The Chair of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the UNR celebrated its 102nd anniversary, being the first of its kind in the world.

The Chair of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry was founded by the Italian psychiatrist Lanfranco Ciampi, who in 1922 opened the first school in the country for children with mental illnesses and a year later taught the first course in child psychiatry at the Faculty. Later, the Rosario Psychiatric Institute was created, which had consulting rooms for the care of children and adults. It was made up of the chairs of Psychiatry, Child Neuropsychiatry and Experimental Psychology, the School and a “Hospital for the Insane”, currently called “Agudo Avila”.

Ciampi was a supporter of “mental hygiene”, a movement that gives importance to early detection and outpatient treatment of mental illness and believes that these illnesses can be avoided if environmental conditions are improved. He also argued that the reaction of a child’s brain is different from that of an adult, which is why treatment with a specific psychiatric approach is required. He also justified the need to use the methods of experimental psychology because he understood that not all psychic phenomena could be reduced to biological issues.

This conception of psychiatry that was being developed in our city was not only a medical specialty but its practice was inserted into the social sphere. It proposed a psychiatry independent of neurology, based on psychology, general clinical practice and social action. This originality in the approach made it scientifically unbelievable and at that time there was some resistance.

The commitment demanded from the State was realized years later, in 1945, when the Minister of Public Health of the province of Santa Fe, Carlos Lambruschini, made the child guidance clinics official. And three years later, the inaugural class of the Child Psychiatric Clinic course was given, a name that replaced the first one called Child Neuropsychiatry.

At school, children received basic education through special procedures aimed at re-educating them. Another resource was pre-vocational manual work, and for this purpose, printing, bookbinding, carpet making, broom making, brush making and sewing workshops were set up, among others.

The Supervised Workshop, as an extension of the School, was intended to provide children who graduated at the age of twelve with a place to stay during their adolescence. The novelty of the project, a pioneer in the country for its training and job training criteria, consisted of the administration of the assets of disabled adolescents by the Juvenile Court. It was the judges who safeguarded the money of the minors with the savings account system, until they turned 18 and could use their funds.

In the 20th century, children and adolescents were seen as full subjects of rights. New legislation and international conventions modified practices, added specialties and changed paradigms. Legally, the system of comprehensive protection of the rights of children and adolescents was also modified.

Today, the Chair continues to expand in the areas that gave rise to the first psychiatric facility in Rosario, which “has assistance service in its DNA,” says its current head, psychologist Marcela Salvai, and highlights that all professionals work from a perspective open to the needs of the community. “We are committed to the mandate of its origin, which is to fulfill the social function inherent to the Public University.”

There is currently a support service coordinated by Dr. Marisa Odone. This service deals with cases referred by the Provincial Directorate of Juvenile Criminal Justice to address the mental health of young people in conflict with the law. It mainly deals with issues such as family violence and reconnection.

In addition, there is a student orientation program that serves students of Medicine, Nursing and Speech Therapy who come spontaneously or through consultation with teachers due to some problem in the development of their career. In these cases, pedagogical support and psychological attention are provided.

The schoolhouse

One space that continues to be maintained is the Day Center or “the little school” as many call it, under the coordination of the Special Education graduate Lorena Manoni and the commitment of the special education teachers Grisela Scriffignano and Aureliano Ferraro. It is the only free child and adolescent psychiatry service in Rosario aimed at children from 0 to 18 years old who do not have social security.

It is a place where children spend the time they need to achieve autonomy, develop their potential to the maximum and be included in the regular school in the best way possible. Children with autism, psychosis or attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders who do not yet have a diagnosis arrive there. So, first of all, they are evaluated to see what treatment they need: speech therapy, psychopedagogy and they receive psychological attention. In addition, there are art, gardening, painting, carpentry and games workshops according to their interests and possibilities. In addition, there are meals because the children have breakfast and lunch in the dining area.

At this day centre, interdisciplinary work is carried out with psychologists, psychopedagogues, speech therapists, the school's regular teacher and, if the children take medication, with the psychiatrist who treats them. Emphasis is placed on verbal expression, gestures, autonomy, rules of coexistence, collaboration, hygiene habits, sharing experiences with other children and with adults in order to achieve a relationship of respect and affection.

The goal is “to enable them to use their words” in the face of so much aggression and violence that surrounds them, according to the teachers. “The children who come here are from very low incomes, they live in precarious conditions and they come with many difficulties, not only because of their disability, but also economic, cultural and social ones. Everything is very scarce.” And they emphasize: “In other times the biggest problem for the children who came was their disability, but now it is the unfavorable environment.”

Workshops are also held for parents, which are considered essential to accompany the growth and development of their children, and a space was recently added for families of patients who suffer from rare diseases. Knowledge and information are shared there and the opportunity is given to talk about the problems that affect them, letting them know that “they are not alone.”

Journalist: Victoria Arrabal/Photographer: Camila Casero