Provide 500 therapy sessions to disabled children

 As we progress into 2023, we have been reflecting on all the successes KCDC has made over the past year. We are so proud of our dedicated team and how much they achieved, in spite of the rising cost of living and an Ebola outbreak that restricted our community visits.

Here are some of our 2022 Therapy & Rehabilitation highlights. We:

o   Provided a total of 11,295 therapy sessions to more than 2,000 children with a range of physical, intellectual and communication disabilities. This included:

• 1,666 occupational therapy sessions.
• 482 orthopaedic sessions.
• 2,404 physiotherapy sessions.
• 1,927 speech & language therapy sessions.
• 628 psychosocial support sessions
• 1,021 nutrition sessions.

o   Provided epilepsy management services to 239 children with disabilities and their caregivers.

The following is one of the many cases that we made great progress on in 2022:

In 2019, Davis was only 11 months old when his mother started to think something was wrong. Davis had features of moderate cerebral palsy, and his mother told KCDC, “he is my firstborn, and I feel sad, but I will be very glad if my child learns to speak, walk and enrols in school.”

At Assessment:

During the assessment, Davis was able to sit, reach for objects and explore. However, he could not stand independently and did not attempt word utterance or babbling. He was also unable to identify objects and people by their names or follow simple situational instructions. Davis had difficulty controlling his saliva, and his shirt was always wet.

Interventions:

Our team at KCDC recommended physiotherapy and occupational therapy to improve gross and fine motor milestones, as well as speech and language therapy to improve communication and saliva management.

Results:

Davis is now 6 years old and can not only walk but run. He also communicates his needs through short phrases of up to 3 words. He follows instructions and helps his mother with errands. He controls his saliva, and his shirt is kept neat and dry. His mother has reported that “now I am a happy mum; my child is attending a nearby school”.

Next Steps:

Our team at KCDC is continuing to support Davis and is ensuring that he continues speech therapy to improve his communication. He will soon be having a follow-up with a special needs teacher in order to receive more learning support. We can’t wait to see all of Davis’ progress in 2023!

In short, we would like to give a massive thank you to you all for helping us to make all of this happen. We are so appreciative of all the donations we have already received and could not do anything that we do without you. Thank you so much for all your support!