Early Intervention for Children in Guatemala

During the second quarter of 2022 a total of 300 therapies for 48 children were served. 3 new children join our program this quarter. Our work is based on individual needs and objectives from each child, their stablished plans are followed to ensure the best results. An assessment with each child were developed during this quarter to ensure the follow up.

Group therapies were developed with more participants, an interesting and positive issue from those group therapies is that every child with disability is inviting their cousin, brother, neighbor to participate, as result, a very diverse group, where children with and without disability share and support other children and between them to show the best of each one. This is an amazing change for us as an organization due to a couple of years ago people were thinking very different about children with disability and their coexistence and participation with other children without disability. 

Beside of group therapies, other activities are being implemented to strength independence of children in their daily activities, as hygiene, cook, feeding, cleaning home and others, all those activities has been very well received from children and their families. 

AZARIAS life Story

The Azarias story began when he was born, the doctors identify him with cleft lip and cleft palate, since that day the family were very worry about Azarias in his development, they searched for help, support and information at ADISA, where Azarias started his process and surgeries to improve his condition. After 3 years and his surgeries and all the medical procedures, Azarias was included in our early intervention program in October 2021. Azarias was afraid to talk and to communicate with other people. All this situation created a big difficult for Azarias to interact with others, follow instructions and understand directions. 

An assessment were developed in January 2022 to know his actual situation, as result a delay in his languaje development was identify and a kind of hypersensibility with different textures. His parents also share with us that sometimes Azarias is feeling different sensations with food and its textures. 

We are working with Azarias in a holistic approach including sensory integration, activities that stimulate the touch, vestibular sense, language, proprioception, taste, vision, hearing. At beginning, Azarias showed a lot of resistance, but during the therapies he started to participate and collaborate of active manner, he is now playing with different textures, his language had improved a lot, he is pronouncing words, building sentences and answering and participating in conversations. Now he no longer has shame or frustrations.

Azarias is participating with other children in individual and group therapies, he is proposing activities to develop, his food and independence has improved a lot, he likes his therapies, he loves to play and to identify colors, shapes, numbers and the alphabet. His family is supporting Azarias in home, his traying to spell words in Spanish ans in Tzutujil his mayan language. Azarias is progressing in his plan, he and his family are waiting for a new surgery, it was not possible yet due to lack of money and other resources.