Education

Hot water helping students

Therapists at a school for the disabled are using thermal baths to help their students experience more freedom of movement.

RAFAEL QUEZADA/LA PRENSA

Aquatherapy: Iphe students work with therapists in a thermal bath in Antón.960822

Therapists in the interior who work with disabled children have discovered a unique treatment for their students.

The therapists are taking the children, all of whom have multiple disabilities, to the thermal baths in El Valle de Antón, and the treatments appear to be working.

The therapists work for the Instituto Panameño de Habilitación Especial (Iphe) extension of Antón. The 28 students in the group have a variety of disabilities, including down syndrome, cerebral palsy and autism. They range in age between 2 and 18.

The use of hot springs is a new therapeutic tool, which is being tested under a pilot program, said school director Rita Gálvez. The program was initiated after it was suggested by therapists who read about the benefits of aquatherapy on the Internet.

The warm waters allow the children greater freedom of movement than they normally enjoy, the therapists said. The water, which has a temperature of about 37 degrees centigrade, make the children more relaxed.

Aquatherapy is commonly used in the United States and other countries, but this program is thought to be the first program in a Panama school for the disabled.

While the program has been successful, some problems remain. One hurdle facing administrators is finding the funds to pay for transporting the children from the school to the site. They plan to ask the government to help, but there are no assurances that such funding will be forthcoming.