*Disclaimer: The following names of the children visited have been changed due to privacy policies.
This past summer I got to spend the day shadowing a therapist from Excentia’s S. June Smith Center. June Gehman-Deane has been with Excentia’s S. June Smith Center since 2006. She graduated from Neumann University with a Masters of Physical Therapy. June and I spent the day traveling all around Lancaster County visiting families in their homes, which is one of the unique features about the services that Excentia’s S. June Smith Center provides.
“My favorite part of my job is getting to work with families and giving them the tools they need to assist their children in achieving motor milestones through daily routines such as diaper changes and play activities. I love Lancaster County because of its diversity… I go from Latino homes to Hindi homes to Amish homes to wealthy suburban homes as well as economically challenged homes… the list can go on and on,” said June.
Our first stop of the day took us to Columbia where we met with a little boy named John. June sees him every two weeks and has been working on making sure he can walk on his feet flat and not up on his tiptoes. June assisted the family in process in getting a prescription and referral to an orthotist for a pair of orthotics. The orthotist came to the session so that the family, June and the orthotist could work together to determine the best option for John. After the orthotist measured and casted John for the Molded Ankle Foot Orthotics, John’s mom shared that she was worried about the fact that John will climb up the steps but doesn’t know how to get back down them. She shared that he has fallen once or twice from the bottom steps. June suggested making a game of sliding or backing down off of the sofa as the first step at learning to back down the steps. Soon John was enjoying this activity and we all joined in to create excitement and make the activity more fun for John. Next session they will try it on the stairs unless he has already mastered the activity with the help of his parents.
After spending an hour in Columbia we headed in the opposite direction to Ephrata. Here we met with Lucas, the most adorable little blonde boy who was the happiest baby of the day! Lucas and his mom were pleased to show off how easily Lucas can now climb both up and down the stairs in his home. Because he had mastered the last skill in his goal, this was likely his last session with June. Paperwork was completed sharing his successful completion of six months of therapy with June. He will be moving onto Speech Therapy another service offered by Excentia’s S. June Smith Center as his mother was now concerned about his development of spoken or expressive language.
My favorite part of the day was our third stop, Park City Center where we met with Liam. His mom asked for help in finding a pair of shoes for him to wear with his new Molded Ankle Foot Orthotics (MAFO’s). We went to Payless, Footlocker for Kids and Journeys Kids. The winning pair of shoes though were a pair of converse hightops which complimented the MAFO’S perfectly. His mother was concerned about how they looked as she didn’t want her son to look different. I loved this particular visit because I am really into shopping and it was really nice to actually feel involved while shadowing June.
Our last stop was actually at a local daycare where we met with Emma who needed to work on standing up to help strengthen her legs and also to begin to transition from crawling to walking as the routine of choice to get around the daycare center. On this particular visit June said that Emma was extra cuddly which was so cute to see! While June was working with Emma using song time as a motivator, I was being approached by the other children in the class. One little guy in particular kept putting a cowboy hat on my head and then laughing, which really topped off the entire day. June also made sure to collaborate with the staff and checking in about how Emma was participating in the class and making suggestions about how best to encourage working on walking from place to place with support (hands held) and also work on following directions as the special instructor had suggested. The staff found it hard to do both these needed routines at the same time.
Shadowing June was an experience that I will never forget. I only got to see her interact with four children but it was evident the time and work that she puts in with each family is crucial to their development. As I have said before, I am the service and giving chair for my chapter of Alpha Sigma Alpha and being able to see what happens behind the scenes really puts all of the fundraising into perspective.
I would like to personally thank June for allowing me to spend the day with her and broadening my knowledge on the many developmental tiers that are out there. And a special thank you to her for giving quotes and insight for this blog post.
If you are interested in starting a career with Excentia’s S. June Smith Center visit our careers page.
Alpha Love and Mine,
Lexis
