Child flourishing from teletherapy during the pandemic

HOUSTON - The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged children who count on physical and occupational therapy, from everything from a birth defect to autism or an injury. Many families are turning to teletherapy to rebound and recover.

We got to meet up with 15-month-old Avery and her mother, Allie, right before the pandemic began in the Houston area at the first of March. Doctors shared grim news when Allie was five months pregnant. They warned, her daughter was missing part of her brain that would make eating, functioning, and communicating difficult, if not impossible. Allie fought that fate by hiring occupational therapists from Avilo Pediatric Therapy to start working with Avery, when she was only three months old.  

Occupational Therapist Michelle Atanu would travel to Avery's home several days a week to help her develop important skills.

“When we first came, she was just there. Now she's rolling and she's sitting and she's eating and clapping and she's playing, she's socializing. She's doing all the things that the doctor said, or whoever said, she wouldn't be able to do,” explains Michelle.

Her mom agrees that therapy is working.

“Before she couldn't even lift her head when she first started with Avilo, and now she can stand with help and she rolls over and she's a different baby,” smiles Allie.

Hands-on therapy has gotten challenging during the pandemic, when we're all encouraged to stay feet away from each other, but that's where teletherapy has come to the rescue.

“It has worked amazingly, and it's mostly because we're collaborating with the parents and teachers and caregivers and grandparents and we have them do the hands-on portion, as we walk them through the skilled therapy,” states Michelle.

Physical and occupational therapy can help all types of situations.

“I might work with somebody, a four-year-old who has cerebral palsy, who's non-mobile, who uses a wheelchair for mobility around the environment and they can't transfer for themselves off the wheelchair to the bed or to the commode. And I work with a child who has only three fingers who has a hand abnormality and only three fingers and we have to teach them how to open up a water bottle, or how to open a doorknob or how to pull up their pants, because they only have those three fingers, and so it's also all over the map,” says Michelle.

RELATED: Telemedicine helps Houstonians rebound and recover from the pandemic

Michelle has been working virtually with Avery the past five months and it's a good example to show how well it can work. Her mom is involved, and Avery is flourishing.

“She's now able to eat more by mouth! Remember when we were working with her before, if you put food in her mouth she would projectile vomit and you know that's not good. And she had to get most of her nutrition through a GT going into her stomach, but now she's able, I think since May, she's been able to eat everything by mouth, and she's tolerating it really well and very possibly removing the g-tube in the future, so that's really exciting. With her fine motor skills she's able to bring things from hand to hand. She's actually pulling to stand, so she's doing a lot there,” smiles Michelle.

Before therapy, Avery couldn't sit, roll, or stand, and now she's developmentally getting on track, and doctors say she's doing exceptionally well.

Many clinics that provide these services have gone out of business during the pandemic, but the ones that have remained open say virtual visits are definitely successful, when there's a willing family member to help.

Schools often provide physical and occupational therapy to students, and Michelle says many districts will be turning to telemedicine as well in the coming months.

For more information visit avilopeds.com.