Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Walk With Me

“Levi can’t move up with his class.”

It was April of last year, and Levi’s preschool teacher has just delivered the news that no parent wants to hear. At the time, Levi was 20 months and had been in the 1 year old class at school. In the fall, we had hopes of moving Levi up to the 2 year old class with his peers. However, even at that early time, Levi was already experiencing some pretty significant developmental delays as he could not walk, talk, or communicate in any way. Not only did he lack all verbal and nonverbal communication, but Levi also did not understand any words, commands, or questions that were said to him.



Although we completely understood and respected the school’s position (Lucas is enrolled at this preschool in the fall because we LOVE them), we were crushed, confused and slightly panicked about the future. Up until this point, I had been taking Levi to therapy twice a week before I would drop him off at school and go to work. Because successful therapy happens with consistency and repetition, Levi was making absolutely no progress. Between both Mitch and I working full time and Levi’s school not having the time, resources, or knowledge to work on his therapy, the consistency and repetition just weren’t present. We struggled daily between the desire to help our son and the lack of resources and knowledge to enable us to help him.

That summer, after Levi’s official diagnoses, we had a friend approach us about Easter Seals. Mitch and I knew very little about Easter Seals, but we called and made an appointment anyways. For those who are unfamiliar, Easter Seals is nonprofit, community-based agency that assists more than one million children and adults with disabilities and their families annually. They provide services, education, outreach, and advocacy so that people living with autism and other disabilities can live, learn, work and play in our communities. Just a few of the amazing things they offer are:

-       Medical Rehabilitation
-       Child Care
-       Early Intervention
-       Speech, Physical, and Occupational Therapy ON SITE
-       Adult Day Services

Needless to say, we were very nervous about sending our nonverbal child somewhere new, but Easter Seals was able to offer Levi so much more than any other place we had researched. Therefore, in August of 2015 Levi started attending Easter Seals.



No words. No gestures. No sign language. No sounds. No peer interaction. No mimicking. No walking up or down stairs. No running without falling. No understanding of any words, commandments, or questions. Easily angered. Frustrated. These were the things that described Levi’s development when he entered Easter Seals. At 2 years old, Levi was measuring at the social & communication level of a 9-10 month old. Needless to say, Easter Seals had their work cut out for them!

For the past 10 months, Levi has attended Easter Seals full time. In a typical week, he receives speech and occupational therapy, as well as physical therapy twice a month. His teachers and therapists communicate weekly about new goals for Levi to be working on while he is in class and at home. Furthermore, his teachers work tirelessly on his sign language, words, sounds, sharing, gestures, and self-help skills. I will NEVER be able to put into words how much his two teachers mean to us for the love and dedication that have put into a child that is not their own.



Signing. Pointing. Walking. Running. Interacting with peers. Trying new foods. Understanding words. Saying Words. Happy.

Not even a year later, and these are the words and phrases we are able to use about our son. This time last year we were told he might never talk. However, today, he can say not just one word, but almost TEN different words. Today, he can run without falling every few seconds. Today, he will actually interact with his cousins. Today, he will say “Wove you” as we put him to bed.

And it is all because of Easter Seals. Because they see value and potential where the world does not. Because they believed that Levi could reach a higher potential and they would not and will not stop until he reaches it.

We are so incredibly thankful that the Lord decided to use Easter Seals to answer so many of our prayers and we will forever be indebted to them for the love and effort they have put into helping Levi and our family.

If you are interested in learning more about Easter Seals, please visit:



If you are interested in making a donation to Easter Seals Walk with Me (all donations directly benefit Easter Seals clients), please visit our team page: 

No comments:

Post a Comment