Featured Articles
Izzabella Mendenhall: A Bright Future
When Izzabella "Izzy" Mendenhall, 7, enters Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute - Burnsville each week her smile is contagious and her personality brightens everyone's day. She shines despite the challenges she's had to face in her young life.
Born with rare genetic disorder - Oral Facial Digital Syndrome, when she first arrived at Courage Kenny Kids in 2016, the youngster couldn't walk or talk and had challenges with her balance. Since then, she's been working hard in physical, occupational and speech therapy and she's made a lot of progress.
Speech Therapist Jana Heidemann recognized early on that her young client understood what was said to her, but she had difficulty talking and responding with words. She suggested use of a Dynavox, a speech generating tablet that allows Mendenhall to select pictures and photographs which "talk" for her. With this new assistive technology, just slightly bigger than an iPad, Mendenhall has flourished.
She has made similar progress in physical and occupational therapy. "When Izzy first arrived she was crawling; in fact, she was in her wheelchair at school for the entire school year last year," said Maria Leider, physical therapist. "Now she mostly uses her walker. And she's moved past that, walking 90 steps without any support."
"Izzy is a persistent child and will try so hard at any activity," added Alyssa Winterfeldt, occupational therapist. "Right now she has mastered eating with a spoon and matching her shapes and colors with puzzles."
With her new abilities, Mendenhall is becoming much more independent and confident. Her grandparents, also her caregivers, are thrilled with the gains she has made.
"Izzy doesn't even know how hard she is working because she is having so much fun at therapy," said Kris Novetzke, her grandmother. "She is so proud to walk on her own and her new Dynavox allows her to communicate with us. She loves picking out her own clothes each day. She's really progressed so much faster than we could have hoped for. And I credit Courage Kenny for that."
It seems now the possibilities are endless for Izzy Mendenhall as she continues to break barriers and reach new milestones. Her future is as bright as her contagious smile.
Born with rare genetic disorder - Oral Facial Digital Syndrome, when she first arrived at Courage Kenny Kids in 2016, the youngster couldn't walk or talk and had challenges with her balance. Since then, she's been working hard in physical, occupational and speech therapy and she's made a lot of progress.
Speech Therapist Jana Heidemann recognized early on that her young client understood what was said to her, but she had difficulty talking and responding with words. She suggested use of a Dynavox, a speech generating tablet that allows Mendenhall to select pictures and photographs which "talk" for her. With this new assistive technology, just slightly bigger than an iPad, Mendenhall has flourished.
She has made similar progress in physical and occupational therapy. "When Izzy first arrived she was crawling; in fact, she was in her wheelchair at school for the entire school year last year," said Maria Leider, physical therapist. "Now she mostly uses her walker. And she's moved past that, walking 90 steps without any support."
"Izzy is a persistent child and will try so hard at any activity," added Alyssa Winterfeldt, occupational therapist. "Right now she has mastered eating with a spoon and matching her shapes and colors with puzzles."
With her new abilities, Mendenhall is becoming much more independent and confident. Her grandparents, also her caregivers, are thrilled with the gains she has made.
"Izzy doesn't even know how hard she is working because she is having so much fun at therapy," said Kris Novetzke, her grandmother. "She is so proud to walk on her own and her new Dynavox allows her to communicate with us. She loves picking out her own clothes each day. She's really progressed so much faster than we could have hoped for. And I credit Courage Kenny for that."
It seems now the possibilities are endless for Izzy Mendenhall as she continues to break barriers and reach new milestones. Her future is as bright as her contagious smile.