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Girl's development improves after therapy at Bellevue non-profit
By Sherry Grindeland
Seattle Times Eastside bureau
 Tanisha
Aggarwal, 3, runs through the apartment, pauses to sample a potato
chip, hesitates by the toys in the corner and then climbs into her
father's lap for a brief cuddle. She slides off his lap and runs
down the hall. Her parents, Radha and Naveen Aggarwal, of Issaquah,
watch in delight.
After six months of therapy and classes at the Kindering Center
in Bellevue, Tanisha has gone from delayed development to deliberate
exploration of her world. She's learning to play and talk.
"In India, there's no specialized care for children with special
needs," said her father, Naveen Aggarwal.
Tanisha weighed scarcely more than 3 pounds when she was born.
After getting out of intensive care, she grew slowly and often was
plagued with urinary-tract infections. She would lose her appetite
because of the medications, so she was force-fed. That caused reflux
problems, and she developed an aversion to food. Then, because she
wasn't eating right, she would develop more infections.
Naveen Aggarwal, who works for Microsoft, was transferred to
Washington, and the family moved here at the end of March. Within a
few weeks, Tanisha had surgery to correct her urinary-tract
problems, and the family was referred to Kindering Center for
therapy.
Kindering Center is one of 13 nonprofits benefiting from this
year's Seattle Times Fund For The Needy. Since 1962, the agency has
provided therapy and developmental help to children with special
needs.
In Tanisha's case, that includes home visits, during which a
therapist shows Radha how to guide her daughter. Getting her to eat,
for instance, means understanding that Tanisha needs to explore
food, to play with it and maybe taste it. Spitting out new foods is
common among children with feeding problems who need to adjust to
different tastes and textures.
Tanisha, her parents said, has blossomed with the help of
Kindering. Occupational therapy has improved her fine motor skills.
She has speech therapy, feeding therapy and a play class with other
children; there, her favorite activities are splashing on the water
table and coloring.
Jennifer Pineda, Kindering's director of advancement, said the
family is an example of what happens there, through the help of
dozens of staff members and some 250 volunteers.
Since Tanisha has been physically well, she's been making up for
lost time. She's starting to talk, using both Hindi and English
words. Her parents see a huge difference in Tanisha's attention
span.
Currently, Kindering is helping Radha work with the Issaquah
School District in preparation to send Tanisha to special-needs
classes at Sunset Elementary School.
The Aggarwals say Kindering Center's positive attitude has helped
them help their daughter.
"The United States is more open to special-needs children,"
Naveen said. "I see what we've missed in India."
Kindering Center
Kindering Center provides physical, speech and
mental-health therapies; special education; child-care consultation;
nutrition and feeding help; family counseling and parent education
for disabled, medically fragile or abused or neglected children.
The agency provided services to 2,610 children
and their families in 2006.
Information:
www.kindering.org or 425-747-4004
Article published Thursday, December 27, 2007
Photo by:
THOMAS JAMES HURST / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Sherry Grindeland: 206-515-5633 or
sgrindeland@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
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