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Inner Mongolia Reflection

2015-05-15 Olivia's Place Comments Off , ,
by Joyce Fok, Speech-Language Pathologist, Olivia's Place

by Joyce Fok, Speech-Language Pathologist, Olivia’s Place

Inner Mongolia is a world away from the metropolises that I’ve lived in. This province gave me a sense of peace that I haven’t experienced since moving to Shanghai this winter. Within this province, we visited the special needs classroom at an orphanage. This was the first orphanage I’ve ever visited, as orphanages do not exist in Canada. The orphanage exuded a warmth and love in its brightly colored walls and rooms, and the ayis’ teachable attitudes, however the charm that this orphanage held lay within the bright smiles of each of its children.

After an 8 hour, overnight train ride, our team (2 speech-language pathologists  and an administrative staff member who is in training to be a speech therapy assistant) arrived in the city where the orphanage was located (specific details about this orphanage are not provided at the request of the orphanage). There we met up with our SLP lead from Shanghai and our contacts from the orphanage. Although we had no formal schedule for therapy or training for our visit to the orphanage, we were all eager to meet the children and the ayis… and to determine just how we could be of use to the orphanage.

Within the first 30 minutes of arriving at the orphanage, we had set up an observation and training schedule. The children’s ages ranged from a few months to 8 years old, presenting with cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, cleft lip and palate, and global developmental delays.

Frangie Yan, a member of our administrative team, works with a child in Inner Mongolia

Frangie Yan, a member of our administrative team, works with a child in Inner Mongolia

We spent the first day observing how the ayis interacted with and taught the children in the two therapy rooms, and observing the foster families. The second day was spent providing specific feeding and early language stimulation strategies and training to the ayis and foster families. The evenings were spent debriefing and planning for the following day. It was a busy two days!

The highlight of my first trip to this orphanage was spending time playing and practicing my early language stimulation skills with the children. As a new speech therapist, I was amazed at how using early language stimulation strategies actually elicits more sounds and interaction from the children. Although all of the children were nonverbal, each of them found alternate ways to connect with me. The key was to find and to elicit the appropriate level of communication, be it a laugh, eye contact, or a sound. It was my greatest joy to see their eyes light up and their joyous laughter when they connected with me and with others.

I am looking forward to returning to Inner Mongolia and seeing the children’s bright smiles again!


Orphanage Staff in Inner Mongolia Empowered Through Therapy Training

2014-12-17 Olivia's Place Comments Off
Olivia's Place Speech-Language Pathologist Angela Gong works with an infant during her recent trip to Inner Mongolia

Olivia’s Place Assistant General Manager, Heidi Gao, works with an infant during her recent trip to Inner Mongolia

In May 2014, three staff members from Olivia’s Place, Heidi Gao (Assistant General Manager), Angela Gong (Speech-Language Pathologist), and Lis Ringrose (Physical Therapist/Clinical Director), spent three days at a children’s welfare center in Inner Mongolia, working alongside staff who are currently assisting the welfare center by helping to train staff and develop their practices. The welfare center is home to more than 200 children, from infants up to the age of 18, some of whom are developing normally and others who have diagnoses such as cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, cleft palate, and children with sensory needs. The orphanage works with an organization that provides supplemental resources in the form of staff training, infant formula, and additional staffing. They have collaborated and formed a model room with a lower staff to child ratio for children with more complex special needs who require more care.

Our team working with local therapists and caregivers.

Our team working with local therapists and caregivers.

During their trip, our team trained local therapists and ayis (caregivers). Due to the high child to staff ratio at the center, Lis and Angela focused on training the local therapists in group therapy techniques to provide support for the greatest number of children in the therapists’ limited time. Lis helped the therapists create a positioning program to work with six to eight children in a group where the children would rotate to a different position at set intervals. Once the children were positioned in their groups, Angela showed the therapists that language activities can be implemented while the children are in their positions. The local therapy team appreciated that positioning and speech goals could be targeted simultaneously and with a group of children.

Our team came away with wonderful memories from their trip. This was Heidi’s first experience volunteering at a children’s welfare center and she commented that what she will remember most is the experience of working over several days in a group home environment. She worked with a seven month old girl and helped her learn to roll over in just two days, with her attention and support. Lis’ most memorable experience was seeing the welfare center therapists learn to do a group session and realize how many children they could help within the time restrictions they have. For Angela, the most impactful moments were when the local therapists realized that they could simultaneously train positioning with the children while addressing occupational and speech-language therapy goals.

In August 2014, Angela returned to the orphanage because she wanted to ensure sustainability of the work started and she also
missed the children. She spent two days at the orphanage, primarily in the model room with the ayis. The ayis and Angela jointly

A therapist from the center works with infants

A therapist from the center works with infants

created a daily schedule that incorporated activities that promote interaction and gross motor and language skills development. One activity involved rolling a ball between children to promote communication skills while they were in a therapeutic position (e.g., standing while using braces, lying on the tummy to improve trunk control). Another activity involved the children racing to get a prize by crawling, rolling, scooting, or walking). The head ayi commented that she and the other ayis have a great responsibility to care for the children, appreciated the support provided, and felt more equipped to help the children.

How can you help? Therapists can volunteer to travel to Inner Mongolia on one of our team’s future trips as they provide more training. Community members can donate money for much needed therapy equipment. To become involved in this project, please contact Lis Ringrose.

 


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