Thursday, April 18, 2013

4/18/13 Day 5


Today I was given the opportunity to go on the physical therapy home visits with Carmen Margarita. We went to three different houses for three different reasons. The first child we went to see was named Carlos, he was 1 and ½ the disability didn't affect his physical appearance but the size of his brain was importunate to his age. It was less than half the size of where it should be at. Carmen Margarita tried to do exercises with him such as showing him an animal and trying to get him to say the noise it made, or just playing with a toy keyboard to hear the noises. He also had a problem with eating because his throat was so small he couldn't swallow anything but mashed up foods and liquids. The second child was named Nasared and she was diagnosed with down-syndrome and had high hyper-activity tendencies. Carmen Margarita did no physical therapy with her because her Aunt had already done it with her that day. Her mom had to work and didn't like her as much as the Aunt so the Aunt was the primary care taker for the girl. The third girl we went to see was Ariana, she had no diagnostic but Carmen Margarita went to check on her because the mom had a bad pregnancy and a high blood pressure during pregnancy and that is a major cause for disabilities in young children. Carmen Margarita just went for precautionary reasons and if there was an issue to catch it early so they could start physical therapy right away. It is heartwarming to know that some parents do want to take care of their disabled kids and help them so they can have a better life one day. I can’t believe it is already Thursday and tomorrow is our last day. Just the thought of it makes me tear up and want to cry. The impact all of these kids have had on me is outstanding. Every day they are happy despite every challenges they are faced with every day it is inspiring and makes you want to change yourself and your life. Today one of the deaf girls that I worked with on the first day, Tania, who has a very special place in my heart, gave me a note. It doesn’t translate perfectly into English but what it says is that I am her speaking friend that she loves very much and makes her very happy. I don’t think she realized the impact this note had on me today, it brought tears of joy to my eyes and only strengthened the love I have for her. Each and every child at Escuela Especial has a place in my heart than can never be broken or replaced. They have grown on me and are forever with me. All I can think about is the next time I will see them, which I will do whatever it takes to make it happen, and how happy I will be to see them again.

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