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Demonstrating the use of lycra tunnel
The kids who came to watch the presentation helped demonstrate the use of the lycra and other toys. The audience clapped as they made it through- they loved it! Wednesday and Thursday
Pictures coming soon
Some fun things lately:
1. Taking action photos on our porch
2. Seeing Swan Lake, the ballet, in a nice theater in town on Weds evening
3. Eating locally made ice cream almost daily from the corner store for about 30 cents
4. Being crafty in our apt preparing things for the orphanage
5. Going really fast through a lot of traffic when the professional driver drove us to the orphanage one morning when we were extra late
6. Exploring the neighborhood like children, marveling at all of the things that are different from the US, and wondering curiously why things are why they are.
7. Asking Yulduz a million questions about these things, and learning a lot about Uzbek culture.
On Wednesday during part of Sharon’s massage demonstration to the caregivers, Ella and I explored the orphanage to look for a room that may be good for an exercise obstacle course for the older children. We visited the girls unit for girls with “deep mental deficiency” as they say. Some of these children have serious behavioral concerns. We observed girls biting other girls, banging their heads on other kids, one
teenager was stomping around a room in a tantrum wailing. Another was tied to a bench, crouched in a ball hiding her face. Ella and I spend a while in the room with the wailing girl and attempted to calm her using OT techniques. A caregiver watched as the techniques worked. The girl continued to want to be folded up in a mat and have us squish her under the mat, one of the techniques we used. That was exciting for all of us to see! A couple of the girls smiled and waved at us as we came on to the unit. Others came up and wanted big hugs. Most of the girls were sitting on a porch during their “outdoor time” One ball was the only thing they had to play with. There was no structure and nothing for them to do. Later on Sharon and I came up with a translator and attempted to give some suggestions to keep the kids under control, as the caregivers were asking questions about managing behavior. We explained that one reason for the girls’ behavior was because they have nothing to do during these times in their schedule between meals and
Child ecstatic about playing
This child began laughing and laughing when I put her on this therapy ball. We have a great video of her experience that I'll hopefully be able to upload too! sleeping. We suggested that they have fewer kids on the porch at one time, and engage the others in an exercise routine incorporating sensory strategies. The caregivers said they have tried some of these things but they haven’t worked. We gave a few more suggestions, including getting a fun exercise tape or DVD and playing it in the empty rooms that can be used as exercise rooms on the girls unit- perhaps the boys unit too, for the kids to follow along. The head doctor said that the kids do enjoy dancing and singing in imitation of what they see on the TV that is currently in those rooms. The problem is they don’t have a DVD player. If I knew they would use it, I would love to go buy one, but I don’t know if they would even use our idea.
Ella and I have been working on coming up with some lists of therapy suggestions to post on the walls in some of the rooms for the orphanage staff: One is feeding techniques for the lying down rooms, one is other suggestions for these same rooms. After our sensory lectures, the caregivers liked the idea of
us listing the exercises we had suggested to them so they have it to use with the kids. So we created an exercise routine with pictures Ella took of me performing the exercises, so that the caregivers can look and see physically what a “frog jump” or a “wall push up” is. I used some ideas from “Brain dance.” So we had fun taking these pictures, including one of me trying to crawl through a lycra tunnel that I made- it was somewhat difficult as it’s made for a kid smaller than me! When we get the exercise list done Yulduz will translate it for us and give it to the orphanage staff. I think it could be very useful for them to use with the older kids, and some of the activities with the younger kids. I hope they will take our suggestions.
Thursday we did the lecture on Cerebral Palsy interventions, mainly range of motion for preventing contractures of the extremities. Then we went to one of the other rooms we discovered, full of children that are a little older and crawling around. We distributed some of the lycra tunnels, and a tug of war rope. We
Many children put their hands in their mouths
Perhaps a way to get the sensory stimulation their bodies are lacking stayed for a while and the kids had a blast crawling through the tunnel, and trying to learn to play tug of war with the rope. Some of the kids in this room had actually had surgeries to correct some of their deformities. Most of these children were more interactive than the younger or severely deformed children. They wanted their pictures taken with us over and over! So adorable. Some of them even tried to imitate our English.
Friday is our last day at the orphanage. We put together some gifts and put them inside rubber gloves for all the caregivers. I think they will like them! On Saturday we are taking a train to Samarkand to be tourists, and are spending the night there. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we will be at the neurological hospital for children. Ella visited it this week with Yulduz and thought of some topics to cover at seminars there on 1 and a half of those days. Sharon will teach massage on the other 1 and a half. I will write again after the weekend of fun in Samarkand!
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