Meet Gwen and Livy
How did you discover that your child had special needs?
Our girls were born early at 24 weeks and 4 days. Since they were premature, we knew there was a higher likelihood for them to have developmental delays.
How did you learn about Easterseals?
We heard about Easterseals through word of mouth while the girls were still in the NICU. Our search focused on finding therapists who were familiar with children who have tracheotomy and are on a ventilator. We knew Gwen would be coming home with these needs and we wanted someone confident in working with her.
How do you feel your child is doing now in comparison to when they first started their early Intervention journey?
At the beginning of our journey we had concerns about how Gwen would ever learn to crawl, walk, talk, and eat after spending 11 months in a hospital bed and her medical equipment limiting her mobility. This past summer we have seen a burst in her walking, talking, and eating different textures. It has been slow and steady progress for her but with the help of therapies she met each milestone in her own time. She still has some progress to make eating and drinking, but having seen how far she has come we know it is only a matter of time until she meets her next set of goals.
Livy is now only being monitored for her therapy services, but she also needed additional assistance at the beginning. Primarily Livy needed help with feeding and some developmental skills.
What kinds of support have been most helpful to you and why?
Having our therapists able to come in and observe and work with both our children in the home has been paramount in their success. It has helped us to have activities and exercises that we can replicate with toys and equipment at home and allows us to minimize our exposure to germs in outpatient therapy, which was necessary to continue keeping them healthy and progressing. Working with OT to assist with feeding at our own kitchen table has allowed both of our children to make progress in a comfortable environment.
