Baimon is a 5 year-old girl from Uthai Thani province. She has Down’s Syndrome, behavioural difficulties, and a visual impairment. She first came to the community centre in November 2018. Baimon lives with her mother and father and is the eldest of three girls. Baimon’s father has a stable job and works every day. Her mother is at home caring for the children, but since the birth of her youngest child, her mother has struggled with health issues which affect her mobility and her energy. She is often unable to take Baimon to her regular doctor’s appointments and was struggling to care for her three daughters and coping with Baimon’s difficulties.
CCD offered to support the family by welcoming Baimon to the day centre and taking her to doctor’s appointments for her mother. When Baimon arrived at the centre she showed signs of delayed development. She could not sit still and focus on tasks, had poor hand-eye coordination, could not draw straight lines on paper and could not carry out basic tasks like getting dressed.
Teachers support Baimon by developing a plan of activities to develop her skills and her coordination. After a year of working together Baimon can now pay attention to a task for over 5 minutes. She has learnt to hold a pencil and draw straight lines. She has fun learning her colours and her hand-eye coordination has improved so much that she can thread beads onto string and is learning to button her own shirt.
Baimon has trouble controlling her temper, becomes easily frustrated and angry. She has a short attention span and struggles to co-operative when learning and when she doesn’t get her own way can bully other children. Through regular attendance at the centre, Baimon is learning important social skills like sharing with friends and taking turns when playing games.
Luckily there are many relatives living locally to Baimon and her family, some even help her mother with childcare. She is always cared for warmly by the community and she is friendly and sociable and likes to talk to people. There is a lot of understanding from the community about Baimon’s needs and there is no prejudice or unkindness towards her and her family.
Long-term impact
Baimon is a happy and well-loved little girl, who needed help in developing her social and communication skills, especially around other children. She has been given life skills in sharing, emotional intelligence and empathy, which will help her in her future.
The development opportunities given to her at the centre mean she will find living independently in society much easier as an adult. The specialist care Baimon receives has given her parents peace of mind that she is getting the right stimulation and importantly, coaching in controlling her emotions and socialising with other children.