I've begun volunteering at Now I Can Center for Intensive Therapy. It is a place where mostly children with neurological disorders go to learn basic skills such as crawling, walking, and becoming more self-sufficient and able to do things on their own. Right now I'm working with Luke, a bright, adorable three-year-old who was born with his cerebellum fused to his brain stem. A scary brain surgery later, Luke lost some of the paralysis he had from the waist down and has since been at Now I Can to learn to use his lower body. When he first came, he didn't crawl but rather dragged his lower half along with his hands in fists. Now, he's learning to walk!
Luke is a pretty normal kid aside from his disability; he's a bit slow with speech--he has trouble with L's, that sort of thing--and he's the most rewarding kid to work with. He is so willing to work hard for so long and will tolerate all kinds of unpleasantness with a smile. Therapy is 3 hours long, a very long time for any 3 year old kid, but he's SO good about it.
I adore working with him. It'd be hard for anyone to resist falling in love with the optimistic, curly-haired toddler with an infectious laugh and a ridiculously cute smile. Pictures and videos to come!
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