El Paso Children’s Hospital therapy unit helps kids with physical disabilities

When babies are born it’s exciting for parents to watch them develop: Lift their heads, sit, crawl and walk.

But some babies are born with developmental disabilities and El Paso Children’s Hospital has a program to help parents and children get through the hurdles.

Therapists at EPCH have helped kids like 4-year-old Jorge Lozano.

“When he started coming here he couldn’t lift his head very well when he was on his stomach. He wasn’t reaching for toys. He wasn’t grasping. He pretty much looked like a 2-year-old when he was on the floor,” said EPCH occupational therapist Sarah Elkington.

Lozano has a developmental delay. He can’t speak or walk.

Lozano’s mother Azucena Lozano tells ABC-7 doctors haven’t pinpointed the cause but it could be cerebral paralysis.

For the past two months, Elkington has worked with Lozano teaching him simple motor skills like making him reach for toys.

“He’s able to get his head and his chest up off the floor. He’s starting to grasp and releasing things in a more mature way,” Elkington said.

Azucena Lozano said Jorge has seen several physical therapists in the past but there’s something she likes about the therapy program at El Paso Children’s Hospital.

“They know how to work the child and how to make the child work,” she said.

Elkington said there is something that sets the hospital apart from others.

“We always have the family come into the sessions with us. We’re always telling the family what we are doing as we’re doing it,” Elkington said.

Eventually the parents are teaching their children to help them become stronger.

“He’s doing a lot of great work,” Elkington said.

Azucena Lozano tells ABC-7 she’s hoping for one thing.

“I can only hope he can walk and depend on himself,” she said.

Last year EPCH helped more than 8,000 children through physical therapy.