Striving to Reach Her Potential

I knew about Olivia’s disability before she was born.  At 20 weeks into my pregnancy, an amniocentesis indicated that my baby would be born with Down syndrome.  At first I was really upset.  I was afraid of the unknown.  And I was disappointed.  Here I was, 40 years old and having my first baby, and there was something wrong.

A difficult start to life

I decided to read as much as I could about Down syndrome and to take the best care of myself as I could.   At 32 weeks into my pregnancy, the doctors performed an emergency C-section.  Olivia was born weighing about three pounds.  I was off from work for about six months and we were in and out of the hospital with various medical concerns.  Though her life started out pretty rough, she escaped many major problems.

When I needed to go back to work, someone told me about Fraser School and that it specialized in kids with special needs.  Because Olivia was premature, we waited to enroll her and she started at Fraser when she was about a year old. 

Fraser helped us maximize services

Fraser was so important to us because of the onsite rehabilitation program.  Since she could get physical and occupational therapy right at Fraser, she was able to participate in as many sessions as were necessary.  If I would have needed to take her back and forth between facilities, the number of sessions would have been limited.  Between medical appointments and therapy sessions, I would have been missing work all of the time.  As a single mom, I need to work full time, and it was so great not to worry about this issue.  Thanks to Fraser, we don’t have to sacrifice the care and services that are so important for her.

Olivia’s therapy has been so beneficial.  She gets both physical and occupational therapy several times a week.  The Fraser therapists work with her on feeding herself, drinking from a cup and other life skills.  She also gets speech therapy which has turned out to be very important.   For a while, I thought that we had a behavior problem.  She would scream and act out in order to get attention.  What I have learned, with the help of Fraser, is that this behavior is really demonstrating her frustration at not being able to communicate what she needs or wants.  The therapy is helping her to learn new communication skills. She is learning words and sign language and how to use them to get our attention.  I’ve seen the changes at home and am so thankful that we’ve been able to get her this therapy.  It’s so important. 

A place that understands Olivia

Fraser has been such a great place for Olivia.  The staff are accustomed to handling a child like her.  Many child care centers are not.  They do not have the training or even the desire.  I worry that if she goes somewhere else, will they understand the issues? 

People at Fraser are not afraid of children with disabilities.  Olivia is exposed to other kids like herself, as well as “regular” kids too.  Though she’s behind other kids her age, she is not held back.  She’s been able to move up with her buddies as they advance.  These children know each other and get along so well. 

We're like everyone else

I’ve never seen Olivia’s disability.  I just don’t see it when I look at her, and never have.  She’s just beautiful to me.  She just looks like any other kid to me.  I know that there are some differences, but we’re just a mom and daughter like everyone else.

Without Fraser, I think that Olivia would eventually reach her potential, but that it would take us longer to get there.  Thanks to Fraser, I feel like I have been able to meet all of her needs and that she’s reaching her potential so much faster!