Author: Bharati Dsouza | September 7th, 2021
48 hours after Joshua’s birth, he suffered a convulsion due to low blood sugar and calcium deficiency. This repeated for several days and on the 11th day his paediatrician informed us that Joshua was never going to get better and allowed to live, he would be a ‘decaying vegetable’.
The initial convulsion after birth caused him a vision impairment as well as limitations to his fine motor skills. As parent, we always feared another convulsion and attended to his needs on time with a lot of attention, love and care. Joshua communicated with us through gestures and verbal sounds till the age of 11. At 4 years of age, we sent him to a special school near our home which he still attends.
25 years after Joshua was born, we were introduced to Sethu, who came to our aid through their Teletherapy services. Although acceptance, love and care are important, the therapy provided to Joshua by Sethu helped him improve greatly.
Thanks to Dr Giselle Lobo, Mahera Kantawalla, Trisha Saldanha and Dr Jessica Pinto for all the guidance and support which has enabled us to understand Joshua’s abilities and continue with therapy. Joshua has gained flexibility through the exercises recommended to us. He is now able to brush his teeth, eat independently, use a spoon and we feel he is motivated to learn as he can witness the changes in himself.
Joshua’s progress has given us hope to look forward to learning new skills which will help make him more independent.
Joshua thanks Sethu in a special way and looks forward to each session, as he says, “The teachers at Sethu in Goa are really good! They speak well”.
BHARATI DSOUZA Special Educator