A Heartwarming Story

Grayson’s Mom to shares how Easter Seals has made a difference in her and Grayson’s lives.

How did you discover that your child had special needs?
Grayson was born with 4 Congenital Heart Defects; Double Inlet Left Ventricle, Interrupted Aortic Arch, VSD, and Transposition of the Great Arteries. He required several open heart surgeries, eventually leading to a heart transplant.  After most of his life being spent in the hospital he fell behind in his physical and mental development.

How do you feel your child is doing now in comparison to when they first started their journey? What are they able to do now that they were not able to do before?
Grayson first started his journey with Easter Seals just over a year ago he was 17 months old, he wasn‛t eating a lot of foods by mouth, since he had a gastrostomy tube since he was 2 months old and a nasogastric tube prior to that. He wasn‛t speaking, crawling, walking, or standing at the time, due to spending ¾ of his life in the hospital stuck in beds from multiple surgeries, and lack of energy from his heart failure. He is now 2.5 years old, and I am excited to report that he now eats all meals by mouth; he has flown past crawling and is walking!  With the help of Easter Seals, Grayson has almost caught up to toddlers his age.

What kinds of support have been most helpful to you and why? (Family, support groups, Early Interventionist, therapist, etc)
We have had the pleasure of working with Ms. Ashley for Speech Therapy, and Ms. Melissa is our Early Interventionist. These ladies have made such a huge impact on our lives. Ms. Ashley has gotten
Grayson to eat and drink, a feat that was not easy. She has also gotten him to start talking to the point we can have conversations. He is speaking in sentences and he understands and follows small commands. Not to mention she has become a member of our family.

Ms. Melissa has come in and helped Grayson with all aspects of therapy, we‛ve worked on messy play, gross motor skills, strength, and using both hands together to accomplish task. 
She has also assisted me in finding resources to help my children with some of their needs. She helped made it possible for my children to have a happy Christmas, as well as clothes they needed.

Easter Seals holds a very special place in my heart and the heart of my family. When the time Grayson will no longer need their services we will be very sad. They have taught my son so much and I will always be hold them close in my heart, and recommend them to anyone looking for a Therapy group.