Clinic Day 1: Evaluation

There are so few great people in the world today that to find thirty or forty in one place is truly special. These are people who do not think of themselves as special, but as privileged. Privileged to work with the children that others shy away from. Privileged to have the patience that allows them to watch mounds of hard work pay off in seemingly small increments. Privileged to think that the parents of these children are amazing, when really, they just love their kid.

This isn't just an elite staff of educated people who walk around thinking great thoughts. They're the kitchen worker who, like a mom, finds you blueberries because they are your child's favorite. They're the cleaning staff who stops to have a word remembering your name, occupation, and home town even though you're only there twice a year. They're the Doman grandchildren stopping to ask how your child is doing and truly understanding what you are saying because they have lived it their whole lives never realizing what they do is great.

Walking around the grounds of IAHP is liking walking in a fairy world for a parent like myself, that is, the mom of a brain injured child. It is a place I know my child (and any other child, brain-injured or not) will be treated with admiration and respect. Questions will be addressed to him with answers expected, but not rushed.

It is a place where I, with a cross around my neck, can sit next to a woman in a burqa engrossed in conversation about our hopes and dreams for our little brain-injured children encouraging one another in a world that so few people understand.

So, being here, and seeing the areas that Noah has improved, and looking at the areas that Noah needs improvement is a blessing unlike any other. I cannot wait to see what our new program will be like. I can be sure that when the staff sits down tomorrow to address each child here this week, it will be decided with great care and attention to detail with great consideration to what they saw Noah do today and what we discussed has happened with Noah in the past year. It will be the best of all their past and present research, and it will produce miracles -- even if they take a little time.