Therapy Update

I wrote the therapy poem below while sitting in the waiting room at Isabel's new therapy place, called Amancay. (Amancay is the name of a hearty little flower that thrives in the harshness of Chile's Atacama desert. I thought that was such a cool and appropriate name!) It is a little yellow house with two main open rooms, one for physical therapy and another for occupational therapy. Today she spent a total of several hours there, receiving physical therapy and also being evaluated by the occupational therapist. The OT thinks "sensory integration" is important for Isabel, so among other things she gets her turn on a special swing they have for the children. It is very interesting to observe all the different elements to OT and PT. I think it takes a special person to provide this type of care. Isabel really enjoys it and cooperates, but often there are children who cry throughout their therapy or just don't want to come in at all.

Today Isabel asked me why there are some big kids who "act like babies." I knew right away she was referring to other patients she had observed at therapy. One teen has to crawl because his legs don't work properly. Another is strapped to a wheelchair. Others have slurred speech. The great thing about Isabel is that she asks these types of questions out of concern rather than ridicule. She has such a capacity for empathy and compassion! We talked about how she wears leg braces due to an injury on her brain, and how these other children also have brain injuries but to a greater extent.

It is such a reminder to be thankful!