Developmental Delay Success Story

Developmental Delay Label Doesn’t Stop Tae

“Tae will never be like the average child”  – they were right she is much better!

Tae did not have the easiest start to life. During the pregnancy, there was a threat of miscarriage in the sixth month, but fortunately the baby was born full term. However, at birth Tae’s cry was not immediate, she was blue and began having seizures. Her parents were immediately told that this indicated brain injury and the likelihood that Tae would not develop normally – a label of developmental delay was given.

By the time Tae was four, nothing parents were doing was making much difference

In the first month, Tae did not move freely, and eventually crawled and crept awkwardly. She did not walk until she was almost two years old, and when she did, her right foot turned in and she walked on the toes of her left foot.

When Tae was four years old, her parents were advised to put her on anticonvulsant medication and to begin physical therapy to help her catch up to her peers, but nothing they did helped her to improve.

Every day Tae was falling further and further behind

Although Tae could say words when she was two years old, she was not able to speak in sentences until she was eight years old.

At eight years of age, Tae was in school but she was two years behind her classmates in reading and understanding. She could write but with difficulty. She was physically well below the other children, and every day she was falling further and further behind – her developmental delay was getting worse.

Tae’s Label of Developmental Delay Proven Incorrect

Once she started her program everything started to get better

Just before Tae’s ninth birthday, her parents attended the What To Do About Your Brain-Injured Child Course. The staff remembers Mr. Uemura as the father who asked a thousand questions during the course week. It was very clear that this family was going to go home and make a diffrence for their little girl.

They returned home and began an intensive program that included hundreds of meters of crawling and creeping, learning to read in two languages, and a very good nutritional program. Soon, they scheduled appointment to have their daughter evaluated at The Institutes.

Tae was diagnosed with a severe, diffuse, bilateral, cortical and midbrain injury. She had already begun to improve from her hard work on her home treatment program that she accomplished before her first visit.

Physically she was running 3 miles and learning gymnastics

Her memory, reading, math, and writing, all advanced markedly. She read up to 90 minutes every day. She was running more smoothly. Her visual convergence improved She was able to catch a ball for the first time. She could now tell stories, and the volume of her speech had also increased. She no longer was taking her anti-convulsant medication and she was seizure-free.

Tae continued her treatment program at home, and was re-evaluated by the Staff every six months. At her first revisit, she was following directions well, her speech was improved and she was able to run 3 miles nonstop.

While Tae continued on The Intensive Treatment Program, she twice traveled from her home in Japan to visit the Evan Thomas Institute International School. The Evan Thomas Institute is a school for well children on The Institutes campus in Philadelphia. Tae did exceptionally well in school and even learned English along the way. She enjoyed the comraderie of learning with other children raised on The Institutes programs. She became an accomplished gymnast, an important part of her program for neurological organization.

Returning home, she was inspired to write original stories; she learned to program a computer and she began ballet.

She passed her high school entrance exams and was accepted into high school and traveled to Canada as a exchange student

While continuing her home treatment program, Tae kept up with her academic studies. Her goal was to study hard and to pass the high-school entrance examinations.

As a young teen, she passed these exams and was accepted into high school. During her successful High School career in Japan, she traveled abroad independently to live and study in Canada as well.

Tae graduated from high school, having done especially well in Japanese and English. She then went on to earn her university degree.

After starting her career in social welfare, she met and married one of her co-workers.

Today, Tae is a mother of two young children. Tae’s proud father now has grandchildren to teach, just as he and Tae’s mother taught her as a little girl, guiding her towards a bright and successful future. They never doubted her potential, they never stop searching for an answer and when they found it, they rolled up their sleeves and got the job done.