“She was 2 years old, and she wasn’t talking. When she needed something, her brothers would tell me what she wanted. I think she was just being lazy because they talked for her.

“When I took her to the doctor for a regular checkup, they asked how many words she was saying, and I said, ‘None.’ The same thing when we went to the doctor again. That’s when they finally said, ‘OK, you’ve got a problem.’

“They suggested we have speech therapy at home. Instead, I decided to go to work as a teacher’s aide at Wee School so I could bring her with me. Since then she’s made a lot of progress. Her first word was ‘purple.’ She’s 4 now, and she talks a lot. We can’t get her to stop.”

— Cathy Arreola

The post Talking not a problem now for young girl appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“Owen was diagnosed about two years ago with a mild form of autism, and he was speech delayed. When I moved in with my son to help, the only thing Owen was saying at that time was ‘no.’ He was talking very little. Very little motion or gestures, anything like that.

“But now his speech is really improving. He’s saying two and three words, sometimes as many as four at a time. He already had some work doing sign language, so that is involved in his sentences sometimes.

“Yesterday for the first time, I was sitting on the couch at home when he walked up and said, ‘Pawpaw, what’s happening?’ That was pretty cool.

“Mr. Bill, his occupational therapist, has done wonders for Owen. He knows how to dress himself now. He’ll count out different objects with me and things like that. He’s learned how to put his shoes on.

“With autism, using the bathroom is sometimes a challenge, but he uses the bathroom pretty much on command now. That’s the last thing we’re hoping for, that he comes to us and tells us he needs to use the bathroom. When we get that taken care of, we think he’ll be in pretty good shape.”

— David Schexnaydre

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“I have an older child, so I noticed there was a difference in the progress between the two of them. Ryan talked at an earlier age, but Liam wasn’t talking at all. I started to wonder and research about when I should expect him to start talking. Is this me just comparing him to another child or is this, in general, not where he should be?

“After his 18-month checkup, I kept trying to talk myself out of seeking help. But about a month later, whenever he was throwing lots and lots of fits and having lots of behavioral issues because he wasn’t able to communicate with me, I couldn’t handle it anymore. It wasn’t good for him and it wasn’t good for me or anyone else in our family. We said, he needs to be able to communicate. That’s when I reached out for help.

“When we started he was saying maybe 10 words, and those were single words. He wouldn’t group anything together. That was last March. Today he’s saying sentences, and without being prompted. That’s a huge deal from a year ago.

“We went from like 20 meltdowns a day because of not being able to anticipate what his needs were, to him being able to say this is what I want in whatever way he can say it. Overall now he’s so much happier, and we’re happier, too.”

— Tracy McRee

The post Son’s speech improvements ‘a huge deal’ appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“We exist to serve the needs of the community. If you look at the history of Bay Area Rehabilitation Center, we’ve gone from assisting a small group of individuals with cerebral palsy at the very beginning to where we now provide services to the full spectrum of individuals. Everyone from newborns on up to seniors, in all of the major rehabilitation disciplines: physical, occupational and speech therapies. When we brought the Opportunity Center on board in 2007, we added the component of vocational rehabilitation.

“On a personal level, what really drives me is the notion that I can help make a difference in someone’s life. I’m not out there providing the services. I’m not a therapist. I don’t treat people. But if I do my job right I can help put in place the right personnel, the right resources, the right types of facilities and the right opportunities for this organization to meet our mission. As a facilitator to allow our programs to happen, I think that’s what really keeps me focused.”

— Mark Alexander

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