Clowning around with doctor who tickles funny bone

As the Peruvian woman slumps far forward in her wheelchair, expressionless and still, a goofy-looking clown bends down, honking his red rubber nose against her hands.

He does it again.

Then "honks" it against her forehead.

She responds. Slowly. She pushes back with her arms, turns her head then eventually reaches out, "honking" his clown nose for herself.

By the end of the encounter with Dr. "Patch" Adams on the street, she is smiling broadly, waving for the camera and making sounds that can only be described as joyous.

The film snippet was one of several that capped off a two-hour-long talk Saturday at Simkus Recreation Center in Carol Stream by the doctor made famous through the movie based on him starring Robin Williams.

Adams, attired in baggy, yellow clown pants, a bright blue shirt and a tie that can only be described as a fashion non sequitur, uses clowning as a way to get close to patients in a fun and non-threatening manner.

"I'm doing a clown neurological exam," he said to the crowd, as he tested the Peruvian woman's responses to touch through his seemingly whimsical actions.

Adams was speaking for the 50th anniversary of CNS Home Health and Hospice, a program offering home heath care for patient with acute needs.

He told the audience, which included many health care professionals, they need to remember to care. But he wasn't talking as much about extending care to patients as he was receiving compassion and kindness from them.

People, he said, need both to give as well as to receive.