International conference to promote rights of special children

Nagpur: Despite being a signatory of United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child, education and other rights of specially-abled children are still not part of the reality in India. In order to promote these rights, doctors from the city will be hosting an international conference this weekend. Commonwealth Association for Health and Disability (COMHAD), Commonwealth Health Professions Alliance (CHPA) and Academy of Paediatrics, Nagpur is organizing an international conference in the Orange city at Hotel Centre Point on December 5 and 6.On the first day of the conference, a workshop for parents of the specially-abled children will be organized.
Another session on global perspective on childhood disability has been organized with combined efforts of UNICEF, Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) and Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER). To understand the needs of a child with developmental delay, a session on orthopaedic, ophthalmic, physiotherapy, speech, dental, ENT and psychiatric interventions will be addressed by faculty of national and international repute during the conference.
“Through the various discussions, we aim to come up with ways to achieve global empowerment and inclusion of special children in mainstream education. We wish to help these children become more than just a neglected population group,” said Dr Uday Bodhankar, the chief patron of the academy and former president of COMHAD.
Paediatricians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, teachers, counsellors, parents and special educators are expected to be part of the conference. A workshop on challenges faced by parents and caregivers in dealing with children with autism will be held between 9am and 12pm on Saturday. Experts will also participate in panel discussions on recent innovations and research in dealing with disabilities, with special focus on disabilities in adolescents.
Faculty of the conference include Dr Bodhankar, Dr Shubhada Khirwadkar, Dr Jaya Shiwalkar, Dr Urmila Dahake and Dr Shailesh Pangaokar among many others.
Those wishing to participate in the conference can contact Dr Bodhankar on 9422149777.