Early Intervention for Children in Guatemala

This report corresponds to the May-July 2017 quarter. As of this writing, ADISA has expanded its program to work with 32 girls and 46 boys, providing support to a total of 76 children (age 6 or younger) with different disabilities. 

Each child is attended to according to the specific needs they present. In this report, we will focus on one particularly important program for our young children with development delays: early stimulation.

In this program, our educators perform an assessment according to the portage guide for early education, evaluating patients in communication and language, social-emotional development, learning approaches, motor activities and sensory organization. With this assessment, our specialists are able to identify the needs of each child and customize each session according to their needs. Each 30 minute session is done in the presence of the mother, father or caretaker so that family members understand how to carry out therapy for their child when ADISA cannot be there to help. Early stimulation sessions occur either in the ADISA classroom or at the home of the child according to the needs of each family. 

Featured story:

Maria is three years old and live in Canton Tzanjuyú, in Santiago Atitlán. At home, she lives with her father Salvador, mother Dolores, and her older sister. In February of this year, she began to walk, and resumed taking early stimulation classes. 

Although she is 3 years old, ADISA noticed that she was not developing at the same pace as other children her age. Her development was consistent with the stimulation program for children a year younger. We also observed that she has trouble comprehending speech and are currently evaluating her hearing. 

Since reimmersing in early stimulation therapy, she has made a lot of progress. She has begun to make sounds, express feelings, develop greater hand-eye control, follow simple instructions, interact with other children, and has developed much greater mobility. We are excited to see her continued progress!  

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The services provided by ADISA have been increased to guarantee and improve the quality of life for children with disabilities.

We are currently attending 32 girls and 46 children with a total of 78 children under 6 years old with different disabilities, each child has a file where the general report can be found; The personal and family life conditions, the medical and psychological examinations and evaluations of the Portage guide performed to determine the diagnosis, all this is reviewed by the multidisciplinary team who draw up an intervention plan according to the needs of each child reflecting the service /therapy we provide to improve their quality of life.

Among the services /therapies they receive are: medical follow up, physiotherapy, psychology, speech therapy, animal assisted therapy, and timely intervention classes. We also try to encourage the participation of families.

In September 2016, Dereck, a child participating in the cerebral palsy group died of cardiac arrest. The mothers of the same group heard the tragedy, they came together to support the family that suffered the loss, they were collaborators among themselves and with the other groups.

With the help of the group also offering their moral support, this 2017 Dereck's mother joined the group again to support the other mothers, mainly new mothers. We have seen that mothers and fathers are more participative and they’re more motivated in learning how to improve the quality of life of their children.

In the cerebral palsy group, we work according to the guide "Familiarizándose con la Parálisis Cerebral " (Familiarizing with Cerebral Palsy),whose content is one of the means that helps us to teach families simple but clear instructions and guidelines for acquiring everyday life skills.