Analysis of the Social Experience of Children with Psychomotor Developmental Delay Followed at the Adjamé Child Guidance Center (Southern Côte d'Ivoire)

Abstract

The research analyzed the social experience of children followed at the Adjamé child guidance center in Côte d'Ivoire for psychomotor developmental delays. This is a major concern given the difficulties in acquiring motor, cognitive, affective, sensory and social skills. Using a deterministic approach, 25 mothers with children with psychomotor developmental disorders were surveyed using a questionnaire on the socio-demographic characteristics of the children and their mothers, the clinical history of the children and the degree of their disorders, their social experience with parents and staff, and the mothers' suggestions. Parents live together and have income-generating activities. In many cases, apart from their parents, the children are in contact with people in the household. They are neither autonomous nor rejected by their peers in social relationships. Instead, they feel rejected by adults who attribute to them a negative social image as snake children, witch children. This plunges the parents into despair and desolation. This is why they suggest raising awareness in order to make the causes of this state of delayed psychomotor development of the child known and to bring about change. In this context, a holistic approach at several levels of intervention: individual, institutional, community and social, is necessary to deal with this discriminating and stigmatizing pathology. It is more than likely that this would contribute to solving the shortage of psychomotricians by increasing the number of these specialists in public facilities in order to optimize the care of children with developmental problems.

Keywords: Delayed psychomotor development, social experience, social integration, child morbidity

DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/11-20-04

Publication date:October 31^st 2021