Orn first started receiving support from CCD when she was 13 years old. She is now in her late twenties. Orn has cerebral palsy, and her muscles get very rigid and tight, which limits her movement and mobility. Orn’s family live in a traditional Thai wooden house, elevated from the ground on stilts, which creates a shady area underneath the house. This is also a traditional way of building on farmland in Thailand.
It was very difficult for Orn to move around her home. Her father would have to lift her up and down the stairs into the main part of the house and her mother would have to bathe and dress her. As Orn grew and became a teenager, caring for her physical needs became much harder for her parents.
CCD's physiotherapists visits Orn twice a month to give her a specialist physical therapy session and to assess her progress. The physiotherapist designs an exercise plan for Orn to practice daily between visits. Each exercises is developed to help grown muscle and build strenght and mototr skills so Orn can complete physical tasks, like dressing herself. Orn’s parents are also trained on how to safely help Orn with these exercises.
Orn and her parents are very happy with the sessions she receives as she has become stronger and more mobile over the years, increasing her confidence immensely. Orn is able to sit up and pull herself along the floor to get around the home. Soon she will be able to climb the steps to her house. Without regular physiotherapy Orn may have spent her life in a wheelchair. She certainly would not have the mobility, freedom and independence she enjoys today.
Her new physical skills mean she can participate in household activities, help her parents around the home and enjoy time out in the community.
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