Hey All!
Wow, It's been a while since my last post, but as promised I'm back! It's been a very busy fall thus far for me and I'm just now getting back in the swing of the hustle and bustle of this new season.
Can I just tell ya...I LOVE Autumn! The weather cooling down, the breeze starts blowing, the leaves changing and beginning to fall, jeans and hoodie weather.....hmmmm nothing like it!
Well...as I promised....a while ago....here's a bit of what's been happening in our program the last few weeks!
In Late August, we hosted a two-day therapy seminar for our therapy team, as well as therapy staff from one of our partnering orphanages, Taiyuan; the seminar was taught by our partners at LIH Olivia's Place therapy center. The seminar was entitled, "Positioning, proper feeding techniques, oral care and basic communication development" wherein the staff provided both lectures, discussions and practical sessions. The seminar couldn't have gone better! So much was learned, practiced and put into action in our program. The majority of the learned material focused on caring for some of the most basic needs for our more severely disabled kids, all of whom are in need of this care. Since the seminar, our program has seen great improvement. All of our staff, myself included, have taken this newly learned skills have have applied them to the daily treatment plans for our kids. It's been SO good! Honestly I can't even tell you. Not only did our staff learn new skills, but it also allowed us to connect and form deeper professional relationships with both the Olivia's place staff and the staff from Taiyuan Orphanage. It's my hope that we're able to continue these continuing education seminars with our partnering orphanages and Olivia's place. Hopefully this was one of many more to come! :)
As previously mentioned (in a different post) we had a tremendous summer with lots of kids making great therapeutic progress. It's funny to me, that the kids who didn't make much progress over the summer began making HUGE gains this fall.... the circle of life I guess! Anyway, Let's take a moment and talk 3 main facts about about these two boys really quickly, ok? Simeon and Jason....oh. my.word!
1. Both of them are INCREDIBLY adorable!!
2. Neither of these boys made much progress over the summer, yes, both continued to work hard yet it seemed as if they had his a plateau with positive gains....until this fall. Holy moly! Let's start with Simeon.
If you know Simeon, you know just how sweet his personality is. He's a lover boy who just wants to snuggle and eat snacks. Despite is positive attitude and personality he does have some major challenges and physical delays. Let me tell ya, this kid is a determined tho. Earlier this fall, we were working on some prone activities (on his stomach) and just then, he began to "army crawl" (crawl using only his arms)!! This was his first every attempt at independent movement. Just a few days after that, while working on a self-supported sitting activity, Simeon did the impossible. You see, since the removal of his spinal tumor back on 2012, he has consistently tested negative for any lower extremity sensation or movement, meaning he can't feel or move his legs. Until that day....while sitting there all by himself, he did it! He lifted his right leg ALL ON HIS OWN! Can I tell you, I cried! Honestly. It was such a beautiful moment. Truly a miracle right there!
Now, he's moving his right leg all the time and army crawling everywhere....he's made such tremendous progress!
Jason. Where to begin. Ok guys, by now I'm sure you've noticed, I have a soft spot for this kid. Not sure if it's the fact that he was my very first patient that I got on my own OR if it's just that he has such a sweet spirit! Honestly I love this kid so much! Anyway, Jason is such a hard worker, he's as diligent as 10year old boys can be. He's determined to walk independently. This fall we began working on unassisted standing balance. It's something he's struggled with for a while, but this time around we decided it was time to build his confidence and concur his fears of instability. And he did it! He pushed himself through all the uncertainty and his shaking legs and learned to balance himself all on his own while standing! This was huge for him, but his progress didn't stop there. Several weeks later, while working on standing balance, I asked Jason a question, "Jason do you trust me?" his is giggling voice he nodded his head affirming his trust in me. With a large smile on my face I then instructed him, "Ok Hu Tao, stand up tall and when you feel ready, take 1 step towards Ayi".... with a puzzled yet smiling look on his face...he did just that!! This was his very first independent steps! The grin on his face will forever be etched in my memory, such a sweet smile full of confidence. Yet again, this wasn't the end for Jason. Just two weeks later....he was taking not 1, not 2, but 3 full steps before loosing his balance!! This kid has been joyfully working so hard to accomplish his goals and learn to walk independently!
3. Now that we've talked about both of their tremendous therapeutic success...I just wanted you all to know that these 2 boys will soon have blog post of their own! Yep, you guessed it! They're both searching for their Forever Families! I'll be writing a little post about each of them in the next week or so, then together we can SHARE their stories and help them find families of their own!
No to discredit any of the other kids in our program that have been working extremely hard to achieve their therapeutic goals, but I just had to share those two stories. Overall things here at SFCV have been busy but great! Here are a few other photos from this fall thus far!
Wow, It's been a while since my last post, but as promised I'm back! It's been a very busy fall thus far for me and I'm just now getting back in the swing of the hustle and bustle of this new season.
Can I just tell ya...I LOVE Autumn! The weather cooling down, the breeze starts blowing, the leaves changing and beginning to fall, jeans and hoodie weather.....hmmmm nothing like it!
Well...as I promised....a while ago....here's a bit of what's been happening in our program the last few weeks!
In Late August, we hosted a two-day therapy seminar for our therapy team, as well as therapy staff from one of our partnering orphanages, Taiyuan; the seminar was taught by our partners at LIH Olivia's Place therapy center. The seminar was entitled, "Positioning, proper feeding techniques, oral care and basic communication development" wherein the staff provided both lectures, discussions and practical sessions. The seminar couldn't have gone better! So much was learned, practiced and put into action in our program. The majority of the learned material focused on caring for some of the most basic needs for our more severely disabled kids, all of whom are in need of this care. Since the seminar, our program has seen great improvement. All of our staff, myself included, have taken this newly learned skills have have applied them to the daily treatment plans for our kids. It's been SO good! Honestly I can't even tell you. Not only did our staff learn new skills, but it also allowed us to connect and form deeper professional relationships with both the Olivia's place staff and the staff from Taiyuan Orphanage. It's my hope that we're able to continue these continuing education seminars with our partnering orphanages and Olivia's place. Hopefully this was one of many more to come! :)As previously mentioned (in a different post) we had a tremendous summer with lots of kids making great therapeutic progress. It's funny to me, that the kids who didn't make much progress over the summer began making HUGE gains this fall.... the circle of life I guess! Anyway, Let's take a moment and talk 3 main facts about about these two boys really quickly, ok? Simeon and Jason....oh. my.word!
1. Both of them are INCREDIBLY adorable!!
2. Neither of these boys made much progress over the summer, yes, both continued to work hard yet it seemed as if they had his a plateau with positive gains....until this fall. Holy moly! Let's start with Simeon.
If you know Simeon, you know just how sweet his personality is. He's a lover boy who just wants to snuggle and eat snacks. Despite is positive attitude and personality he does have some major challenges and physical delays. Let me tell ya, this kid is a determined tho. Earlier this fall, we were working on some prone activities (on his stomach) and just then, he began to "army crawl" (crawl using only his arms)!! This was his first every attempt at independent movement. Just a few days after that, while working on a self-supported sitting activity, Simeon did the impossible. You see, since the removal of his spinal tumor back on 2012, he has consistently tested negative for any lower extremity sensation or movement, meaning he can't feel or move his legs. Until that day....while sitting there all by himself, he did it! He lifted his right leg ALL ON HIS OWN! Can I tell you, I cried! Honestly. It was such a beautiful moment. Truly a miracle right there!Now, he's moving his right leg all the time and army crawling everywhere....he's made such tremendous progress!
Jason. Where to begin. Ok guys, by now I'm sure you've noticed, I have a soft spot for this kid. Not sure if it's the fact that he was my very first patient that I got on my own OR if it's just that he has such a sweet spirit! Honestly I love this kid so much! Anyway, Jason is such a hard worker, he's as diligent as 10year old boys can be. He's determined to walk independently. This fall we began working on unassisted standing balance. It's something he's struggled with for a while, but this time around we decided it was time to build his confidence and concur his fears of instability. And he did it! He pushed himself through all the uncertainty and his shaking legs and learned to balance himself all on his own while standing! This was huge for him, but his progress didn't stop there. Several weeks later, while working on standing balance, I asked Jason a question, "Jason do you trust me?" his is giggling voice he nodded his head affirming his trust in me. With a large smile on my face I then instructed him, "Ok Hu Tao, stand up tall and when you feel ready, take 1 step towards Ayi".... with a puzzled yet smiling look on his face...he did just that!! This was his very first independent steps! The grin on his face will forever be etched in my memory, such a sweet smile full of confidence. Yet again, this wasn't the end for Jason. Just two weeks later....he was taking not 1, not 2, but 3 full steps before loosing his balance!! This kid has been joyfully working so hard to accomplish his goals and learn to walk independently!3. Now that we've talked about both of their tremendous therapeutic success...I just wanted you all to know that these 2 boys will soon have blog post of their own! Yep, you guessed it! They're both searching for their Forever Families! I'll be writing a little post about each of them in the next week or so, then together we can SHARE their stories and help them find families of their own!
No to discredit any of the other kids in our program that have been working extremely hard to achieve their therapeutic goals, but I just had to share those two stories. Overall things here at SFCV have been busy but great! Here are a few other photos from this fall thus far!
The Seminar...
Just a few others from this autumn....
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| Thomas :) He's one of our newbies! |
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