This is Ripudaman Minhas. He is a developmental pediatrician.
“Essentially overnight, we switched to virtual care. It seemed to work for visits that were mostly based on just reports or conversations with families. When it came to having to do an actual assessment of a child, all of our tools that we use for those diagnoses are based on face to face interactions. These interactions often involved sitting and playing with the child, so they had to be put on hold.
We’re kind of watching this unfold and waiting to be able to jump back into action.
We’re nervous, especially with the new school year starting. For children that needed these diagnoses before starting kindergarten, or whatever the next school year might be for them, this has been especially difficult.
We like to play peekaboo and other types of games with the younger kids. These are basic social interactions.
Now when they walk in, I’ll do peekaboo with my mask on from the other end of the hallway.
I see if I can have that interaction from a distance to try to engage and build rapport with a child. Otherwise, it can be quite scary to look almost like a stormtrooper with my PPE on and to try to engage with them in that way. It’s hard and I think we’re trying to adapt and see what else we can do to make it work.”
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