Shira playing doctor

As you walk into this very special children's rehabilitation hospital you are struck by bright open spaces and smiling faces, and that impression remains with you as you move through the heartbreaking wards and activity centers of the ALYN hospital in Jerusalem.

You will find the same bright and optimistic atmosphere in the wards for babies with severe congenital conditions, the play areas for children with serious physical limitations caused by terror or war-related incidents, illness or accidents, and the living quarters for respirator-dependent young adults.

We were met at the entrance by Ruth Yudelman from the Resource Development Department who took us on a tour of the many and varied facilities that ALYN has to offer. ALYN is a rehabilitation hospital and treats young people from birth to young adulthood who are afflicted with a broad range of physical disabilities, regardless of religion or ethnic origin. It is one of the world's leading specialists in pediatric rehabilitation, and the medical and paramedical staff is of the highest professional standard.

One-on-one therapy is not an exception in ALYN. It is the preferred ratio whenever possible, and the attitude of the staff is that they will do everything possible to improve the lives of the physically challenged children in their care. With endless patience, skill and dedication they work with the patients and their families to achieve their rehabilitation goals, however minor, for they know that even the smallest progress can vastly improve the quality of life of the child and the family.

The multidisciplinary staff decides on a personalized rehabilitation program for each patient that can include speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, hydrotherapy (in the hospital's therapeutic swimming pool), occupational therapy, animal-assisted therapy and even cooking therapy. And of course medical clowns play an important part and also create a lighthearted atmosphere during treatment sessions. In addition, the staff is augmented by volunteer workers, both Israeli and from overseas.

One of the exceptional aspects of the treatment is the concept of interaction amongst the children. Even in the ward for babies, the cots are arranged in a semi-circle so that the babies can always see other people around them, whether they are the other patients, the therapists or family members. This concept exists in all the treatment areas and often the treatment is done as group therapy. We saw groups of children playing happily in the play areas where they learn to interact and are encouraged and stimulated by one another.

Following this same trend, ALYN also runs a day-care center for physically challenged children who are bussed in daily from the greater Jerusalem area in specially equipped vehicles. They not only undergo rehabilitation, but they also learn in kindergarten and schooling facilities where they are taught in small groups, receiving the individual attention which they so desperately need.

Another unique facility is the workshop for building and adapting personalized equipment according to specifications from the therapists and the particular needs of the child. For example, we saw very young children being transported on individual trolleys that allow them to stand in an upright vertical position – a necessity for children with serious respiratory conditions. This is just one of the ingenious pieces of equipment produced at ALYN.

We were told the story of four-year old twins, Shira and Adi, who were born prematurely, suffered from severe breathing problems and were hospitalized for one year in ALYN's Intensive Pediatric Respiratory Rehabilitation Department. Today, after Adi has been successfully weaned off the ventilator and Shira now only needs ventilation at night, they both live at home and attend Shachar day-care kindergarten classes on a daily basis, where they continue to receive intensive rehabilitation therapies. We saw them playing happily in Shachar's outdoor playground, enjoying the slide and the seesaw. They are both making progress in their development and enjoy the varied activities of Shachar including story time and "playing doctors".

Another very touching story was about two and a half year old Amin who was admitted to ALYN hospital in 2010 suffering from third degree burns following a terrible accident. Working hard on his personalized intensive multidisciplinary rehabilitation program which includes physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy, Amin continues to make progress step by step, and to regain functional movement. There is no holding him back – he can now run around the hospital.

The concern and compassion of the staff, the use of multidisciplinary therapy and state-of-the-art equipment and techniques and a personalized program for treating each patient are what makes ALYN so special. This is what helps them to achieve the goal of enabling the children in their care together with their families to return to the community with the skills and abilities that will allow them to function as independently as possible.

We ended our visit feeling very moved and humbled by the scenes we had witnessed, and proud to know that this outstanding institution exists and gives hope to physically challenged children from many different cultures and religions.

ALYN is financed only partially by referring agencies which include the health funds and insurance companies. However, as with most institutions it not only needs to raise $3,000,000 annually through fundraising activities to meet expenses, but also requires another $3,000,000 to cover the development budget.

For more details about the ALYN hospital see the website http://www.ALYN.org