He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which when sown upon the ground is the least of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” Mark 4:30-32

OUR MISSION:

OUR MISSION:
To improve the quality of life of special needs children in China, helping them reach their potential.

About Us

The Philip Hayden Foundation Therapy Program was started in July 2007. Our program is guided by the Chinese Proverb, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." China has limited training or educational programs for rehabilitation. In the past, we have relied on foreign therapists or basic training of our nannies to provide therapy for our children. However, we have found this offers only a limited and short-term solution.

With ther start of our new therapy program, we have hired local college graduates that are bilingual and invited foreign therapists to train them. These trained therapists now provide therapy to the over 80% of children in our care that are in need of it to develop to their full potential. In addition to the therapists' regular therapy sessions, they also provide early intervention training to our nannies, team with our teachers in the classroom, and help our older orphans develop life and job skills.

It is our hope that, as we continue to develop, we can share our knowledge and resources with other orphanages and organizations helping special needs children in China. In the future, we also hope to extend this service to local families with special needs children in the community.

Previous Posts

9.25.2008

Multiplying our Blessings

It is deep fall right now, and we really had a chilly, rainy day today. But on the other hand, it was also a great day that made us feel warm and happy as we were able to share with others the knowledge and resources we have been blessed with. This past summer, we visited several nearby foster homes including Bethel, an organization that helps orphans that are blind. Bethel has had foreign therapists volunteer for short trips in the past in which the therapists evaluated, set up treatment plans, and trained the nannies how to do simple exercises for children that needed physical therapy. However, they have not had any therapy volunteers for the last year so the nannies, not having any therapy training, were continuing to do the same therapy plans they were given a year ago. During our visit, the nurse asked if we could help re-evaluate and we were so happy to have the opportunity to share! Bethel's nannies brought five children to PHF today for physical therapy evaluations. All the children needed updated therapy plans but especially the little boy in the picture above who has severe cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Although he is almost 2 years old right now, he cannot control his head movement. When he lies on his back or stomach, he cannot lift his head steadily or turn his head sideways. We evaluated the children, made short and long term goals, and gave each child an evaluation report to clearly explain to the caregivers what problems the children were having and what exercises they need to do everyday. We demonstrated to the nannies how to carry out the plan. We took pictures and made a CD of the therapist demonstrating how to do the exercises correctly so they could take it home with them and be sure to do the exercises safely and not cause the children pain. Our PT will follow-up with them each month. We hope we can use this model and develop more ways to help other organizations in the future!

9.23.2008

Teacher's Appreciation Day

It is a special holiday for all teachers today- Teacher's Appreciation Day. In China, this is a big day as teachers are highly respected for their knowledge and hard work with the children. Students will give little presents they have made themselves to express their love and care for their teachers. At PHF, we also wanted to express our love and thanks to the teachers of our Little Lambs School. Teacher Wang, Teacher Zhang and Teacher Gao have many fun times together with their little lambs. Without even knowing it, our kids are making big progress while having fun playing and learning. Thank you to our teachers. We wish them a very happy Teacher’s Day.

8.31.2008

Training Outreach to the Community: Speech Therapy Conference

For the first time ever, our therapy team held a therapy training conference at PHF. From August 18th to 29th, twenty-five special education teachers and therapists representing four organizations that are dedicated to helping special needs children participated in a speech therapy training conference. We learned, discussed, and shared our experiences in lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on training. We were impressed with all the attendees who worked so hard and were eager to learn new knowledge about speech therapy. The visitors appreciated the therapy staff for the excellent training, especially the wonderful teaching of Carrie and Laura. The conference was also a great opportunity to network. It was an amazing chance to connect with other organizations that have the same motivation for learning and doing the work we do: our desire to help children enjoy a better life. The participants were also deeply moved by what they had seen at PHF, as they thought our children were loved very much and were growing up happily here. In their feedback, they said they hope to return to PHF for more training. We are looking forward to it, too!