columbushosp.org 13 ‘She just lights up’ Alex Aguallo began taking her daughter Sammie to Wiggles & Giggles after their car collided with a train, injuring Sammie’s brain. Sammie, now 12, has been nonverbal and unable to walk since shortly after the accident. But with the help of her Wiggles & Giggles team, she’s learning to communicate using a device that tracks her eye movements. “When they encourage her, she just comes alive,” Alex said. “She lights up.” Sammie’s therapists also helped the family obtain a new wheelchair, patient lift and other equipment to help with home care. Specialized pediatric therapies For a physical, occupational or speech therapy appointment at Wiggles & Giggles, call 402-562-3341. Each week, Alex drives Sammie from David City, Nebraska, to Wiggles & Giggles in Columbus for therapy, where therapists focus on many goals for Sammie. Alex has never lost faith and refuses to limit what might be possible for Sammie in the future. She is focused on giving her daughter the best opportunities — including Wiggles & Giggles. For Alex, it has been encouraging to learn from Sammie’s therapists about what is possible. “It was so eye-opening to hear them tell me, ‘This is what we can do,’” Alex said. play throughout therapy because that’s how kids learn, how they’re motivated to do hard things and develop curiosity about their environment.” Staff members hold numerous certifications and advanced training in specialized pediatric therapies, including Interactive Metronome (IM) for kids who have difficulty with attention and processing information, therapeutic listening, augmentative and alternative communication, vision therapy, sensory processing, primitive reflex integration, and feeding and swallowing. Over the years, they’ve helped countless children. Here are two of their stories. “Our sessions look like a lot of fun,” said Jill Zaruba, OTR/L, working with Eloise Krings.
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