Today we began our last week of therapy at the Havens. It's a bittersweet feeling among all of here. We are so excited to head to Livingstone for some fun adventures and then head home, but we are so sad to leave the sweet babies we have grown to love so much while being here. Prayers for both us and the kiddos as we begin saying our goodbyes would be appreciated.
Today was a great milestone day with therapy:
Binny began babbling!
Tim spoke something other than "buh bye"!!
Prince said "house" and identified colors in a book!
Joello got his braces and new shoes today. He started walking with straighter legs on the playground!! :)
James came to language group and sat through the whole thing.
They may seem small, but to us they are huge blessings!! :)
To answer some questions from the last post:
Lindsay: in Livingstone our group is going to go shopping, go on a safari, ride elephants, sunset cruise on the Zambezi river, high tea at the Royal Livingstone hotel, and Victoria falls. Staci is heading to Wisconsin, Rachel to Tennessee, Jake to California, Makala to Searcy, Courtney to Searcy and then Texas, and I'll be heading back to Conway! We will be back in Searcy the Sunday before classes start in July!!
Samar: African foods we have tried are nshima (their traditional food that they have with every meal..it's a corn meal paste) and some South African stew (the name was too complicated to remember). For fun, the college students like to do pick up games of soccer or basketball. They also really like to get together and sing and dance.
Hope the ending to y'all's offsites go wonderfully! We are excited to share our stories and hear y'all's.
Blessings.,
B.
It doesn't sound like there is a lot of variety in their diet.
ReplyDeleteSo, I understand that some of the children go back to their homes when they are old enough, but what about the others. I noticed that there are no older children in the Havens?
I know it is so hard to believe that this clinical experience is almost over!!!
Bittersweet all the way around! But I am so glad that you guys have served those children in a way that will effect the rest of their lives, in a most important way!!
I understand your celebration over small steps. I'm feeling the same way at my off-site. It sounds like you'll all have a blast at Livingstone! Take lots of pictures!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's the little things that make such improvements in our patient's lives. Sometimes it can be hard to document too. I have my aphasia patient who really hasn't improved in FIM scores, but her social automatic speech is a lot better. She is also repeating things that we say as if she is trying to learn them, but those are not written goals. Repeating words volitionally while being asked to (trying harder) just doesn't really work. It's hard to tell someone about triumphs such as the decreased time it takes for a patient to imitate pointing to her nose, but when you sit across from her and see the satisfaction that she can follow that direction without a lot of frustration at comprehending and sending that signal, you get so excited. Vision deficits are not as much of a problem in that she knows where to put her pencil to trace a letter much better than last week. MIT is not really working.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Erin, the little things make a huge difference! I'm excited to hear about all of the progress you all are making with the kiddos and I'm excited to see the data you've collected thus far. You all are going to have a wonderful time in Livingston I am sure! Take a lot of pictures! I am so ready for everyone to be back together again.
ReplyDeleteDon't ever disregard the small steps!! Sounds like you all have made a HUGE difference in the short amount of time that you have been working with the babies! I know I feel as if I have already made a big difference at my off-site. I love walking into a patient's room and hearing them say, "I was waiting for you." :-) Hope you all have a wonderful last week with the kiddos! Enjoy your trip to Livingston and share a lot of pictures with us! See you all soon!
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