Help Bella use her Left hand

Help Bella use her left hand

Bella has been selected as one of only 12 children across the world to attend a month long camp in the US which will help her gain function to be able to use both her hands.

Impaired hand function is one of the most disabling symptoms of hemiplegic cerebral palsy, affecting self-care activities such as feeding, dressing, and grooming.

Bella suffers from left handed hemiplegic cerebral palsy, which means that the left side of her body is weak.   She tends to keep her left hand in a fist and finds it near impossible to tie up her shoe laces, ride a bike or even carry her dinner plate to the kitchen.

In the past, kids that attended the camp, have shown an improvement of up to 40% in manual dexterity which is equal to 18 months plus of individual therapy.

The camp forms part of a research project done by the University of Columbia to understand and develop new ways to stimulate children that only have the use of one hand to get to use both their hands as well as looking at brain plasticity associated with the improvements.  

The centre is led by Dr. Andrew Gordon.  His team has been studying the mechanisms underlying impaired hand function in cerebral palsy since 1991.  

Based on this knowledge, they developed and began studying the efficacy of intensive rehabilitation techniques in 1997 and to date around 250 kids world wide have benefited from this unique program.

Bella will be attending the camp for 4 weeks in June / July this year and will need to return to New York again in December for a follow-up session. 

This life changing opportunity comes at a significant cost and we are reaching out to the community to  ease the financial strain and help Bella realise her dream.

For more details on the camp go to 
 www.tc.columbia.edu/cit/