Maisyn Eubanks wears a cute pink helmet with her name on the front as she crawls across a colorful mat. The happy nine-month-old reaches out for bright toys and gingerly makes her way up a small set of padded steps on her final day at Forrest General Pediatric Outpatient Rehab with her physical therapist, Madison Simmons.
Maisyn was born with congenital torticollis, a stiff neck that made it hard or painful to turn her head. In Maisyn’s case, the way she was positioned in utero caused her head to tilt to one side and a soft spot to develop on that side of her head, thus the need for the incredibly cute helmet and rehab.
With her therapist’s help, Maisyn was able to “play,” which was really therapy, in order to loosen the neck muscles, so she could continue on as a normal child. Although Maisyn’s mom, Bailey, who traveled from Richton once a week to receive therapy for her daughter, was sad to part ways, Maisyn’s graduation day from therapy meant she reached her goals!
Carmen Roberts is a four year old who was born with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, meaning she has hearing loss in both ears.
With the work she and her pediatric speech therapist, Stephanie Shelby, have done in the last several months, Carmen, who now proudly sports both a cochlear implant and a hearing aid, will be entering kindergarten this fall along with other children her age. She won’t require any special needs.
These are just two cases of children who have been helped through the Forrest General’s Pediatric Outpatient Rehabilitation Services program. Located on the west end of the Family YMCA on Veteran’s Boulevard in Hattiesburg, the facility includes bright, colorful rooms with toys used in therapy for children, and facilities with exercise equipment, mirrors, and weights for adults.
For children with special needs for growth and development or injury recovery, the center offers physical, occupational, and speech pathology services for children ages birth through 15 years of age.
Family members are encouraged to participate in their child’s therapy whether that includes restoring a child’s normal movement for functional daily skills, improving speech and swallowing/feeding or assisting with mobility and functional play.
Forrest General also sponsors the Neonatal Developmental Follow-Up Clinic in partnership with South Mississippi Neonatology Group and the University of Southern Mississippi Development Clinic for the hospital’s smallest patients. This is done
Read original article by clicking here.