EMOTIONS UNTAPPED
Emotions untapped – Story
of Pragathi
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Face is the index of mind: The face is truly an outward projection of
the mind. Any psychological shift that occurs in the brain is faithfully
expressed on the face. This is a true story of a 3 year old girl named
Pragathi. She lives with her farmer parents in a village farm house. Â Pragathi was born with cleft palate and
doctors suggested her parents for a rectification surgery at the age of 2 ½ years.
Pragathi was brought by her
parents to our clinic for speech therapy and behavioural issues. When we
assessed the child she was very rigid and always with a frown in her face. The
child was unable to speak as the tongue has become hard without articulation
and her facial /oral muscles were rigid. Her parents were worried for her, as
she was unable to express her feelings and always screamed and shouted at them and
relatives. She doesn’t want to play with her peer group as they cannot
understand her.
We started therapy for Pragathi,
our counsellor used to play with her and make her to speak few words and our
therapist used to give her oral simulation exercises and as days passed by
Pragathi started showing improvement in her speech and with our play therapy
activities, the child was enjoying and learning how to vent out her emotions,
the long frowning face disappeared and she used to come with a broad smile in
her face and attended the sessions. Three months passed by, her parents was
hopeful that Pragathi can go to school by next academic year and approached us
to teach school readiness skills. Concepts, numbers and language were
introduced to her with activities for fine and gross motor skills. Her parents
were happy to inform us, that they were hesitant and stuck with the thought for
planning for a second baby due to Pragathi and her issues. After six months of
our sessions, therapy and handholding, Pragathi was ready for her play school.
Her mother informed us that, she was in a family way when they left us.
Today, Pragathi is studying in a private
preschool near her village, living happily with parents and her little brother.
A sense of satisfaction for us….
The child and her parents are happy today, leading a normal life in our
community.
Like Pragathi and her parents
there are many who are living among us with lack of awareness and negligence.
Parents should be aware of the developmental milestones of children and should
be open to ask and discuss with their family members and seek the help of
professionals for setbacks, if any noticed in domains like physical, emotional
and intellectual at an early stage. Proper diagnosis by Physicians and
interventions by Psychologists can help many children and families struggling
with such problems in our society.
The earlier the better!!!!
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