Educating young blind children for a better future

Mendraa is a premature baby and was born with Congenital Heart Diseaseand has been diagnosed for a severe cerebral palsy with global development delay (GDD). Due to the premature birth, he was put into an incubator and the ultraviolet light of the incubator rendered his left eye totally blind while his right eye is near blind with some light perception only. Due to his severe disability, his functional development is very slow. He was referred to the Early Intervention Program (EIP) on 29th July 2015.

The family is currently living in a rented low cost flat and dependent on the minimum wage Mendraa’s father earned as a security guard at a night club while his mother is a full time housewife. He is the youngest child with a brother one year older. 

Home visit began on February 2016, with initial focus of physiotherapy exercises to relax and stretch his muscle. Initially, Mendraa does not take well to the ministration of the therapy and will cry because of the pain. He was unable to sit up and had to be fed with a spoon. After some training and exercises, he is now able to sit with minimal support, and is able to drink directly from the bottle. He respond to touch by smiling and blinking his eyes, especially with people his knows.

The current learning goals is to improve his sense of balance, fine motor movement through sensory stimulation activities which enhances his impulses and muscles performance.

We are hopeful that with lots of loving care from his family and support from St. Nicholas’ Home intervention team, Mendraa will one day be able to understand his world and see the beauty in it.