{"id":39848,"date":"2025-10-31T17:12:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T17:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rd.nph.org\/?p=39848"},"modified":"2025-10-31T17:12:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T17:12:55","slug":"disability-and-inclusion-step-by-step-towards-a-better-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rd.nph.org\/en\/2025\/10\/31\/disability-and-inclusion-step-by-step-towards-a-better-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Disability and Inclusion \u2013 Step by step towards a better future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Every step counts. For Mariela, 8, every small achievement is a big victory. Born in San Pedro and raised by her grandmother, Mariela has faced challenges since her earliest days.<\/p>\n<p>She was born prematurely, spent her first moments in an incubator, and was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Mariela\u2019s grandmother has been her greatest support, determined to give her all the love and care she needs.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the family does not have the financial resources to ensure that Mariela receives the therapy that she urgently needs. Fortunately for Mariela, NPH came into her life: since 2021, Mariela has been receiving specialized therapy through NPH: physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, and even aquatic therapy.<\/p>\n<p>She receives therapy three times a week. The results have been inspiring. Previously unable to stand or control her posture, Mariela can now sit with greater strength, walk with support, and communicate with greater clarity. She follows instructions more easily, speaks with more confidence, and needs less help with daily tasks.<\/p>\n<p>Each milestone, whether it\u2019s a word spoken, a step taken, or a smile shared, shows the progress she has made thanks to her perseverance, her grandmother\u2019s dedication, and the therapies provided by NPH.<\/p>\n<p>For Mariela, every small step counts. And with each one, her path to a more independent and hopeful future becomes brighter \u2013 thanks to NPH and everyone supporting our valuable work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every step counts. For Mariela, 8, every small achievement is a big victory. Born in San Pedro and raised by her grandmother, Mariela has faced challenges since her earliest days. She was born prematurely, spent her first moments in an incubator, and was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Mariela\u2019s grandmother has been her greatest support, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":189,"featured_media":39843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dominican-republic"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.5 (Yoast SEO v28.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Disability and Inclusion \u2013 Step by step towards a better future - NPH Rep\u00fablica Dominicana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rd.nph.org\/en\/2025\/10\/31\/disability-and-inclusion-step-by-step-towards-a-better-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Disability and Inclusion \u2013 Step by step towards a better future\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Every step counts. For Mariela, 8, every small achievement is a big victory. Born in San Pedro and raised by her grandmother, Mariela has faced challenges since her earliest days. She was born prematurely, spent her first moments in an incubator, and was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. 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