Equip deafblind children with skills for life!

Siti was diagnosed at the age of 8 with Global Development Delay ( a medical condition which causes delays in all areas of a child’s development). Siti’ s  growth is lagging and stunted; so she is no bigger than a normal person  3-4 year –old child. Siti was also born with no eyes and some facial deformities.

St. Nicholas’ Home came to know about Siti from the Social Welfare Department in mid 2008. Siti was 8 years of age then.  St. Nicholas subsequently include Siti in the Early Intervention Programme for half a year, before moving Siti to the Deaf – Blind & Multi- Handicapped Programme (DBMH) in 2009.

When Siti first arrived at the Home, she was not able to walk. She had lived with her grandfather in a small town. As both of them were practically living from hand to mouth, it was understandable that Siti was malnourished and weak when we first saw her. Through out her growing years her loving grandfather had carried her about thinking that Siti was immobile.

After 6 months at St. Nicholas’ Home, Siti had made significant improvement that changed her life. She had learnt to walk with the help of Home‘s dedicated teachers engage in the DBMH programme. Siti could walk confidently and with little help.

The Home fed her on a soft diet for a year before weaning Siti to solid food. In a short time, Siti had learnt to recognize teachers and staff by their  voices and could cheerfully address each of them loudly by name. Siti can now spell her name verbally. Everyday she eats and drinks on her own and dresses herself with minimum assistance.

Siti is the pride and joy of all of us here at the home as she blossoms and takes on learning daily living skills in big
strides!

Links:

• http://www.snh.org.my