Snowdrop is a private consultancy in child development which provides treatment for cerebral palsy and children who suffer other developmental difficulties. As stated, those difficulties may be caused by brain injury or by sociocultural sources and might express themselves in many ways, such as cerebral palsy, autism, or agenesis of the corpus callosum or more specific problems such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia or specific language impairment (SLI)
Snowdrop attempts to help children and families overcome these problems and offers a fresh approach to the treatment of children who experience cerebral palsy and other developmental difficulties such as autism.
Children may be prescribed one or more types of developmental stimulation, such as neuro-cognitive therapy (NCT), and/or recursive communication therapy, (RCT) depending upon their particular developmental problems. Treatment programmes are carried out in the child's own home by family and friends.
I believe that parents have a right to expect that the person who is proposing a programme of developmental stimulation for their child is not only appropriately qualified, but if possible, also has personal experience of the difficulties they face. Although Snowdrop is only small as yet, I believe my qualifications and experience gives me a unique advantage in understanding the difficulties children face and the stresses to which parents are subjected. This allows me to provide a more personal, individually tailored service to families.
I have spent many years in academic research in the fields of cognitive psychology, biological psychology and child development. I have also worked individually with children in their homes and in schools with children who have special educational needs, helping to monitor and supervise programmes of treatment to meet those educational needs.
My actual parental experience of a child with brain-injuries who suffered from both cerebral palsy and autism, and my work with children, gives me a unique perspective into the difficulties, (not to mention the stresses), which families face on a daily basis. My academic research and twenty years experience in dealing with the developmental problems of children gives me access to the tremendous amount of untapped knowledge, from the worlds of cognitive psychology, biological psychology and child development, which can be applied to the treatment of developmental problems such as cerebral palsy and autism.
Snowdrop has been created with four aims in mind.
1. To provide treatment programmes of developmental stimulation for children who experience developmental difficulties, such as those caused by cerebral palsy and autism, which can be implemented by families in their own homes.
2.To provide families with advice and information concerning the many practical issues, which affect the lives of children with developmental difficulties.
3.To provide families with support and to be 'a friend to talk to' in times of stress.
4.To be involved in and to support continuing research, designed to improve the lives of children with developmental difficulties, such as cerebral palsy or autism.
