Our Captain Dennis now has grown up to a 17- years old handsome teenager. Dennis is the eldest among his 3 siblings. He was brought up by his grandparents. Dennis has been in the DBMH program from the age of 7 and his teachers often comment on his great progress and achievement. Dennis is living proof that these are no disabilities that can hold a person back to living up to their full potential. The future holds endless possibilities for Dennis, and he is capable of achieving great things with the ongoing love, support, and guidance from his teachers.
Dennis is a premature baby, born with bilateral thumbs hypoplasia with left radial hypoplasia. Followed with visual impairment secondary to retinopathy of prematurity. Dennis also has learning difficulties as well.
He is able to hear with both ears and responds when his name is called. He will move towards you and locate the source of the sound. He has no problems communicating with his teachers and friends but there are still improvements to be done to the clarity of his speech. He recognizes his teachers and friends by touch and is always ready for a conversation. Perhaps, he might need extra support from the class teachers or speech therapist to improve his speech because the intonation and pitch are unclear.
His wrist bones on both hands are deformed with small thumbs on both hands. His thumbs do not function at all. He has adapted to using only four fingers on one hand well so that he is able to pick up small objects. He can hold a spoon in one hand and can hold a cup using both hands.
Captain Dennis is an independent boy who is able to shower, dress, and feed himself. He is also able to follow instruction and daily routine on his own. He loves to dance and listen to music. He also can send clothes to the laundry and collect it by himself.
This cute little girl is an eight-year-old from Penang. She is the eldest child and has two siblings. Her father is an independent business man. And the mother is a primary school teacher. She was born with a condition known as glaucoma. It is an eye disease that is often associated with elevated intraocular pressure in which damage to the eye (optic) can lead to loss of vision and even blindness. She was born with no eye ball. Due to her poor condition, she needs assistance to manage her daily routine.
When Rosy arrived at our home, she could not stand and walk. Her father always brought her using a baby pram stroller. She was very dependent on the family especially her father. She also felt insecure and was afraid to walk independently.
In the beginning, she was too afraid to stand, as teacher we faced difficulties to make her stand independently without helping without holding onto anything. The teachers were constantly focused to make her physically fit before we could start her basic lesson plan. We also focused on her cognitive skills to make her improve herself such as matching similar and threading beads. She is a quick learner.
In addition, we are giving her several techniques during physiotherapy treatments to own. The physiotherapy treatments that we are enable providing her include stretching exercises to help the muscles be more elastic and toned. Correct posture treatment also is given to prevents fatigue because muscles are being used more efficiently. We always give her walking gait therapy to alternate sinuous movements of different segments of the body with least expenditure of energy. Manipulation therapy to treat musculoskeletal pain and disability; it is mostly kneading and manipulation of muscles, joint mobilization and joint manipulation. And we are also practicing hydrotherapy as a musculoskeletal disorders such as arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, or spinal cord injuries and spasticity.
Rosy has made lots of progress in the past six months at St Nicholas Home. Nowadays, she is able to stand and sit by herself and needs little guidance. She is able to walk around the dining table without any assistance, use her hands forward and sideways, stand up and move from one position to another. However, the most significant improvement is that she is able to stand steadily and independently. We are planning to train her using mobility device so that she can lead an independent life in future. We are also very encouraged by her parents who have taken a step forward rosy development.
Your generous donations contribute towards the growth and self-confident our children an active role in her. Your kind support helps these children get a better future desire being physically challenged. We hope that you will continue to show your compassion for them.
“GIVING IS NOT JUST ABOUT MAKE A DONATION, IT’S ABOUT MAKING A DIFFERENCE”
Thank you for changing their future!
Low vision is a condition caused by eye disease and cannot be corrected with regular eyeglasses or medical surgery. Children can have low vision due to birth defect or injury. They may face difficulties in learning and requires special instruction and need help in developing socializing skills.
Born on 1st of October 2012, doctor diagnosed her with Congenital Rubella and Glaucoma which caused her to have low vision and hearing impairment. She joined St. Nicholas’ Home in August 2019 and became teachers’ and classmates’ favourite student.
It was a challenge for her teachers to start working on developing her gross and fine motor sensory and cognitive skills as Sze Ling is a hyperactive child. Sze Ling able to communicate with teachers and her friends by using sign language and body gestures.
Being at St. Nicholas’ Home for the past 5 months, she has become familiar with her classroom and dormitory environment. Besides that, she also showed some improvement in her daily activities where she is able to threading beads and also fix screws and nuts. In addition, she loves to jump on the trampoline loves playing with her friends .
She is focusing on threading beads
Sze Ling with her teacher during her classroom activity
Children like Sze Ling can achieve higher through your generous donation. Thus, continue your endless support to our home. Your small contribution can make huge difference.
“Children with special needs come into our lives , leaving footprints on our hearts, and we are never the same .”
Ravin’s Journey of Discoveries
(By E.Stephanie Ann – DBMH Teacher)
Ravin (Name Changed) a 12 Years old boy, was born with visual and hearing impairment due to Congenital Rubella Syndrome. He stayed with his mother till the age of 7 before enrolling at St. Nicholas’ Home, Penang. In December 2018, his father passed away due to some health condition. Ravin’s mother went through a lot of struggles in raising him as a special need child.
“Now, my son eats on his own and able to communicate with us using sign language and body gestures. As a mother, I’m happy to see my son’s progress upon being taught at the Deaf-Blind and Multi Handicapped Programme at St. Nicholas’s Home,” Ravin’s mother shared.
Ravin who lived within the four walls of his home was reluctant to get engaged in outdoor activities. He did not have a proper exposure as how a normal child should have. It was a great challenge for his teachers to start working on developing his gross and fine motor sensory and cognitive skills as Ravin is a hyperactive child. In order to enhance his communication skills, we integrated sign language into his Individual Education Plan (IEP).
Within four month of joining St. Nicholas’ Home, Ravin gradually showed improvements in his daily activities. He is able to focus longer on activities especially his favorite ones such as jumping on the trampoline, playing with water and grains which gives different textures for him to feel. Besides that, Ravin loves playing and wrestling with his best friend Jimmy who is also deaf and blind since born.
Currently, we are assisting Ravin to perform his daily activities with less help from the teachers. This is an early stage for him to learn things and we do believe by doing so, it will be helpful for him to be more independent in future.
This voluntary project was beyond my expectation. I was given a chance to be a voluntary teacher in Deaf-Blind and Multi Handicapped (DBMH) program in St. Nicholas Home, Penang, Malaysia. During this project, I assisted the children in doing daily routines and taught them basic knowledge in English. Among all children, Siti is the one that I concerned a lot. She was born in April 25th 2001. She is visually impaired, nasal deformed, and having a growth delay. Siti has become a part of St. Nicholas Home since she was eight years old after her grandfather was unable to take care of her anymore. There is no exact news from her parents, as I know, her mother left her and gave her to the grandfather.
At the first time she was sent to St. Nicholas Home, she wasn’t able to speak, walk, and even chew her food. She was having a malnutrition and weight loss below average. As the time passed by, St. Nicholas Home provides therapy and education to her until she is able to walk, speak, and eat by herself even though she is still facing difficulties in chewing foods. The teachers have to make sure that the foods are edible enough for her. Normally, we minced and shredded the food first before she eats, so that she can just swallow it easily.
Siti is a lovable and cheerful teenager. She always says greetings to teachers and her friends every morning. She can sing and dance to her favorite songs. She will get really excited when Chicken Dance song is playing. Moreover, she can easily understand basic knowledge such as numbers, name of the months, daily routines, name of the animals, and many more by listening to songs and practicing her tactile sense. Usually, I always ask her to count using English and Malay whenever she plays her ‘Egg toys’ and she can do it successfully. I’m so proud of her.
As can be seen from her story, we should be grateful of what God has given to us. Despite of her disabilities, she can improve her skills and passion. Her imperfection is not a limitation for her in getting a better future. She always smiles in happiness even though she has a tough life. Her story has become an inspiration for us all to keep doing our best in living our life no matter how hard it can be.
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