Therapy Day 8: Gwenbe

We have had a special task while here. Well let me rephrase that. Meghan, one of the students has a special task. She is working with a 17-ish (estimated age) year old mentally retarded young man named Gwenbe. Did you ever get frustrated because your kiddo has special needs and sometimes it's not the most convenient? Rightly so. It's a tough tough cross to bear at times. And this story is not to gloss over that difficulty, but it made me very very grateful for the resources we have back home.

Gwenbe has been living at "Eric's House" which is the children's home for kiddos after they leave the Haven to teenagers. It is ran by the wonderful wonderful Merritt family. Because he is m.r., Gwenbe has some stereotypical inappropriate behaviors that unfortunately were to the point that his staying at Eric's House would compromise the safety of the other children. Because of this, Gwenbe has had to have some major medical attention to help change his behaviors. Our team was asked to spend time with him to build a communication system with him so that he is able to communicate his basic wants and needs to avoid frustration from inability to communicate, and acting out.

This Speech Therapy is vital. If Gwenbe cannot start communicating appropriately and demonstrate appropriate behaviors, he is not safe to stay at the Haven, which would be heart breaking to the Merrits as they have done everything possible for this child. This would mean he would have to go back to his village with his family. Unfortunately, there is not much tolerance for that here, and Gwenbe's life would most likely be ended by his family.

Enter Meghan and Dr. T. I had the privilege to supervise Meghan with Gwenbe yesterday morning while Dr. T was teaching a SLP class at the college. She is doing a fabulous job with him. Gwenbe's inappropriate behaviors have decreased, and he is actively participating in therapy. He is using basic vocabulary words, following 2 step directions, and working on yes and no questions. He is responding very well to Meghan, and I really feel like this therapy is a big part in helping him behave and communicate appropriately so that he is able to stay at Eric's House.