Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy (IICP): Week 1

Our first week at IICP and we attended a full day workshop, met our students that we would be working one on one with (I will call my student K. to protect her privacy), observed classes, took children and adults for hydrotherapy in the 35 degree hydrotherapy pool and observed the adult vocational training services catering and printing units. We were introduced to all the wonderful staff here and then before we knew it, our first week was over already.

I spend a lot of time with K, my assigned student for this placement. She’s a beautiful nine year old girl with giant doe-like brown eyes. She has spastic quadriplegia – a type of cerebral palsy that often causes the individual to have severely flexed knees, hips and elbows and very little trunk strength. In K’s case she is unable to speak and has only a little voluntary movement of her arms so her ability to communicate is extremely limited. One thing I have observed about K is this pouty willfulness that I kind of admire. She can be difficult at times and it is not always easy to get a smile out of her, but it makes me feel really joyful when she does smile. I look forward to spending more time with her and getting to know her better. I’m not sure what she thinks of me yet. I can’t say anything she understands as I don’t speak Bengali. She spends a lot of time staring at the top of my head – presumably at my big frizzy mop of blonde hair. I must look so strange to her and every once in a while I spout out some bizarre cacaphonic gibberish English at her. She is pretty wary of me and I get a little jealous when she smiles brightly for her teacher (who has dimpled cheeks and speaks softly and lovingly to her in Bengali). One of goals for this placement is earn many of those smiles.