Council on Children with Disabilities:
Arnold J. Capute Award

2003 Capute Award Recipient

Robert H.A. Haslam, MD, FAAP

From Dr. Fred Palmer's introductory remarks at the NCE:

Dr. Haslam is the Emeritus Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto and Emeritus Pediatrician-in-Chief of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. He is Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Alberta, in Calgary, where he still practices clinical child neurology.

Dr. Haslam's lifelong interest in disability began with his contributions to the classic Rose County Epidemiological study of MR, while chief resident in pediatrics at Hopkins. He returned to Hopkins after his child neurology residency to be Director of the John F. Kennedy Institute - now the Kennedy Krieger Institute. There, in collaboration with Dr. Capute, he helped define the necessary relationships between pediatrics and child neurology around disability. These relationships were fundamental to the growth of the new field of developmental pediatrics and the subsequent subspecialty of Neurodevelopmental Disabilities. He has remained an advisor to this process long since his departure form Hopkins 25 years ago.

Dr. Haslam is a leader in pediatrics and pediatric education in Canada and internationally. But his service to children with disabilities has been a continuing focus. He has served on the leadership of many disability organizations including: Baltimore Association for Retarded Citizens (The Arc of Baltimore), Maryland Developmental Disability Council, Calgary Association for Children with Learning Disabilities, Canadian Association for the Mentally Retarded (now the Canadian Association for Community Living), CP Association of Alberta, Calgary Special Olympics, Epidemiology of Mental Retardation Committee of Health and Welfare Canada, Canadian Down Syndrome Society and the Canadian Language and Literacy Network.

Throughout his career Dr. Haslam has been a superb clinical teacher whose rounds combine the breadth and family focus of pediatrics with the specificity of child neurology. Indeed, this is a critical feature of the new subspecialty of Neurodevelopmental Disabilities. Dr. Haslam has won the premier clinical teaching awards at Hopkins, Alberta Children's Hospital and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and the Ontario-wide House staff teaching award.

Congratulations Dr Haslam!