This week on psychiatry, we had an opportunity to observe in the infant simulation room and the autism room. These rooms are part of the child and adolescent psychiatry unit, and serve to both rehabilitate children with mental and physical handicaps as well as to train to parents to be better caretakers for these children. In the infant stimulation room, I was expecting to see mothers with their babies. I was quite surprised when several toddlers and some pre-adolescents entered with their parents. As it turns out, the class we were observing was for any child with the mental age of two or younger.
The therapist invited us to interact with the children and their mothers, introducing us to mother who she knew spoke English. The mother was there with her daughter Ashta, who had cerebral palsy. Ashta is 12, but is completely dependent on her mother as a full-time caretaker. The mother explained to us that when Ashta was born, she did not cry. This was their first indication that something was wrong. And following that, Ashta failed to reach a number of other milestones including speaking and walking. She was at CMC for therapy, which had already made a huge improvement in her quality of life. She was building up her muscles, becoming more patient with her parents, and becoming more tolerant of things that used to bug her.
Ashta was lying on the floor while we spoke with her mother, her very thin legs being strapped into braces in preparation for her therapy (she is working on standing). She watched us intently, but when her mother introduced us to her she smiled, rolled away from us, and covered her face. "She is shy," her mother said. Once the braces were strapped on, Ashta stood with the help of her mother and played with a shape-sorter box. Being 12 but with the mental capabilities of maybe an 8 month old, I figured that Ashta was pretty much vegetative- I couldn't imagine her having any sort of communication skills, intelligence, or personality. But I was beyond wrong! When standing, Ashta correctly placed each shape into its place in the sorter, and looked at her mother for approval each time she did it. And then she would look at me, wait for me to smile, and then would smile back. Her eyes are big and dark and had a lot to say. "Don't write me off," they seemed to be shouting. We spoke with the mother more, asking about Ashta's communication skills. Though she can't talk, she is able to communicate quite effectively with her family through a system of signs they have developed. "Is she a picky eater?" I asked. "No," replied her mother, "but she is a very picky dresser!" I was blown away by this. Apparently, Ashta will pick out her own outfits every day, and will very often fall in love with a few. She had a pair of black skinny jeans that she wanted to wear every day, and she would refuse to cooperate to be dressed unless she got to wear them. The mother got so sick of washing them every night that she sent her husband out to buy a few more identical pairs. But that didn't fool Ashta! She knew exactly which pair was her favorite and refused the others. This story did so much to humanize her for me. Because, honestly, what girl doesn't have a favorite pair of jeans?
We also learned that Ashta has two younger siblings, both of whom are healthy and are living with the father while Ashta is in treatment (side note: the family comes from a town 300 Km from Vellore, so Ashta and her mother are living at CMC for the 3 month duration of the therapy program while the rest of the family is at home). This was also something that struck me: though Ashta needs round-the-clock care, her parents still decided to have more children. This must take so much love and dedication from the parents. Plus, her siblings are BOYS! these might be the two most exhausted parents on the face of the Earth.
As we prepared to leave, Ashta looked at us and reached out her arm to shake our hands, something she might not have been able to do before her therapy started. "She might have been shy before," her mother said, "but from now on, she will remember you."
-Moriah
The therapist invited us to interact with the children and their mothers, introducing us to mother who she knew spoke English. The mother was there with her daughter Ashta, who had cerebral palsy. Ashta is 12, but is completely dependent on her mother as a full-time caretaker. The mother explained to us that when Ashta was born, she did not cry. This was their first indication that something was wrong. And following that, Ashta failed to reach a number of other milestones including speaking and walking. She was at CMC for therapy, which had already made a huge improvement in her quality of life. She was building up her muscles, becoming more patient with her parents, and becoming more tolerant of things that used to bug her.
Ashta was lying on the floor while we spoke with her mother, her very thin legs being strapped into braces in preparation for her therapy (she is working on standing). She watched us intently, but when her mother introduced us to her she smiled, rolled away from us, and covered her face. "She is shy," her mother said. Once the braces were strapped on, Ashta stood with the help of her mother and played with a shape-sorter box. Being 12 but with the mental capabilities of maybe an 8 month old, I figured that Ashta was pretty much vegetative- I couldn't imagine her having any sort of communication skills, intelligence, or personality. But I was beyond wrong! When standing, Ashta correctly placed each shape into its place in the sorter, and looked at her mother for approval each time she did it. And then she would look at me, wait for me to smile, and then would smile back. Her eyes are big and dark and had a lot to say. "Don't write me off," they seemed to be shouting. We spoke with the mother more, asking about Ashta's communication skills. Though she can't talk, she is able to communicate quite effectively with her family through a system of signs they have developed. "Is she a picky eater?" I asked. "No," replied her mother, "but she is a very picky dresser!" I was blown away by this. Apparently, Ashta will pick out her own outfits every day, and will very often fall in love with a few. She had a pair of black skinny jeans that she wanted to wear every day, and she would refuse to cooperate to be dressed unless she got to wear them. The mother got so sick of washing them every night that she sent her husband out to buy a few more identical pairs. But that didn't fool Ashta! She knew exactly which pair was her favorite and refused the others. This story did so much to humanize her for me. Because, honestly, what girl doesn't have a favorite pair of jeans?
We also learned that Ashta has two younger siblings, both of whom are healthy and are living with the father while Ashta is in treatment (side note: the family comes from a town 300 Km from Vellore, so Ashta and her mother are living at CMC for the 3 month duration of the therapy program while the rest of the family is at home). This was also something that struck me: though Ashta needs round-the-clock care, her parents still decided to have more children. This must take so much love and dedication from the parents. Plus, her siblings are BOYS! these might be the two most exhausted parents on the face of the Earth.
As we prepared to leave, Ashta looked at us and reached out her arm to shake our hands, something she might not have been able to do before her therapy started. "She might have been shy before," her mother said, "but from now on, she will remember you."
-Moriah
This story is awesome, sometime i will have to tell you about Aaliyah a student with cp and how she touched my life.
ReplyDeleteI would LOVE to hear it!
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