My passion is to ‘enable children’ by carrying out expert and specialist assessments, by providing them with a neurodevelopmental diagnosis where possible and by helping them excel through the provision of a tailored management plan. My passion is to empower parents by providing them with advice, ideas, and strategies to help their child realise their full potential.
‘Find your passion…, and then it’s no longer work!’ so they say. My passion for and interest in child development and disability arose from my personal experience of facing this. I was training to be a paediatric intensivist when my daughter was diagnosed with a life-changing disability. I then changed my speciality to undergo training in child neurodevelopment; this was in 2001. In the ensuing 20 years, I have used the knowledge I gained from my various professional activities (see Biography), to apply in enabling my child and many other children I served in my professional life.
In the past two decades, I have witnessed first-hand the importance of early diagnosis, the power of neuroplasticity, and the profound benefits of early intervention. Once my child went to university to study medicine, I decided to start my independent practice to be able to reach out and share my knowledge, skills, and expertise with the broader world.
So, here are some of the activities, I continue to undertake towards fulfilling my above interests and passion:
- Running: I have run dozens of half-marathons and London Marathon, over the past decade, to raise £10,000 for disability charities such as Whizz Kidz, Scope, Mind etc.I wish to continue running to raise funds for these fantastic charities. I ran my first half marathon in 2:23. That was over a decade ago. But every year I have managed to shave off a couple of minutes to complete half-marathon. My personal best to complete a half-marathon now stands under 1:40. I shall aspire to keep going!
- Newsletter/blogs/vlogs: I love learning new things. And I also love sharing my learning with others. I come to life when I am involved in teaching, speaking, giving a lecture or when I am running a course etc. I enjoy sharing what I know. I started 5-day residential child development courses at Wolfson College in Oxford and ran these for several years. I edited the book in my field of practice working with over 18 other professionals. I have been an Educational Supervisor, a Clinical Supervisor, a Lecturer, a Course Director, at a University Teaching Hospital for over 12 years.I am now writing blogs, creating YouTube videos to share my skills and expertise with parents more widely. I will soon start writing a newsletter once every month and to make this available to my clients and subscribers through my website.
- Free clinics: I have offered free consultations for parents of children with developmental and behavioural conditions in India. I would like to continue to undertake this activity. I’m working on organising ‘free child Neurodisability camps’, in developing countries in participation with other therapists and professionals.
- Donating my time: I have offered my services freely at the evening clinic organised by a local parent support group for a child disability charity. I would be happy to accept invitations to provide free 10-15 min consultations, organised by such self-help groups and parent support groups.
- Raising funds by writing: I am editing the 2nd edition of The Oxford Handbook of Community Paediatrics, by working closely with nearly two dozen experts from USA, Australia, Canada, India, and the UK. We decided to donate the proceeds from the royalties received from the sale of this book, among professional organisations such as AACPDM, EACD, BACD and BACCH. They do so much for the advancement of research and knowledge in the field of child disability and child development.
- Doing my bit for global causes: I have been donating monthly to organisations such as Oxfam (for over 20+ years), Water Aid (for over 10+ years) and Sightsavers (for over 8+ years). I have also supported other charities such as the British Red Cross and UN disaster relief funds. I try to reduce my carbon footprint by running a paperless office and by going meat-free nearly 17 years.
- Webinars: I would like to organise a webinar for parents of children I have seen, in the coming six months, and to repeat this on a different theme every six months.
- Hiking: I am also part of the Fundraising Hikes. Recently I participated in the Bucks Hospital Hike. We set off for a two day challenge covering a total of 50 miles, this is equivalent to walking a marathon in a day! The route connected the three main hospitals in Bucks, Amersham, Stoke Mandeville & High Wycombe. We are able to raise more than £ 15,000 for this Fund raise.
I know there is more to do, but I like to dwell in the possibility. Please feel free to share any thoughts, ideas, and events that you may know of, that would align with my passion. I aspire to increase my efforts and collaborate with others to work towards a vision of a world where every parent of a child with a disability can access support and information.