Sunday, June 28, 2009

Heartfelt thanks to Evan and Andy, our latest volunteers from Washington State, USA, who have done a fantastic job with our students over the last couple of months. Evan, (a
massage practitioner) and Andy, (an occupational therapist), have both volunteered extensively on other projects, and their experience of teaching people with developmental and physical disabilities has proved really valuable.








They kept the students focussed with a great new range of teaching techniques - encouraging them to play learning-based games , test each other, (and their teachers!) and interpret raised diagrams. Thanks to Andy's rehabilitation and occupational health skills, they also now have individual home exercise programmes designed to address their particular needs (such as posture, strength, coordination and body awareness). They are all at least three-quarters of the way through their courses now and have shown huge improvement, scoring high in both practical and theory tests. The girls are proving to be the strongest of the group right now.






Pictured is Andy taking a theory class with the students, and Evan teaching anatomy and showing Chiran how to recognize Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS, a muscle disorder). We're delighted to hear they are already planning a return trip in 2010!

The clinic is now closed during the monsoon, with the students attending part time lessons with Chiran, our most experienced blind therapist, until our next set of volunteers arrive in August.