TEAMworks China- Wednesday, March 11, 2015

We got a little extra time this morning before breakfast and took advantage of the wifi to chat with family. Heading to breakfast, Amber and Sophie learned a lesson about Chinese traffic...always keep your head up! A car narrowly missed them as they crossed the street, eek! We had the same yummy breakfast of noodle soup and headed to the clinic for our next round of kiddos. We saw 4 different kids this morning.

First, we saw a 9 year old boy with a diagnosis of Autism. He was a very fascinating child with a wide array of difficulties and gifts. He was accompanied by a fantastic mom who was already doing so much for her son, but she was very worried about social skills, interrupting the classroom, and feared that her son would not be allowed to enter middle school due to sensory difficulties. Sophie and Melissa spent extensive time problem solving with mom to create different sensory techniques for the classroom setting. Then the boy surprised us by reading to us  and counting English! We also saw a 4 year old boy with Autism. This little spit fire was a whirl wind and immediately began rough-housing with Sophie and Melissa. They again were able to problem solve with this child's dad to create different treatment techniques for home to help decrease negative behaviors and provide the sensory input he was so desperately seeking.

Third, Sophie did a speech evaluation on a 4 year old with expressive language concerns. When she had completed her assessment, demonstrated home exercise program, and educated mom, the child's mother reported concerns of falling/tripping while running. Amber was so excited to do a gait assessment! She was able to determine that he would be a good candidate for ankle strengthening, balance work, and practice walking/running on uneven surfaces. She was able to give mom some pictures/examples of exercises to do with him at home. Finally, Sophie worked with an adorable 3 year old girl with language delays. After assessment, Sophie was able to determine that the girls deficient oral motor skills were largely to blame. Sophie was then able to educate the mom on different oral motor exercises and activities to help with the child's articulation. After a long morning of work, we went to lunch with all the nurses, students, and doctors we are working with. Again, massive quantities of food were ordered and consumed! Dr. Lin is a very funny guy and car ride conversations always have us laughing!

For the afternoon, Amber and Melissa presented to a packed room of staff and caregivers. Amber gave an overview of Physical Therapy clinical assessment and demonstrated/showed a DVD of intervention techniques. Melissa demonstrated information on grasp development. The audience had great questions and were engaged throughout the presentations. We feel like we never stop eating here! Tonight we opted for a later dinner in order to get some of our clinical intake forms/treatment suggestions filled out prior to going out again, in hopes that we get to bed a little earlier. We had dumplings for dinner with gelato for dessert. Apparently the gelato and continued jet lag made us a little loopy which again made for interesting car rides. Amber was a little overly excited to purchase her favorite Chinese toothpaste, she only gets to buy it when she comes back. We also got to experience the Chinese version of "Delilah" on the radio which Sophie loving dubbed "Chililah" sending us back into fits of laughter! Dr. Lin doesn't know what to think of us sometimes. He usually just replies, "Oh my goodness," as we laugh hysterically! We are so enjoying our time here and getting to work along side Dr. Lin! Tomorrow there are several kiddos with gross motor needs coming so Dr. Lin says Amber will be busy! Both Amber and Sophie will present in the afternoon!

Thank you so much for your prayerful support this week. We really feel like we are making a positive difference in the lives of children and their families here in China!