Summer Finds Her Voice With Autism Services Early Intervention Support
Tiffany credits Easterseals Southern California (ESSC) for helping her eight-year-old daughter, Summer, find her voice. Six years ago, Tiffany never could have imagined her daughter would be where she is today.
After Summer was born, Tiffany noticed she was missing developmental milestones. There was also no communication, little to no eye contact, and intense tantrums.
Summer was officially diagnosed with autism in March 2017, at almost two-years-old.
"It was difficult for me, my husband, her father, my older children," Tiffany said. "We were all very worried."
Tiffany took her to see a behavioral pediatrician who suggested intervention and therapy. The doctor also told Tiffany that her commitment to early intervention was crucial and may determine Summer's outcome.
That's how the family found ESSC, where Summer started speech, occupational, and Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy.
Tiffany quit her job to focus on early intervention for Summer.
After consistent therapies, Summer started learning sign language in speech therapy and how to communicate through cards and pictures. At six months, she had learned 10-15 words.
"She was in the crib one day, and she was super upset,” Tiffany said. “I couldn't figure out what was wrong, when she stood up and looked at me and she said ‘eat.’ I grabbed her bottle and started crying. I called my dad and said, 'We're there, we have communication.' That was the first time my daughter ever talked to me and told me what was happening with her. And from there, it just progressed to new words every day, more eye contact, more engagement. It was like watching a fog lift."
Cheryl Liang, a speech-language pathologist at ESSC who worked with Summer from the start, said Summer is an entirely different person now from when she first met her. 
"Sometimes, our structured activities would include flashcards where we worked on expanding her vocabulary," Cheryl said. "It began with her labeling objects and pictures and then moving on to labeling actions or verbs. From what I remember, her language just blossomed quickly from not speaking to a few words, to this wonderful language explosion."
After three years, Summer graduated from ABA therapy. Since then, she's received multiple awards in school, including an integrity award, and she is now in a general education classroom alongside students of all abilities.
Tiffany credits Summer's success to early intervention with ESSC.
"Easterseals tailors a program to you and your family, and they'll help you make goals. They're committed to services,” Tiffany said. "Easterseals gave us a positive outcome. They are very, very dedicated to what they do. They gave us hope.”
