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Therapy during the pandemic
How one therapy center in Commerce is helping parents through the coronavirus pandemic
WATKINSVILLE, Ga. - Nearly two months after people began self-quarantining at home, parents are still grappling with their new role of being a teacher. Other parents have taken on more roles like therapist and doctor.
One Watkinsville therapy center found a way to help its patients.
“I’m Kelley, and this is my son Landon," Kelley McDaniel said.
Landon has a sensory processing disorder. He requires therapists and nurses to help with his needs.
With the coronavirus pandemic jeopardizing people’s health, especially the immunocompromised, Landon and his mom Kelley have no option but to stay home.
Kelley and Landon McDaniel (Kelley McDaniel)
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“I am mom, teacher, therapist, doctor, nurse, all of the above. It has been trying,” Kelley McDaniel said.
But mom and son haven’t gone through this process alone.
“People like Cat at Dream Catcher and his teachers … they have been wonderful," she said.
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She’s talking about Cat Thompson, a speech therapist at Dream Catcher Pediatric Therapy in Watkinsville, Georgia.
Thompson and her team put together at-home therapy kits for their patients.
“[Parents] are at home with kids with incredible needs. And these parents who already have such super challenging jobs raising these amazing kids, it can be really tough,” Thompson said.
The kits include children’s books, craft materials, and educational toys.
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“It means the world because really we could not get through this without them sticking beside us, making sure we’re taken care of, getting us the resources that we need. Just being there for us,” Kelley McDaniel said.
Landon loves the outdoors, so their eight-week long quarantine has been hard on him.
They hope the therapy kit will help in some way.
“I may not be able to hold those babies right now and love them that way, but anything I can do to let them know that I’m still here and still with them,” Thompson said.
Dream Catcher Pediatric Therapy is accepting donations for the therapy kits. You can drop off the items at 22 Durham Street in Watkinsville, or they will do nearby porch pickup.
Needed items:
- Children's books (pre-school to elementary age)
- Craft material, such as google eyes, pom moms, paper, markers, paint, and brushes
- Educational toys, such as knob puzzles
- "Prize" toys, such as small toys and stuffed animals
Dream Catcher Pediatric Therapy has also created an Amazon Wish list. VIEW HERE.
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