March is National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month and a local child at the LaRabida Children’s Hospital located in Chicago’s South Shore community had good news to share about the staff at LaRabida.
Sebastien is from the South Shore area. He has been impacted by cerebral palsy and receives care and therapy from La Rabida Children’s Hospital.
Cerebral palsy currently affects approximately 500,000 children under the age of 18 and National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month is the perfect time to focus attention on the need for research and treatment of this disorder.
For the past four years, eight-year-old Sebastien has been visiting La Rabida for various types of therapy including physical therapy, occupational therapy and feeding/speech therapy. Although cerebral palsy affects his physical state, Sebastien is always full of life and is extremely friendly to everyone he meets.
When asked how La Rabida has made an impact on Sebastien, his mother shared that his progress has drastically improved in every aspect of his life. With the help of Speech Language Pathologist, Carol Jaynes, Sebastien is now able to chew and eat on his own. He can also walk around the house and use the washroom on his own, giving him an added sense of independence.
Sebastien’s mother said that finding La Rabida and connecting with Sebastien’s doctors was a dream come true. She said she feels taken care of in every aspect as the staff is willing to help with anything they need, whether it’s directly related to therapy or not.
