Briana
Briana is a fun-loving and happy 10-year-old girl who has attended Children’s Resources for 5 years. At the young age of 2 years old, Briana was diagnosed with global developmental delays. She experienced difficulties in her motor skills, communication abilities, and intellectual functioning.
When Briana was a little girl her parents noticed that she was not developing like other children her age. Immediately they brought her for testing to determine her difficulties. Test results established that she was functioning more than two years below her chronological age. After spending a year in the public school system with limited progress, Briana’s parents were faced with the challenge of finding a program that could address Briana’s specific needs.
In 2010 at the age of 5, Briana was enrolled at Children’s Resources and exhibited delays in all her areas of functioning. She was unable to put two words together, identify simple pictures, follow simple directions or hold a pencil. She also had difficulty feeding herself, using the toilet, and dressing herself. Over the course of the past 5 years at Children’s Resources, Briana has flourished and made significant progress. She now can communicate in full sentences to express her wants and needs on a daily basis. She has also become a wonderful class helper, always willing to lay a hand during circle time. Most notably, Briana can now identify all the letters in the alphabet and their corresponding sounds and has begun reading simple readers. With the assistance of therapies, she is now holding a pencil independently and is beginning to trace lines and letter and color between the lines. She can also follow two step directions and can use the bathroom independently.
Today, Briana is a different child. She walks through the halls greeting everyone that she passes by. She has developed her own personality and is happy to show off her accomplishments. She continues to thrive and accomplish more of the goals set for her by her loving and dedicated teachers and therapists each day. We are so proud of all her accomplishments and look forward to her continued success.
Thomas
In January of 2011, Thomas’ neurologist informed his parents that Thomas that there were clear signs that he was delayed in his speech and his motor skills. He said Thomas possibly could end up on the Austism Specturm. At that moment, the parents felt confused and hopeless. They had many questions and didn’t know where to turn for the answers. All they were told was that he needed more tests and most importantly find the additional, early intervention services their son needed.
The family was overwhelmed; they had planned that their children would be taken care of by grandma till they were ready for kindergarten and now they were faced with the hard job of searching to find their son the help he needed and struggling with the idea of separating their twins and leaving Thomas in the care of someone that wasn’t family. However, they knew they needed to get him help and immediately began looking for a place and became more and more desperate when none of the places they found felt right for Thomas. After much searching, a co-worker recommended they come visit Children’s Resources.
Thomas and Isabella, Thomas’ twin, started at CRF on March 14, 2011. Thomas was placed in the Transition Class and Isabella in the Inclusion Classroom. When Thomas began attending school he only knew how to say 2 words…leche and agua, milk and water in Spanish. He barely looked at anyone in the eyes, didn’t do much without assistance and had a difficult time finishing tasks. He would become extremely agitated in certain settings such as restaurants or children’s birthday parties. Isabella was extremely shy and didn’t say much to any of the other kids or her teacher.
After only 6 months at Children’s Resource, miracles began happening. Isabella’s speech therapist told the parents she was now speaking at her age level and no longer needed services. She has been known to want to lead the classes’ circle time and loves being her teachers’ helper. Thomas was moved to into the same class as his sister just 5 months after starting school. After a year at CRF he could count to 25 in English and to 10 in Spanish. He knew all his letters and colors and he was asking. He was having conversations with his sister and engaging his school mates to play. By Kindergarten, Thomas was ready to be mainstreamed in to a general ed classroom. He is currently in the gifted program at his school, he is very inquisitive and loves computer coding. When you hear Thomas speak, ask questions, and engage in conversation related to science, animals, or his love of school you would never have thought this was the child who stepped into CRF with no words. We are so proud of his accomplishments and look forward to learning about continued academic success.
Austin
My name is Austin and I am a CRF alumni. The memories I have of CRF are those of loving and nurturing teachers. One of my most vivid memories is that of having aerosol treatment and being held by the Lead Teacher at the time, who was patient and loving. I usually had difficulties falling asleep at nap time. One of my classroom teachers would rock me to sleep. The many memories I have of CRF and the teachers were those of feeling loved.
We are eternally grateful to the administration, staff but most of all to the faculty of Children’s Resource Center. Our son attended CRF for 2 years in preschool. Our son is now 21 years old, attending college and working a part time job. He is an independent, responsible and loving young man. The impact the teachers had on our son during those early days of developmental formation were critical. I’m certain that the teachers at CRF had a lasting impact on our son. I have recommended CRF throughout the years to families in the community with a child with special needs. Because I know firsthand the quality of care and love provided to the children. As a licensed Mental Health counselor and an Early steps provider I have found throughout the years that when I have endorsed CRF families trust what I have shared with them.