In the past, healthy babies developed, sick ones - died. Today, modern medicine saves babies with very complex conditions: extreme prematurity, congenital anomalies and chronic diseases.These require early medical care- often including surgeries and long periods in hospital. These children are somethimes unintentionally deprived of experiences that are essential to shaping their development. Combining the medical treatment with special consideration to their developmental needs at every stage of treatment is critical for the growth and development for these children. A drastic change in medical attitude is called for: every treatment plan for a child must incorporate medicine with rehabilitation to raise a generation of children who will live up to their full potential. Maurit Beeri, is a pediatrician currently serving as Deputy Director General and Director of the Pediatric Rehabilitation Medical Day Care at Alyn Pediatric and Adolescent Rehabilitation Center in Jerusalem. She also heads the Multidisciplinary Clinic for Infants and Children with Feeding Disorders. She directed a home-hospitalization program for the largest health provider in Israel, consulted at the Familial Dysautonomia center at Hadassah and was one of the founders of a hospice ward for ventilated children at the Hertzog Hospital in Jerusalem. Dr Beeri is a Wexner Israel Fellowship Alumnus, with a masters degree in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and works to further the cause of children with special needs, believing that every child has the right to discover and to fulfill their developmental potential and that the success of the rehabilitation process must be measured in terms of achieving a balance between health, optimal functioning and acceptance by the family and by society. Dr. Beeri is involved in promoting the concept of Cultural Competency in Health, initiating a program to make Alyn Jerusalem the first culturally competent hospital in Israel. She is also involved in various health and social initiatives to promote the care and rights of children with special needs, including the Early Intervention Coalition, which represents over 60 organizations and associations for children with special needs.

• published: 26 Mar 2011
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