Ukraine – Day 4

A big highlight of the day was when Amy was asked to give her professional opinion on a little girl who does not talk. The little girl was 4 years old and reportedly understands everything that is said to her but is unable to speak. After observing the little girl and showing the therapist some techniques to elicit speak sounds using visual, verbal, and tactile cues, the little girl imitated movements of her mouth and ended up producing several consonant and vowel sounds for the first time. After we all said goodbye in Russian, she imitated this as well. This was definitely a God sent moment because therapy like this usually takes awhile.  The therapist at the orphanage was amazed!

Today was a full day for occupational therapy with tackling several rooms. One we have dictated the “rocking room” because every child sits and rocks 24/7 which we have observed several times. Not only did Allison end up brushing kids right and left, but we discussed vestibular input with caregivers for one of the children who bangs his head on the ground enough to leave marks. The only time we saw this boy smile was when we were swinging. He had such a beautiful smile. Allison could have just sat there and swung with him for hours to hear that laugh again.

Kate focused on emphasizing the importance of human touch to the caregivers in each of the laying down rooms. We demonstrated how easy it is to gently move the children into different positions in their beds and get them out of their beds and hold them close. In each of these rooms, we really tried to encourage the caregivers about the importance of their jobs and how they have the privilege of working with such special children created by God.

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