A Lesser Known Form Of Therapy and
Child with Cerebral Palsy
Recently Showcased on Table for 12 on TLC

Four-year-old Rebecca Hayes, a child with cerebral palsy, was recently featured during an episode of the TLC television network show, Table for 12 entitled "Special Strides." Table for 12 follows the lives of a New Jersey police officer, his wife, two sets of twins and sextuplets. Rebecca, one of the sextuplets, is considered a "low functioning" child which means she cannot see or talk or even feed herself. During the program, Rebecca and her family visit Special Strides, a horse farm that focuses on special needs children.

For many people with disabilities, riding horses can be therapeutic. Hippotherapy, as it is called, is a therapy that improves sensory input for a person with disabilities through the horse's natural gait as well as other behavioral and psychological effects including bonding with the horse.

Rebecca and the rest of the family really enjoyed themselves. Her parents, Betty and Eric are exceptionally supportive of her in exploring new life experiences. During her visit, Rebecca was evaluated by an occupational therapist and a physical therapist. The therapists both said that Rebecca has good muscle tone and would be a good candidate for riding a horse. Betty said that she would like to see Rebecca one day have better posture and to possibly drink from a straw.

If you missed the "Special Strides" episode and would like to watch it, you can purchase the full episode on iTunes or Amazon.com for $1.99.

For more information about the TLC television network show, visit the Table for 12 Web site.

To view information about or discuss this and other therapy options regarding early intervention services of children ages 0-5, please visit:

Behind the Scenes: Ruby’s Bequest

ARG Netcast recently went behind the scenes with the "puppet-mastery team" of Ruby's Bequest to explore the future of care giving. This online, radio-styled interview includes regular panelist Marie Lamb with Ken Eklund and Jason Tester, both from the Institute for the future. You can listen to this online broadcast on the UCPeople blog.

The participants describe Ruby's Bequest, as a serious exploration into the future of care giving as "collaborative storytelling for the social good," its origins, methodology and the results of the experience. "Creating a narrative and stringing things together" based on participant contributions added to the development of the storyline taking place in real-time.

The interview reveals that more than just how a story developed. After the Ruby's Bequest experience, the interview reveals, intense learning, emotions and understanding grew out of each unique story submission. Additionally, knowledge and experience gained from Ruby's Bequest could become an "incubator" for ideas that will help shape the future of care giving.

The interview participants offer a unique perspective from the point-of-view of developers as they discuss various lessons learned and their initial impressions, following the conclusion of the Ruby's Bequest experience.

For more information, visit the ARG Netcast Web site or Ruby's Bequest Web site.

UCP of Huntville & Tennessee Valley Consumer Spotlight:
Meet Lybel

Krissie Saint-Vil of Huntsville admits that learning to cope with having a child with disabilities is anything but easy.

"My sweet little boy is the biggest challenge in my life; but one that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world," Krissie said.

Lybel, 2 years and eight months old, has been diagnosed with microcephaly, epilepsy, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and development delays.

In his young life, Lybel has undergone eight surgeries, including: the placement of a feeding tube among many others.

For more early intervention resources,
visit MyChildWithoutLimits.org

Lybel began receiving Early Intervention, physical, occupational and speech therapies at UCP of Huntsville and Tennessee Valley in January 2007, as well as Alabama Respite services. He also participates in UCP of Huntsville and Tennessee Valley's weekly playgroup while Krissie attends their parent group.

Information & Referral: Ask Lara

Q. How did my child get cerebral palsy? Was it my fault? Did the hospital do something wrong?

A: Cerebral Palsy does not have a single cause and there are many reasons why someone might have cerebral palsy. An unborn child might have suffered a brain injury, an infection, or abnormal development of the brain tissue. These causes are responsible for about 70% of the cases of cerebral palsy. Another 20% of cerebral palsy cases are caused by a brain injury that takes place during the birthing process. In the United States, about 10% of children who have cerebral palsy got it after they were born. This is called "acquired" cerebral palsy. Most of the time the actual cause of cerebral palsy is not known. And, although there may have been a brain injury or a development problem, the problem may not be noticed for months.

For more information visit the Cerebral Palsy section on My Child Without Limits. This section can also be downloaded as a PDF for distribution.

This question was inspired by Michelle L. Jackson from United Cerebral Palsy of Oklahoma.

Have a question about anything related to Information and Referral services? Your question could appear in our regular column on the UCPeople blog, Ask Lara. Contact Lara by e-mail or reach her by phone at (202) 776-0406.

A Personal Fundraising Tool:
Dedicate your Birthday Wishes to UCP on Facebook

Have you ever wanted to dedicate your birthday to a cause you believed in? As a choice, instead of receiving gifts, you ask friends and loved ones to donate to a charity of your choice? Now you have the option to raise both awareness and money for United Cerebral Palsy. Facebook recently released an option for cause supporters, called the the "Birthday Wish for Charity " application linked to the Facebook Causes application.

Setting up your birthday wish is quick and convenient. This new feature lets individuals on Facebook create a birthday fundraising campaign as part of a Cause. Set up takes only minutes and it lets you ask your friends for donations instead of presents while making it easy to thank your friends.

» Add the Birthday Wish for Charity application now «

Please be sure to select United Cerebral Palsy:
Life Without Limits for People with Disabilities as your Cause

You have to wait until two weeks prior to your birthday to start a campaign and you will receive an e-mail from the Facebook Causes application if you have installed the application prior to this two week period.

The set up page is easy to configure, but you are only given a limited number of options for the fundraising birthday wish campaign. You can ask 5, 10, or 20 friends for as many dollars as you are in years.

As a bonus, the application helps you promote your campaign. You can send a message to all your friends immediately and you can select the option to send several reminders to everyone you selected a couple of days before your birthday. The application also automatically updates your status with messages and the link to your birthday wish personal page. Addiontally, when friends donate to your birthday wish, updates to your profile newsfeed will appear automatically.

You can also promote your birthday wish page using Twitter, e-mail or anywhere you can post the link to your birthday wish page.

Michael Heusser, currently an active fan and supporter of United Cerebral Palsy on the Facebook set up a birthday wish for his 40^th birthday on May 27^th to raise $1000 and his story was featured in a recent article on the UCPeople blog.

If you would like to view and set up your own birthday fundraising goal, please visit Facebook and visit the National United Cerebal Palsy Fan Page or Cause today.

View Michael Heusser's
Birthday Wish for Charity on Facebook
dedicated to United Cerebral Palsy

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