Vy Nguyen
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Before 17-year-old Vy Nguyen immigrated to the U.S. from Vietnam in 2011, the teen hadn’t received many services for the challenges she faces as a result of spastic cerebral palsy. Soon after moving to Boston, Vy began work with Easter Seals therapists, including occupational, speech-language and physical therapies.
The strong relationship established between Vy, her family and her Easter Seals clinicians is most evident in the significant progress she has made over the last two years.
Now a happy, enthusiastic 19-year-old, Vy is making progress toward consistent use of a wheelchair customized with support from Easter Seals and communicates primarily through eye-gaze and vocalizations. In therapy, she is working to improve her core strength and fine motor skills in order to increase her ability to independently access items in her environment.
According to Easter Seals occupational therapist Jacqueline Pirie, Vy receives all three services twice a week at her home in Dorchester – both one-to-one, and through a team approach with physical therapist Rhiannon Flass and speech-language pathologist Allison Goff. Vy is currently tutored at home, but her family and her team are working toward the goal of Vy attending school and having improved access to her community.
“You can see the gains she has made, both in terms of her body positioning and the amount of time that she can spend now doing therapy,” said Jacqueline, noting that Vy’s family and tutor also work with her by encouraging functional positioning and expressive communication. “We have good collaboration as a team, which is important because of the multiple areas she’s working on.”
Vy continues to make progress in therapy and enjoys going to the beach and shopping at the mall. She also loves joking around with her family and therapists, and is particularly fond of her stepfather, who receives a bright smile and laughter each time he enters the room.
“One of my favorite things about Vy is her good sense of humor,” Jacqueline said. “I love working with Vy, her family and our team.”
