By Astrid Delleman | Coordinator
Siblings Daniel and Loyda have been with us from the beginning of the community home, and have since then done well. Before they joined us, they were malnourished, were used to sitting on the floor trapped in their own world, and gobbling up their food.
Since they joined us we have been intensively working with them to make contact with others. They now respond to the adapted and simple stimuli we provide; they are toilet-trained, barring the odd accident. Loyda has stopped putting most of her ring finger up her nose and does not lick her arms anymore the way a cat licks its paws.
At first Loyda found it difficult to get from the curb onto the road, but now she can even get up and down the stairs using the banister. Her stamina is improving by the week, and she has no trouble anymore getting in and out of a car. Her responses to others are still minimal, but she will look at people she knows if they appear in her field of vision.
Daniel has made more progress in communicating with his house mates. He can walk up to us and give someone a caress, clumsy as it may be, or put his arm around someone. It does not happen often, but he is definitely more focused than his sister on what is happening around him. All core members, including Daniel and Loyda, can fetch their plate of food from the kitchen and take the empty plate back. That’s a huge achievement, because it makes it easier for us to involve them in other activites as well.
Where is the limit?
The results come, but slowly, especially with Daniel and Loyda who have had no stimulation from anywhere for many years. They do not express themselves verbally. We have to closely watch them to know what they need and to respond to that. Working with them requires a lot of creativity to try out various methods and techniques to find out which ones work best. We hope of course to get to the point that Loyda and Daniel will be able to use a minimal vocabulary. But whether that is feasible? Who knows where the limits lie. Our philosophy is that it’s always wrong not to have tried.
Unfortunately, we are still dependent on generous donors!
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