CMC and Daycare visits

First of all, Vikki and I (Teresa) are having trouble--it appears, based on our most recent restaurant visits, that the whole state of Tamil Nadu is OUT OF Diet Coke! Anyone up for Fed-Exing some to us? :) The Pepsi is giving us a sugar rush!! However, Shannon loves it!
We visited the Rehabilitation SLP (her name is Veena) at CMC yesterday. Rather then working directly on-campus at the hospital with in and out patients, she works at a CMC sub-acute care facility that is India's equivalent to our TIRR-Memorial Hermann in the Texas Medical Center. This rehab facility was established by a female surgeon who was paraplegic. There is such a tremendous demand and desire to be treated there, that the wait time to be admitted is one year! Veena (an SLP who earned her Masters) recently worked with the biomedical department to design and construct a device for post TBI and stroke patients to work on labial closure. It was really fascinating! Veena gave us a tour of the facility. There are some really cutting edge programs there. They are doing stem cell research to find treatments for spinal cord injuries...remember, CMC is a Christian hospital so the stem cells are being removed from people's nasal cavities! Christopher Reeves' foundation funded that! We met the biomedical engineer on staff at CMC Rehab. He showed us a lab with video cameras and computer programs set up to record and analyze patient movement while walking. That was really cool!! And the PTs at CTC and CRPT will LOVE this--there is a prosthetics and orthotics department right there in the rehab facility! PTs run down there, explain what they need for their patient, and people start making them right then--talk about quick turn-around! It doesn't seem that the rest of India is like that, as far as quick response time. Thomas calls it "India standard time"---people here are almost always late for appointments. We met a "recreational therapist" who was a paraplegic and volunteers with patients at the CMC daily. In return for his work, he only asks the hospital to send someone to his home in the morning to assist him into his wheelchair. The staff and volunteers at CMC all have such incredible compassion and generosity.
After we finished our tour and meeting at the CMC, we visited a daycare for children with mental retardation. We met with the staff and director (a special education teacher) and learned that in India "Mental Retardation" is a label given to all kids with Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Downs Syndrome, etc. We were shocked and frankly upset to hear that. We tried to explain to the director that that was outdated...she didn't agree. We met several children and tried to give the staff some tips about how to address a few aspects of speech and language treatment (PECS, visual aids, auditory sensitivity). They need a lot of help to make the program more functional but the employees have very good intentions to help their students access the community and communicate with friends and family. MORE on our testing at the Ranipet Boys' Orphanage coming soon!