The Speech and Language Report….our day at the orphanage!

The trip was overall amazing!  We had the pleasure of seeing so many children, as well as opportunities to educate staff, caregivers, and parents on the developmental of speech and language.  It was truly a blessing to meet with each child, and to meet so many people ready and willing to learn how to better the lives of special needs children in Ukraine.  The more questions they would ask, the more excited we would become.

There were many challenges, including an obvious language barrier with the children when assessing and treating them.  Our translators were such a big help, and did a great job, but it is difficult to demonstrate speech and language therapy when you don’t know the language.   We both want to learn more Russian before the next trip!

One thing is certain though, playing and having fun were the two things that overcome a language barrier!

Our first day was spent at an orphanage.  This orphanage is definitely the heart of TEAMworks Ukraine and very special to us.

Many things we prepared for the trip worked out perfectly, including simple picture cards, basic concept sheets and lots of fun toys!  However, we also have a list of things that we want to do differently for next year.  You live and learn.  Our hope while preparing for the trip was to have something that could work for every child that we met.  There are so many aspects to cover when doing a speech and language evaluation (even an informal one), and it was very hard to not give too much information.

We both feel like being able to do some ongoing therapy with the children there, even if it was just for a week, would be very beneficial to help show the progress that can be made with these children.

We encouraged teaching concepts and language through play, simple games and also encouraged one on one interaction for each child.  We also recommended oral motor exercises and the development of more age appropriate eating skills.  Many of the children were unable to chew solid foods and presented with overall weak oral motor skills.

This little guy Carmen saw last year and we were able to work with him again this year.  He’s consistently imitating sounds, working on basic concepts…and is SO full of energy. We worked on identifying colors during play, labeling pictures in a book, and most of all just having fun.

This little guy Carmen saw last year and we were able to work with him again this year.  He’s consistently imitating sounds, working on basic concepts…and is SO full of energy. We worked on identifying colors during play, labeling pictures in a book, and most of all just having fun.

Here we are working with this handsome little guy.  We brought several different tools that can be used for strengthening oral motor skills.  His caregivers reported that he did not attempt to chew food, so we showed them ways to help encourage chewing skills.  He is currently saying some consonant and vowel sounds, however we were a little concerned with his hearing.

We also demonstrated hand over hand assistance to teach appropriate play.  He enjoyed the link toys, ball popper and making faces in the mirror.

This sweet girl was another child that we saw last year.  She was one of the first children they brought to us that morning, and we got to see her again later that afternoon in her room.  She was very happy and loved the interaction and play!  We helped her play with the toys, look in the mirror and encouraged her to imitate facial expressions and sounds.  She has really made some progress in the last year.  She was able to hold up her head better and interacted much more.  It’s so exciting to see the potential in all of these children.

This little guy was very busy when we tried to evaluate him.  He loved the toys and preferred to take them and play with them his way!  Here’s a picture of him after our evaluations were done, hanging out in his crib.  It was reported that he responds to his name but isn’t currently talking.  However he is saying some vowel sounds at this time.

This next one was so cute.  I think he had been awakened from a nap to see us, so he was a little shy.  He loved to be held!  They reported that he responds well to his name and is babbling some, however he is not using words yet.

Next up is this cutie.  We saw him once in the morning and then again in the afternoon in his room.  The caregivers report that he is saying some vowels and a consonant sound at this time.  They report that he doesn’t respond to his name, but he was very interactive and enjoyed playing with us.

Some of the children that we saw had very limited speech and language skills. We encouraged the caregivers to engage them in appropriate play with toys and encourage imitation of sounds and facial expressions. We also wanted to teach them to let the children make choices using eye gaze, communication boards, pictures and by having the children point to or touch items that they want. Our hope is that even if a child does not have verbal speech skills, they can still have some way to communicate with the caregivers and have some control over their own environment.

These children have definitely been on our minds since leaving Ukraine.  Our prayer is that they each find homes.  We loved our day spent at this orphanage, and can’t wait to return next year.

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