Starting this month, we would like to share our success from Pernet’s Early Intervention Program on an on-going basis. Children qualify for early intervention for a variety of reasons. These reasons can be due to scores on our assessment tool (the Battelle), risk factors for the family or medical diagnoses. The role of service coordinator is not only to support the child but to support the family as a whole. This may look like bringing the family food, clothes and diapers, attending DCF meetings and doctor’s appointments, setting up services with other specialists and at times just being a listening ear. This approach provides the family and child the support they need in order to achieve, thrive, and develop to their greatest potential.
Our first story is of how a Service Coordinator helped a family navigate the medical system. Upon meeting a new client, the coordinator realized that the child needed to meet with a geneticist. Mom shared with the coordinator her struggle with her child’s pediatrician and the way the doctor would brush off her concerns. The coordinator connected the family with a geneticist, in addition to, physical and occupational therapy, and a vision consultation. “My client has developed amazingly in the last couple months,” shares the coordinator, “and I know that her progress is due to the therapies and medical teams that I helped put in place.”
Our next success story comes from a Service Coordinator who tells us about a little girl who has been in the program for about a year, “Up until her first birthday she was developing like a typical child, hitting all her milestones: crawling, saying Mama…” Not too long after, the child lost all her mobility, vision, and speech due to an abnormality of the brain, which left her like a newborn. The Coordinator started seeing the child at 14 months old. She immediately referred her to Physical Therapy in order to begin working on strengthening her muscles again, in addition to, other specialists, and also connected mom with services. “Despite the odds, the improvement we have seen is nothing short of amazing!” shares the Coordinator, “Her success has truly been a Team Effort between her Pernet Team as well as Mom and extended family….However we cannot forget the determination of my client herself!”
