“He is constantly challenging himself.” – Shirit, Faaris’ mom.
Faaris is a fun-loving five-year-old who loves slapstick comedy. He’s also very determined. It took him months to pull up to stand, using the family coffee table as support. When he finally did it, his next challenge was to pull himself onto the table.
Now he summersaults off of it.
“He’ll find creative ways to get himself to where he wants to be,” says his mom, Shirit. “We never thought he’d be able to pull up to stand, but he constantly worked at it.”
Faaris has cerebral palsy and is working on motor control and coordination, as well as speech language therapy. When Faaris tries to stand on his feet, his muscles fire up at different times, making it difficult to walk.
Now Faaris is learning to walk with a walker thanks to the Integrated Educational Therapy (IET) program at Bloorview School Authority, a partnership with Holland Bloorview. The program has helped Faaris gain stability through therapy, Botox injections and Ankle Foot Orthotics (AFOs), which enable him to place his feet on the ground to help him walk. It also encourages Faaris’ can-do spirit.
“He’s so happy to be independent and upright,” says his mom.
He’s also very happy when he retains words and can speak them out. Shirit has seen improvements in Faaris’ speech as a result of his speech language therapy sessions with his Speech Language Pathologist at Holland Bloorview.
“Faaris’ Speech Language Pathologist has done a great job getting him to pronounce words so that he can be understood,” she says. “She has an amazing way of bringing him out. She’s teaching him through playing games and finding what clicks with him.”
Music definitely clicks with Faaris. He’ll come home from school singing the alphabet. He loves to create his own songs and has an interest in the piano and drums. The IET program encourages this love of music through music class and therapy; and, when therapy proves tough, his physiotherapist at Holland Bloorview plays The Wiggles, a popular musical children’s show, to get him through it.
Shirit and her husband have noticed another major improvement since Faaris began the IET program at Holland Bloorview – his maturity.
He’s forging new ground with his level of independence – beyond standing and doing summersaults. Now Faaris drinks from a cup and feeds himself, when before school he did not want to. He also wants to share his day with his parents at the dinner table, something he never did before.
“He thinks he can do anything and accomplish anything, just in different ways,” says Shirit. “Holland Bloorview has given him this confidence and respect.”
