The children at Tesoros can only come to school two days a week, because Tesoros does not have enough staff to help all 90 children in the program simultaneously. Because of this, we saw new children today (Wednesday) than we did on Tuesday. This means more assessments and observations. We are sitting here again and discussing our day. Some of the highlights include: PT Pam got to work with the little ones today. Instead of assisting the local physical therapists, she spent her time in the Early Intervention room helping the mom’s understand their babies’ Cerebral Palsy or seizure disorder. She helped one little boy get ready to crawl. The team was impressed with his mom and her receptivity to our suggestions. Angie noted that the mother stated she plans on implementing all of the strategies so as to be ahead of the physical therapists next week. Lindsey and Trisha were able to fix a child’s glasses that kept sliding down his face with friendship bracelets! This was the best part of her day. When they asked him if there was an improvement, he exclaimed, “They’re like new!” Angie’s positive of the day was having the opportunity to rely on an interdisciplinary team, so she can ask questions of others when she is stuck or feeling unknowledgeable. Caitlin had a moment when she got to play with the sibling of a child with special needs. She realized as she was playing that the boy probably didn’t get much attention at home because of the situation with his sibling. Caitlin was sad to see him go, but when she waved goodbye to the van, he smiled back and made her day! Ronit is currently with another team in our compound who has agreed to Ronit’s request of making a table for a family that does not have one, so their son with muscular dystrophy can eat independently. They are also making scooter boards for our Friday visit.
Amy worked with a sixteen year old who had a learning disability and was embarrassed to be at a school for kids with special needs. He was taking a grammar quiz being dictated orally, and so to make him feel less embarrassed, she took the quiz with him. It’s important to note that Amy has never taken a Spanish class in her life (and, in fact, took French!) so it was a fair competition. Lorena is excited that a previously reserved teacher that seemed unresponsive is now willing to talk with her about her suggestions. Bessie spent some time observing students, and saw one student who could not sit still, was constantly tipping her chair, and smelling everything in sight. Bessie went and got the Occupational Therapist who starting giving lots of suggestions to calm her down. Once Ronit completed some interventions with her, she calmed down. They then asked the teacher, “Do you see a difference?” And the teacher said, “She’s sitting in one place and doing what she is supposed to!” The parents were able to talk to Ronit for quite a while and they are returning tomorrow for more information. We have one more day at Tesoros De Dios, including a teacher/staff training! P.S. Check our Facebook page for photos from today!
