Week 4:
Phu My Orphanage and Medical Clinic

July 15, 2014

This week I continued working with the children on the particular skills they need the most work on.  We are continuing the schedule of therapy that the staff and I began implementing last week.  We start the day off generally by conducting physical therapy.  This includes stretching the children and helping them develop their flexibility, coordination and working on their ability to walk.  Often we turn the therapy into a game for the child, such as playing with a ball or playing a game similar to pat- a – cake for hand coordination. Later we work with the children on puzzles, puzzle boxes and a Vietnamese game similar to chess.  Many of these are challenging  for the children and it forces them to develop cognitively and it works on their coordination as they often have to hold small or intricate pieces together.

We also work on the learning how to read and write.  This is a little hard for me to be to helpful as my Vietnamese is limited, but I am able to help check if the writing is legible or not.  I have also begun working with certain children on learning English, which just goes to show how truly intelligent the children are.  These children have already learned how to say general greetings and how to count to ten.  Teaching them English is rather unstructured compared to the other sections of the therapy as I am on my own in teaching them.  Given this I got some work books, and plan on teaching them something fun like the English names for animals.

This leads to another thought I have had about Vietnamese Culture, I find it incredibly sad that many of these children are extremely capable yet are not in school or given an opportunity to work.  Several of these kids are working on becoming bilingual yet are not allowed into the school systems in Vietnam.  Many children are considered incompetent because of a physical limitation.  I feel that the disabled population is very misunderstood in Vietnam.

Overall the placement has been very good, and now that it’s four weeks into therapy I am beginning to see some noticeable changes in the children’s behavior.  For instance one of the children that I work with on feeding has begun to understand commands and is well on his way to being able to feed himself.  The physical therapist and I have also worked on helping the same child learn to walk.  The progress has been slow and he almost seemed unresponsive yet this week he has begun trying to use his legs and trying to stand.  Another child’s ability to walk has dramatically improved, he has begun to support more of his own weight, yet he still needs work on his balance.

Progress has been slower with the children who have Cerebral Palsy, this is mostly due to the children having more physical disfigurement especially with their legs.  Often stretching is extremely hard for the children, let alone walking.   The work with the Autistic children has also been difficult, as many of the children still do not respond to proper social cues.  Yet there is some signs of progress, a smile here or there or recognition of  a name or word.  I feel that the Autistic children need much more work and attention than thirty or forty minute sessions we give them.  Yet I am excited to see the development of the kids in the upcoming weeks.