CHENG Lai-shan Phoebe || BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy || Bo Ai Children’s Rehabilitation Centre, Shanghai

The four-week internship of Cheng Lai-shan Phoebe did not start as smoothly as her expectation, but it turned out to be a loving and enriching experience in the end. The occupational therapy student worked at the Bo Ai Children’s Rehabilitation Centre, the first non-governmental organization (NGO) that provides continuous care, education, physical therapy and rehabilitation training for disabled children in Shanghai.

When Phoebe knew that she was assigned to a class specifically training children with learning difficulties and developmental delays, she was a little uneasy. In Hong Kong, most patients Phoebe treated were rational adults and elderly. It was her first time treating children. “It took me some time to develop techniques and skills to interact, play and communicate with children. And building reliable relationships with patients is crucial to smooth implementation,” Phoebe says.

Efforts being recognised

She had to provide fine motor skills training for a four year-old child with cerebral palsy. However, she found there were not enough resources in the centre. Phoebe says, “The centre has just developed the discipline and there aren’t enough professional occupational therapists and standardised assessment tools to carry out assessments and treatments.”

Despite the unfavorable conditions, Phoebe tackled the challenges through her flexibility and ability to adapt. “I made use of the limited toys and tools to generate interesting assessment activities, so that the child felt like playing and thus was happy to attend the training,” she says.

For example, she instructed the child to find coins embedded in putty using their fingers and to draw pictures by joining dots in order to train finger dexterity, correct pen gripping and eye-hand coordination. She adds, “The whole treatment plan was designed by myself, and it gained proof and support the teachers in the class. I kept adjusting and modifying the activities by considering the interests and reaction of the child.” Finally, the progress of the assigned child’s performance was noted after training.

However, Phoebe’s profession has been once being questioned, “to many parents, occupational therapy was just teaching children to grip pens and write. Some thought those activities were games for fun, but not a proper treatment.” She realised that to gain understanding and co-operation from the patients’ family is very important. “Since occupational therapy is new to the community, people have little knowledge about the profession. Unlike physiotherapy, occupational therapy doesn’t receive instant efficacy.” Luckily, the warm heart of every staff member to help children and their families was apparent.

Through the internship, Phoebe also realised that limited resources should not be a constraint of treatment and services provided if we could use them creatively. “Resources are never adequate, yet only the way to use resources and the way of thinking would limit our actions,” Phoebe says.

The positive spirit of the staff has also pushed Phoebe to step forward. “The teachers and therapists in the centre are thirsting for new knowledge, and methods and ways to help children.” she adds. Phoebe concluded that the internship was an incredible chance to put knowledge and theories into action, to share and exchange different practices and cultures, and to learn to be independent both in her future career and life.