Health Matters: Center Helps Toddlers With Disabilities Build Independence
By: Jocelyn Tovar, KARK 4 NEWS
Updated: March 7, 2013
"Can you sign mom?" said speech therapist Heather Ruff "Good job!"
"Sam could not hold his head up, sit up, nothing a capable child could do at his age," said Sam's mom Vonda Lowrance. "We started receiving his therapy here and it's made all the difference."
"Sign water?" said Ruff, "Sam was non verbal three to four months ago.
"Car?" she said, "Good job."
"Now he has a vocab of 50 words he can sign and say," said Lowrance. "He can tell us when he's hungry when he's sad...It was a big deal for all of us."
"Look Noah you did it!" said Kim Hedden.
"This is Noah, he has a CP diagnosis and we are working on Noah being able to sit up all by himself," said Hedden.
"Everything inevitably is to increase the independence of the patients," she added.
"If speech is an issue we're going to work with a speech therapist," said Holly Crutchfield. "Understand, communicate, explain themselves to prepare them for the future."
"That's our goal to put them in a regular kindergarten setting," she said. "They'll be with us until they go to kindergarten."
"You get attached," said Ruff.
The ascent facilities believe that by nurturing the children early, they're setting them up for success and independence later in life.
"Sam could not hold his head up, sit up, nothing a capable child could do at his age," said Sam's mom Vonda Lowrance. "We started receiving his therapy here and it's made all the difference."
"Sign water?" said Ruff, "Sam was non verbal three to four months ago.
"Car?" she said, "Good job."
"Now he has a vocab of 50 words he can sign and say," said Lowrance. "He can tell us when he's hungry when he's sad...It was a big deal for all of us."
"Look Noah you did it!" said Kim Hedden.
"This is Noah, he has a CP diagnosis and we are working on Noah being able to sit up all by himself," said Hedden.
"Everything inevitably is to increase the independence of the patients," she added.
"If speech is an issue we're going to work with a speech therapist," said Holly Crutchfield. "Understand, communicate, explain themselves to prepare them for the future."
"That's our goal to put them in a regular kindergarten setting," she said. "They'll be with us until they go to kindergarten."
"You get attached," said Ruff.
The ascent facilities believe that by nurturing the children early, they're setting them up for success and independence later in life.
