First Day of Therapy
Today is the first formal day of therapy! Yesterday our team
assessed 78 infants and toddlers. The assessment included an observation
of basic things: sucking,swallowing, & feeding, trunk control, eye
contact & ability to track, responding to name and sound, imitation
of movement and sound or speech, and basic cognitive abilities.
Instead of using formal standardized assessments or checklists, we
relied on things we have learned and experienced. The graduate students
were assigned their "clients", although the word "clients" seems odd in
this setting because they are more like "our babies". The evening was
spent planning for tomorrow's sessions.
One of the
exciting moments for me yesterday was discovering that several of the
nipples used on the bottles were cracked or had wholes in them. One
of our leading team experts in feeding and swallowing showed the Aunties
what to look for and explained why it is so critical to have a "good"
nipple. This simple observation will make a profound difference in the
infant's sucking/swallowing abilities, nutrition, and overall health.
What a revelation!
Yes, we really do take things for granted!
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment