2020: HABILITAS FOUNDATION PARTNERSHIP

Raising a child with disabilities is challenging in the best of times — and during COVID, these challenges are only intensifying. This year, Fondation Amal is partnering with the Habilitas Foundation in support of the MAB-Mackay Rehabilitation Centre to help ease the pressure on families who are already carrying so much.

Advances in medicine are allowing more babies born prematurely or with complications to survive, but many live with lifelong physical impairments. For over a century, the MAB-Mackay has been a place of hope, offering specialized care in motor, vision, hearing, and language development. Nearly 1,800 children rely on its services each year.

As the pandemic limits in-person therapy and makes sharing materials unsafe, the Centre is shifting to virtual sessions whenever possible. Yet many families lack the necessary technology, and some children simply need hands-on interaction.

For these little ones, home visits have become the best solution. Therapists arrive fully dressed in PPE (scrubs, gowns, gloves, visors, and masks) at the child’s home, allowing them to observe the child, work on therapy goals, and provide guidance to the parents.

During these therapies, the MAB Mackay Rehabilitation team uses a variety of specialized toys and objects to engage the children and help them develop key skills. These tools may include illuminated or shiny objects to improve eye-tracking abilities; switch-activated plush toys to develop motor skills or learn alternative communication abilities; glove puppets to promote feeding techniques.

To limit the sharing of toys among children, and to encourage parents to practice on their own between therapy sessions, the therapists often leave these items with the families. The need for special therapy toys that play such an important role in the child’s progress has expanded since the pandemic hit. Without these toys, the children will not be able to achieve important gross and fine motor milestones. They’ll miss the chance to explore and interact with their environment and develop their social and visual skills. Most importantly, though they’ll miss out on opportunities to play, learn, and show their families and friends who they are and what they are capable of.

By supporting this toy-library initiative, Fondation Amal is helping vulnerable children keep learning, growing, and discovering moments of joy when they need it most. As families head into a winter of continued isolation, your support can brighten the days of children with disabilities and help them stay connected, engaged, and hopeful.