to a new early development program.

A $49,996 grant from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation of Nelsonville will fund the program, called the Rural Development Clinic. Collaborating local agencies will provide a team of experts to assess local children's developmental delays through a series of clinics starting in April. Specific dates have yet to be determined, said Valerie Dombroskas from the Athens-Meigs Educational Service Center.

The Community Health and Early Education Resource Services will organize the six initial clinics funded by the heritage foundation grant, Dombroskas said. About six children, from birth to age six, can take part in each clinic.

Based on the Nisonger Center of Ohio State University, which assesses developmental delays in Columbus children, the rural clinic offers parents the chance to hear diagnoses of their child's problems. A team of five medical professionals will work with each child on an individual basis. At the end of the day, the team will gather and discuss their findings before releasing the information and recommendations to the parents, Dombroskas said.

Doctors from the Nisonger Center will travel to Nelsonville to help start the clinic. Patients will spend time with a pediatric physician, a pediatric psychologist, a speech therapist, an occupational therapist, and a physical therapist to determine the necessary treatment.

Athens families currently travel to Columbus, Cincinnati and even Pittsburgh for developmental delay assessments. It's difficult for parents to drive so far for several visits and then to interpret doctors' findings, Dombroskas said.

"We recognized that there were real problems within the county," she said. "We know that if we can provide appropriate help early on, kids can just blossom."

Patients' problems range from not rolling over at an appropriate age to not speaking, said Mary Ann Skerl, the project director at CHEERS.

Often local physicians will pick up on the delays and parents will have a clear picture of their child's developmental challenges. But many times physicians do not know the cause or treatment.

"A child with autism can be more difficult to diagnose without the team of people all looking at a child and sharing their findings with one another," Dombroskas said.

CHEERS offers a central intake and referral service to help parents with children ages three or younger to assess delays and suggest agencies to aid the child, Skerl said. Patients can receive those services through an early intervention program via the Beacon School, which helps children with developmental challenges, or the Ohio University Speech and Hearing clinic.

Skerl defined delays as a child not meeting a developmental milestone when it should be met. Underlying factors such as cerebral palsy, premature birth and fetal alcohol syndrome cause some delays.

Although the heritage foundation has no official connection to the Nisonger Center or CHEERS, the foundation supports the rural clinics' goal, said Richard Vincent, the president of the foundation. In conjunction with the Nisonger Center, the clinic program tries to improve the general quality of life for these children.

"The goal of the project is to improve the overall health of kids, plus education," Vincent said. "This particular project in conjunction with Nisonger does provide a very good fit to improve the general quality of life."

Vincent said the heritage foundation liked the concept of a rural clinic and asked CHEERS to make a proposal of their intentions before the foundation funded the grant.