Roaming around a foreign country alone is difficult,
especially when the language spoken is not your native. This difficulty is
multiplied exponentially when you add in attempting to teach at a school for
children with disabilities. I wish more than anything that I had a more
extensive vocabulario de Espanol… but I have been doing what I can despite this
challenge. Each day this week, I had the opportunity to help in every
classroom: first, second, third and fourth. The children are absolutely
precious, and there is so much to be done for them. The teachers and caregivers
are truly angels in their ability to emanate patience in all interactions with
the children. Patience is the first and most important aspect of my
volunteering and teaching experience. I can only hope that the children have
just as much patience for me as I try to have for them. Each child craves
constant attention which is just not possible between the teacher and me. This
many times results in behavioral outbursts followed by slight chaos (for
example, Racael spit in my face today and then proceeded to throw the pencil
sharpeners behind the bookshelf. It is a constant challenge to explain how
lessons are important, when to them they are writing a letter over and over and
don’t care why). The children are at varying levels of developmental abilities in
each of the classrooms. This was initially frustrating for me to watch; however,
after I thought about it I realized that this is reflective of every American classroom
as well. Not all children are equal in ability. I have a completely new respect
for the work of teachers in their ability to problem-solve and adjust lessons
appropriately. From a therapeutic standpoint, I find myself always wanting to
spend extra time with each child to address a myriad of difficulties, but many
times the time simply does not exist. Principle Lizeth and I are working together
to create a schedule that may allow some individual time for each child as well
as time for specific therapeutic interventions rather than simply classroom
guidance. Many times the classroom activities are far above the appropriate
level of some children and well below the level for others. Along with the varying
levels of executive functioning, for some children there exist physical
disabilities along with learning disabilities. Individualized care is so important,
but the hands simply do not exist to provide it. This challenges us all to
create lessons and therapeutic interventions which are do-able. All of the very
generous donations will come in handy for this! I gave away my first piece of
equipment yesterday: the yoga mat. Thank you to whoever donated this! It went
to a very needing and grateful home. Gabriel and his father were overjoyed and
said, “Thank you to God for the angels who continue to look over us.” The story
of Gabriel…
Gabriel presents with what appears to be cerebral palsy;
however, his dad explains that he was diagnosed with a dysfunction of the spinal
cord. Gabriel is 14 and in the first grade, though he is a quick learner and
hard worker. My understanding of him being in the first grade is that he has
never attended school; therefore, although he has an understanding of material
far above this level, he still needs to learn some of the basic material taught
in this grade. Most challenges for Gabriel are physical, as cognitively his
is able to communicate, learn and problem solve. He has spent the majority of
his life in a wheelchair, which becomes quickly more obvious as I ask to remove
him and place him on a mat on my first day at Los Gozosos. His legs are
contracted at 90 degrees of knee flexion, which appears to be fixed. He told me
that he has never spent time standing up, even in a supported position. I
quickly moved to create a home exercise program which he is in charge of but
requires the help of his father to complete. Gabriel’s mother passed away
unexpectedly last year, so his father is the sole provider and caregiver for
Gabriel and his sister Mirna. Mirna is also a student at Los Gozosos, and she
is deaf. Gabriel’s father expressed wanting to provide therapy for Gabriel
but not knowing how or what to do. The program was reviewed with Gabriel and
given to one of the world race participants who said she would translate it for
me. The premise of this program is to allow him time out of his chair to
complete stretching and strengthening including scapular, shoulder, elbow,
wrist, trunk, neck, pelvis, knees and ankles. Each of these are joints which we
move on a regular basis through everyday activities; however, when confined to
a wheelchair, many remain unused… hence his contractures. Gabriel said he
enjoyed the exercises and is thankful for his new yoga mat on which to do them.
I am hoping that these home exercises as well as the work I do with him at the
school with allow him to regain motion and strength which will in turn grant
him more independence and function to complete everyday activities. He is such
a sweet little boy. He asked his father (an IT employee at the local bible
seminary) to help him create the video which I have linked below. I have no
doubt that with his continued hard work and perseverance Gabriel will
continue to inspire those around him and accomplish great things.
The girls from the world race who went to visit his house took a couple pictures, and so I share them with you :)
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| Gabriel and his sister Mirna. This is a power wheelchair which is a better option for him, but unfortunately it cannot be transported to the school, so he uses a manual one there. |
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| Lindsey from the world race working with Gabriel on the exercises I gave her to show his father. We'll continue to work on these during sessions at school. Thank you again for the yoga mat! |
Watch Gabriel's Video Here
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