UCP is helping children with cerebral palsy learn to use affected parts of their body
Meet Max, a five-year-old who receives therapy at United Cerebral Palsy of Central Arizona (UCP), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to helping children and adults who have a wide array of disabilities. Born with right spastic hemiplegia cerebral palsy, Max has limited mobility in the right side of his body.
But over the past few weeks, Max has been surprising everyone. His mom, JoAnn, and his dedicated therapist, Iman Johnson can’t believe the enormous progress he has made in just a few weeks of beginning his constraint induce movement therapy (CIMT) at UCP.
A few weeks ago, UCP’s team of therapists and Early Learning Center teachers approached JoAnn to encourage her to allow Max to give CIMT a try. Max has his left (dominant) hand braced for two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening each day to encourage use of his affected right hand. The results were astonishing.
“He has been using his right hand a lot at home, grabbing items from the floor even when his hand isn’t braced. This is more than we have ever seen him thoughtfully use his right hand” said JoAnn with joy in her face.
Max has been attending UCP since he was a baby, and years of therapy at UCP have allowed him to accomplish so much throughout the years. This recent accomplishment is just one more thing added to the list of miracles!
Since March of 2020, UCP has been diligently rebuilding its capacity to ensure safety as its forefront but also to not interrupt services for children in therapy, like Max. That is why UCP is once again participating in the Community Thrives Challenge. UCP is asking for donations from neighbors, friends and families to help raise $6,000 by August 13th. If this money is raised, Community Thrives will grant UCP various opportunities to be awarded additional monies up to $100,000. You can make your gift as early as now at https://acommunitythrives.mightycause.com/organization/United-Cerebral-Palsy-Association-Of-Central-Arizona. With your gift, you will help UCP of Central Arizona continue to provide life-changing services for people with disabilities.
