Changed His Life

Dear Chatter Box, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for providing therapy for my son. Because of therapy that was provided, my child is now living a more normal, happy life. Five months ago, before therapy started, my son was a different child. Beyond the fact that we could not understand what he said, he behaved terribly. He threw fits that would last for hours. He banged his head against his hands, me and the wall. I could go on and on about all of the negative behaviors that exhibited. My son and his twin are our first children, so we were unsure if his behavior was the result of “terrible twos” or something worse. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when I took him to a ballgame last March. While I struggled to keep him in my lap, he screamed, cried, and banged his head against my chest as hard as he could for almost two hours. I finally called First Steps for help, and found that he was exhibiting behaviors of a child with sensory issues. Being an educator, I was upset with myself for not figuring this out sooner, but decided that we would do whatever needed to be done to help him with the issue. At first, I was unsure of the strategies. They seemed very forceful and direct. As a mother, I really had to move myself out of the way and let the therapist do her job, even in the beginning, I wanted to scoop my baby up and say “forget it”. I am so glad that I got out of the way of my child’s health and happiness. The therapist has worked with my son every week since the end of May, and he truly is a different child. Although he still has moments, he handles situations better, and we know how to help him through rough patches. He is speaking much more clearly and can express his frustrations verbally rather than throwing a fit. I am confident that the time that Alex spent with his therapist has changed his life. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful young lady with our family. Not only is she our therapist she is our friend.