Continuous Rehabilitation and Perseverance in the Goal... Sure Success
Soon after his birth, Amir's mother noticed that Amir struggled with the feeding process, in addition to a general lack of responsiveness. After being presented to a number of pediatricians, he was referred to the Child Rehabilitation Centre at the Jerusalem Princess Basma Centre to receive comprehensive rehabilitation and treatment services.
Amir's journey began at 11 months at the Basma Centre, where the staff provided him with comprehensive and intensive rehabilitation services through 6 residential admissions of 2-3 weeks, during which Amir gradually developed from a child who had difficulty responding, to a child who now explores the corridors of the Centre independently.
Amir's mother describes the many challenges she has faced and still faces as the mother of a child with a disability. Still, she says that Amir's progress instills her with hope and determination while explaining that she was able to understand her child's situation for the first time on her very first admission to the Basma Centre. Although he was transferred to the Basma Centre before receiving a precise diagnosis, the guidance from the medical staff at the Basma Centre were effective in clarifying the situation for the family, as they were instructed to make genetic tests, the results of which showed that Amir is a child with “Prader-Willi syndrome.”
Gradually, Amir was able to achieve tangible results following each admission. After the second admission, he was able to sit without assistance or support from anyone, after the third admission he began to crawl, after the fourth admission, he was able to stand, and after the fifth admission, he was able to walk a few steps. After his sixth stay, Amir was able to walk up and down stairs without assistance.
Amir's mother expressed delight that she receives various services and support through the Basma Centre. She described this mechanism of programing and service delivery as the best way to ensure that the child continues to receive services, whether at the Basma Centre or at partner centers in the field or through the follow-up program and Home Therapy Plan at home.
Amir's mother explained how the virtual care through the Telemedicine follow-up program has enriched the benefits of the Home Therapy Plan, and the multiple services offered at the Centre, by helping her to properly implement the Home Therapy Plan on her return, while also helping her to achieve the desired treatment goals more quickly by providing her with important guidance from the Basma Centre therapists. While they watch her carry out the treatments for her child, the remote care program allows her to clarify and understand anything which is challenging for her, especially since the program is delivered by a multidisciplinary team.
The recent success that Amir and his family have achieved, has prompted them to move forward together as one unit to achieve other goals and make further progress. Thus, the family has transformed their home into a treatment center where all the family are shadow therapists who offer treatments to Amir through play and as part of their daily lives, while Amir's mother shares the Home Therapy Plan with his kindergarten. There, the teachers also integrate Amir's program into the educational program with his peers participating and joining him in the implementation of the program.
Amir and his family are an ideal model of integration within the community, as the family create an exemplary, nurturing environment that supports the child's development and achievement of the most important accomplishments in the pursuit of equal opportunities to become an active person in society.
