Betty Reckard, administrator of children’s services, Easter Seals Southern California, loves seeing children with and without disabilities grow, gain confidence and meet their full potential.
She is a strong advocate for early intervention, noting that the first five years of a child’s life are “absolutely the time for children to receive early intervention and other therapies. It is within the first five years that a child’s brain develops the most – and the experiences that a child has are the most critical.”
Reckard has seen the positive impact that early detection and intervention can have in a child’s life. She notes that the child development centers at Easter Seals Southern California conduct developmental and speech screenings for children birth to five years old. “I have seen many children over the past ten years score relatively low in these screenings when the first receive services. However, by the time the children go off to kindergarten, they are typically developing and/or exceeding the levels of development,” Reckard says.
Reckard emphasizes the idea that Easter Seals works with each individual, child and family according to their specific needs. “The staff at Easter Seals always look to individualize therapies, treatments and goals to best meet each child/families’ needs,” she says.
Reckard graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in applied developmental psychology.
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