A Pattern of Love, Devotion and Generosity ELAINE AND KEN BLEILER ONLY HAVE ONE BIOLOGICAL DAUGHTER, but their family includes seven others who call the Bleiler Caring Cottage home. Elaine’s devotion to giving her daughter the best opportunities in life has provided the chance for others with developmental disabilities to have a place of their own and for their families to enjoy peace of mind. Elaine is accustomed to hard work. Her father worked three jobs to put her through college. She chose a teaching career, as the options for women at the time were limited. After marrying Ken, graduating from college and spending time in Germany while Ken served in the U.S. Army, she taught first and second grades. She became pregnant with Debbie and spent 18 months at home before returning to work as a substitute teacher. As Debbie grew, Elaine noticed she crawled using her arms rather than her hands and wasn’t able to stand long. When she started walking, she’d make it three or four steps and then fall, get up and fall again, repeatedly. She also wasn’t talking much. “We tried to encourage her as best we could,” Elaine said. After talking with another mother 18
Winter 2020 Issue
whose son was experiencing similar issues, Elaine made an appointment at the Neurological Institute Clinic for Children in Philadelphia with Dr. Eugene Spitz when Debbie was 4 years old. He was one of the top 10 brain surgeons in the country, and he determined Debbie’s brain was injured or damaged at some point during her birth. One of his first suggestions was to implement a program called homolateral patterning. Homolateral patterning consists of turning an individual’s head to one side while flexing the arm and leg of that side and extending the arm
and leg of the opposite side. It is believed these exercises allow for free movement of electrical impulses and information between the right and left hemispheres of the brain, essentially stimulating cells which might otherwise be inactive. For the Bleilers, this meant each day for the next few years would be broken up into minutes spent doing exercises, monitoring what Debbie ate and undergoing brain surgery. Elaine put her teaching career aside. This couldn’t be done by Elaine alone. She recruited 42 friends and neighbors
