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Baby Watch keeping a lookout for disabled kids, like Hayden By
Kendal Bates
Hayden Olsen peeks out from behind the couch, wary of the visitors entering his home. Curt Phillips rushes over, sweeps Hayden off the floor and tries to play. At first the 17-month-old Hayden arches his back in physical protest to his captor. Eventually, he remembers who Phillips is and begins to play. Hayden and Phillips play "karate chop" with Hayden's brother Colby, the recipient of Hayden's assisted, round-house kicks. Phillips is a physical therapist. Hayden has Down syndrome. Down syndrome, in its simplest definition, is an extra chromosome that can affect motor skills and cognitive skills to various degrees. Hayden was diagnosed immediately after birth. Phillips works for Baby Watch, a federal and state funded organization that services disabled children from birth to three years. Jurene and Chet Olsen, Hayden's parents, were introduced to Baby Watch almost as quickly as they received a diagnosis for their child. "Our (pediatrician) told us about Baby Watch and got us in contact with them," says Mrs. Olsen. Karen Hansen, the Baby Watch program director for Cache, Rich and Box Elder county says the sooner a child with problems can be diagnosed and assisted with the program, the better chance that child will have to develop. If parents believe their child has a disability, Hansen says Baby Watch will provide free evaluations to see if the child qualifies for the program's services, which are also free. Baby Watch works with children who are diagnosed with severe disabilities or those who have undiagnosed development delays. When Baby Watch determines that a child's situation merits their assistance, a team of therapists and doctors are dispatched to begin working with the child and their parent(s). Hayden has physical, oral and occupational therapists, who visit up to once a week. Phillips has a master's degree from the University of California San Francisco in physical therapy. He fell in love with therapy when he blew his knee out and saw the enthusiasm and care of the therapists who worked to rehab him. Phillips began his career, working primarily with adults, but recently turned his full attention to children. "It's a lot funner than working with adults. Kids are fun," says Phillips. He sees about 25 children a month and loves every minute. "You're being a stinker today," Phillips says playfully to a squirming Hayden. "Can we stand up?" Phillips takes Hayden's hands and walks him around the living room. Mrs. Olsen tells Phillips that she had taken Hayden to her church's nursery to see "how he would do." She says the other children seemed so much more advanced, but sounded optimistic when she reports that Hayden, "already gets in the toilet." Phillips tells her that he sees a lot of improvement in Hayden's balance and coordination. Hayden receives applause from the therapist and his mother when he stands, unassisted, for four seconds. Phillips plays "airplane ride," hoisting Hayden into the air on his knees, before going into the bedroom to find some toys to assist in the therapy. One of Baby Watch's services is that it comes to the homes of its patients. "It's for convenience," says Sue Olsen (no relation to Hayden Olsen) a service coordinator for Baby Watch. She continues, "A lot of mothers would have to pack up other kids and lots of other stuff to come to a clinic." Olsen has worked for Baby Watch on the state level and gives more description of what the program consists of and how it operates. She says Baby Watch is funded 53 percent by the state of Utah and about 47 percent federally. Other states have similar programs, but are structured differently both financially and organizationally. The program is offered to the rich as well as the poor. "It doesn't matter if they"re millionaires or poor people," says Olsen, "It's designed to meet the needs of the child as well as support the family." Hansen adds that Baby Watch is not allowed to have a waiting list, "When a parent or a doctor or another agency calls us and refers a child we evaluate and send the therapists." She says, "We also teach the parents how to perform the therapies so that it's happening in the child's natural environments," Hansen continues, "That's kind of our philosophy, to empower the parents with the knowledge and skills to provide activities to enhance the development of the child." Phillips returns from the bedroom with a talking reindeer and a battery-powered bull- dozer. He places the truck just out of Hayden's reach and gently forces him into a crawling position. "If you drool, (the bull-dozer) will catch it," says Phillips. He tells Hayden to "get the truck." The truck is not as interesting as the talking reindeer, so the toys are exchanged. The reindeer strikes out too, so Phillips has Colby hold a cracker for his brother. Like the rabbit at the greyhound race-tracks, Colby does a good job of staying just ahead of Hayden with the cracker. Hayden goes all over the living room and into the kitchen chasing the elusive prize. "Leave the cracker there so he can get it," says Phillips, "He's getting tired." Shelley Windsor, a speech therapist, arrives and asks Mrs. Olsen about her son's communication. Hayden communicates his age with his index finger. It looks like he's saying that he's # 1. Windsor is a little concerned that Hayden has forgotten how to ask for water, a break-through he had made earlier, but is impressed that he can say what the horse says and can also say "Mama" and "Papa." Phillips returns Hayden to his mother and he melts into her arms, resting his head on her chest. He's had quite a workout and the therapists begin writing their evaluations. Baby Watch offers over 16 types of therapies. The traditional ones, mentioned above, are provided to most kids, depending on the child's needs. Others, are not so traditional. This particular branch of Baby Watch offers hippo-therapy, which has nothing to do with the African water-cow. Hippo, in this case, refers to horse-back riding. No one is sure why, but workers have seen substantial progress in children who receive this type of therapy. Mrs. Olsen had never heard of it, but her family owns horses and she is excited about the idea. Another therapy provided by Baby Watch is Assistive Technology Service. Sue Olsen says that toys, once off-limits to disabled children, can be altered to fit a particular child's need. She relates a specific story of a cerebral palsy boy who had an electric "Barbie Car" adjusted so he could drive it. "It's pretty exciting when the kids can participate in things the other kids can," Olsen says. "It makes them feel less alienated." Mrs. Olsen says that most other children react positively to Hayden's condition. "Kids never notice anything different really," she says, "It's when their parents point it out, that they begin to notice, or they'll say, 'This is Hayden, but he has Down syndrome.'" Mrs. Olsen remains upbeat though, and plays the biggest role in Hayden's progress. Phillips and Windsor are done with their write-ups and give Mrs. Olsen ideas for therapies that she can perform on Hayden until they come back. She seems a little worn out and expresses a desire to do better working with him. "He's doing really good," Phillips encourages. "Don't be frustrated at all. You"re doing really good with him." Mrs. Olsen gives her therapists Christmas gifts as they walk out the door. She expresses thanks and gets ready to pick up kids from the bus stop. "He's been a really good baby," she says, and continues on with her day like every other; one task at a time.
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