Tuesday with the Sensory Team

Tuesday: Sensory Team at Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos

Quote of the day:

No andes por el camino trazado, pues te conducir a únicamente hacia donde fueron los otros.

Don’t walk the way that has been walked because it will only take you where others have been.

-Alexander Graham Bell

The day began on a sad note with the news that our friend Chris had to go home early. He severely sprained his ankle and needed to have access to more advanced medical treatment than is readily available in this area. We will miss him greatly and wish him the best of luck and a speedy recovery!

The sensory team spent the day at Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos, the same location that the wheelchair team visited yesterday, to evaluate the children that the staff identified as needing the most attention for sensory issues such as feeding, sensory stimulation, and calming techniques. When we first arrived, we were very impressed with the size and quality of the facility that houses around 350 children, 24 of whom have special needs. Our team split into two groups, one for sensory work and another to work specifically on feeding issues. Two of the staff members, Daniella, an occupational therapist, and Ellen, a teacher, observed and worked with us all day to learn from our therapists, answer our questions, and educate the tías (caregivers) about new care techniques.

One of the most interesting and moving cases of the day was Fernanda, a fifteen year old girl who appeared to be around seven to us. She had only ever been fed using a bottle and had severe oral defensiveness, not allowing anything in her mouth. After working with her for a while, it was decided that, unfortunately, she needed to keep feeding with the bottle in order to receive some nutrition but in order to reduce defensiveness it would be beneficial to massage her gums every day. It was extremely hard to make a recommendation that balanced what our goals were for her and what would be most realistic and achievable for her and her caregivers.

On a lighter note, something that brought a little laughter into the day, was Melissa working with a little boy who was deaf and did not know sign language. We had already attempted American Sign Language and realized how futile it was since he didn’t know Sign Language. As she was trying to communicate with him, Melissa took it a step further and she was speaking to him in English as well before someone noticed and asked her what she was trying to accomplish by using two languages he didn’t know! We’ve spent a lot of time switching between languages and it tends to get pretty confusing at times.

As a whole, today was a continuation of what has been an extremely rewarding and eye-opening adventure. We saw and experienced things that we could never have anticipated both good and bad. Tomorrow, as we spend the day with the organization Behrhorst, which provides grey water systems, latrines, and stoves to rural areas, we hope to continue learning and seeing new and amazing things.

With love,

Mabel (student) & Carol (faculty)