Life for seven-year-old Jad* is full of challenges. There are many areas in which he hasn’t reached developmental milestones. He has severe intellectual and psychomotor difficulties. Communicating with his parents has been extremely difficult as Jad is non-verbal and has weak motor activity and body coordination. He has also struggled with separation anxiety, becoming frustrated and throwing tantrums when apart from his mother.
Specialists from LSESD’s SKILD Center have been extensively working with Jad over the last year to enable him to start to overcome his difficulties and live a more fulfilling, independent life. They have provided him with speech therapy sessions and are helping him to develop motor, social, and communication skills.
Due to Jad’s severe case, making a difference has required many sessions. However, the progress Jad has made so far is phenomenal. At first, Jad’s separation anxiety meant his mother had to stay in his sessions at the SKILD Center. Our specialists introduced extra minutes to the sessions gradually so that he could learn to adapt to his mother not being there without feeling anxious. It has taken a long time, but thanks to the therapists’ dedication, Jad’s separation anxiety has recently stopped.
Jad’s mother had been very concerned that she would not be able to comprehend her son’s wants and needs. Through doing physical tasks such as crafts and activities, spending time in the play area and engaging in drama activities, Jad is now able to express emotions in his facial expressions and communicate what he wants through pointing his finger at objects. These tasks have not only improved his mobility and communications skills, but also increased his patience and attention span.
And that is not all! Jad has also overcome the fear he initially had of being in the sensory play area and the drama room. His therapist encouraged him to explore new spaces and materials. Now he is happy to initiate play and engagement with his therapist. He has also learned to do daily tasks like washing his hands and can play on his own. Jad’s quality of life, thanks to SKILD Center, has dramatically improved.
*Name changed
