From our case files: First steps and what came before them

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Meir is 18 months old. Diagnosed with a significant developmental delay, he needs more than just a helping hand to make progress in life. Fortunately his parents applied - and he was admitted - to the Malki Foundation's Therapies at Home program in February 2014 and since then he has been getting weekly physiotherapy sessions.

Just before Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year festival that took place just three weeks ago, Meir’s mother phoned our office. She was simply overjoyed. Seven months after commencing the therapies that the Malki Foundation's program makes possible (and for which Meir was ineligible under the rules of the family's regular health fund cover or via other government entitlement programs), her son now walks!

The Malki Foundation firmly supports early intervention for children under the age of five because of the clear evidence that this greatly enhances the independence of children with special needs - an enhancement that benefits them throughout their lives.

In a very moving gesture, Meir’s mother recognized such a great improvement in her son’s abilities that she and her husband felt they wanted to pass on the gift they had received; they donated their son's spot in the Keren Malki Therapies at Home program to another child in need. Meir, thankfully, is no longer in urgent need of that additional physiotherapy.