First of all, happy birthday to my brother, Michael!
Last Thursday, an occupational therapist from Quito came to work for the morning and we fit about seven kids for activity chairs. They will be brought to the kids´ homes to be used for meals and playing. A total of 16 chairs were ordered as some of the kids were not able to come. This will be awesome for those families since a lot of these kids spend most of their day either onthe floor or strapped to their mother´s side by a sheet. An activity chair will allow them to be at the height of others while promoting proper positioning of the body. The kids will use them until they do not fit and then bring them in for another kid to use. I am excited for the delivery in a few months!
I am working at PediHabilidad, for those who don´t know the name. There is a website to check out for more info. It is open from 8-4:30, Monday through Friday and kids are scheduled about every half hour. Most kids come every week or every other week. Others come less frequently as they may travel three hours for their session. Services are free. The schedule can get confusing because it seems not everyone comes consistently or just not necessarily at their scheduled time. This is hard for me to follow however having a schedule is not typical for people here. If they need to see a doctor, they come get in line as early as 5am, and may not be able to get an appointment.
I have finally developed my OT eval and progress note so I have been seeing kids before or after their physical therapy session as needed. The primary diagnoses are cerebral palsy, down syndrome, and developmental delay. Many of them are very low level, meaning they are dependent to eat, get dressed, play, and even hold their head up. This has been quite the change from my last job as progress can be slow with children, they will be receiving therapy for years, and it is hard for them to understand the benefits of therapy - so they cry. I realize I have a lot to learn.
This past weekend was a lot of fun. On Friday, we went out for pizza because it was the PT students last day and then we went out to a bar for a bit. On Saturday, we went white water rafting. A friend of Gaby´s is a guide so he took us out on the river with another boat and a few kayakers. I don´t even know how best to describe it, but it was a ton of fun and so beautiful! There was lots of laughing amidst the waves and it was a beautiful day to be out. We stopped midway for lunch where there was a spread of food laid out on banana leaves to make tortillas. The leftover were given to the neighborhood kids waiting for their treat.
On Sunday, I went all around town with Katie, her host mom Pilar, and Pilar´s friend Cecilia. We visited a couple of the fancy hostals, just to see them, and went to two gorgeous waterfalls. We swam in one and just took some pictures at the other. I could have easily spent a whole day there as the scenery was incredible and the water was refreshing. We were fortunate to have these ladies introduce us to some of the more hidden treasures.
Last Thursday, an occupational therapist from Quito came to work for the morning and we fit about seven kids for activity chairs. They will be brought to the kids´ homes to be used for meals and playing. A total of 16 chairs were ordered as some of the kids were not able to come. This will be awesome for those families since a lot of these kids spend most of their day either onthe floor or strapped to their mother´s side by a sheet. An activity chair will allow them to be at the height of others while promoting proper positioning of the body. The kids will use them until they do not fit and then bring them in for another kid to use. I am excited for the delivery in a few months!
I am working at PediHabilidad, for those who don´t know the name. There is a website to check out for more info. It is open from 8-4:30, Monday through Friday and kids are scheduled about every half hour. Most kids come every week or every other week. Others come less frequently as they may travel three hours for their session. Services are free. The schedule can get confusing because it seems not everyone comes consistently or just not necessarily at their scheduled time. This is hard for me to follow however having a schedule is not typical for people here. If they need to see a doctor, they come get in line as early as 5am, and may not be able to get an appointment.
I have finally developed my OT eval and progress note so I have been seeing kids before or after their physical therapy session as needed. The primary diagnoses are cerebral palsy, down syndrome, and developmental delay. Many of them are very low level, meaning they are dependent to eat, get dressed, play, and even hold their head up. This has been quite the change from my last job as progress can be slow with children, they will be receiving therapy for years, and it is hard for them to understand the benefits of therapy - so they cry. I realize I have a lot to learn.
This past weekend was a lot of fun. On Friday, we went out for pizza because it was the PT students last day and then we went out to a bar for a bit. On Saturday, we went white water rafting. A friend of Gaby´s is a guide so he took us out on the river with another boat and a few kayakers. I don´t even know how best to describe it, but it was a ton of fun and so beautiful! There was lots of laughing amidst the waves and it was a beautiful day to be out. We stopped midway for lunch where there was a spread of food laid out on banana leaves to make tortillas. The leftover were given to the neighborhood kids waiting for their treat.
On Sunday, I went all around town with Katie, her host mom Pilar, and Pilar´s friend Cecilia. We visited a couple of the fancy hostals, just to see them, and went to two gorgeous waterfalls. We swam in one and just took some pictures at the other. I could have easily spent a whole day there as the scenery was incredible and the water was refreshing. We were fortunate to have these ladies introduce us to some of the more hidden treasures.
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