Operation Mercy's Community Based Rehabilitation project in Kazakhstan aims to increase capacity and quality of life of people with disabilities.
Ali is an eight-year-old active, smart and sometimes challenging boy who has right sided hemiplegia. His mom died two years ago and a few weeks after he came to live with his aunt, she brought him to see us. Our goals for him were to increase his independence in his activities of daily living through increased balance and coordination and the use of his right hand. The challenge was working with the aunt to ensure that a home program was followed. Getting Ali to do exercises at home was a challenge for her, so we tried to find ways to incorporate these into his daily activities like giving him a ball to sit on while he watches TV and encouraging him to get out the apartment to play on the swing set and climbing equipment.
We were delighted that on their third visit to us the aunt told us that she is no longer helping Ali to brush his teeth anymore, he is doing it himself. These small acts of independence are difficult for Ali to achieve and we are encouraged by his and his aunt’s following through with our advice and persevering.
