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August's
E-Perspective Newsletter
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Amelia and Early Intervention
By Heather Iandoli
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Amelia's story began as a 24 week, 1 pound 8 ounce, micro-preemie. After 80 very long days in the NICU,our miracle baby was able to come home where she belonged. Upon leaving the NICU, we headed into a world of unknowns. Along with our new world came a referral to the Kennedy-Donovan Center Early Intervention Program.
When Amelia first started Early Intervention (EI), she was 4 months old and had only been home with us for about 2 months. At that time, she weighed just over 9 pounds and was not active at all. She could not hold her head up and tummy time was a big challenge along with everything else. Through her time in EI, Amelia has worked with both developmental specialists and physical therapists. Little by little, she began making progress. Soon she was holding her head up, mastering tummy time, and rolling over. With lots of work and patience, Amelia started to crawl, and finally at almost 19 months she began to walk. Her speech developed a bit slow as well, but now she is talking up a storm, joining 2 and 3 words together.
We are fortunate to have the services available that we do! I strongly believe that our little miracle would never have caught up so quickly if it were not for the amazing Early Intervention staff we work with. Amelia is now a 25-pound, non-stop walker and talker, who celebrated her 2
nd
birthday on February 3
rd
. She loves dancing, climbing, and coloring. We owe so much to the Kennedy-Donovan Center and their Early Intervention Program!!
I love what our EI program stands for and what it does for families so much so that I decided to go back to work and I am working at the Kennedy-Donovan Center South Central Early Intervention Program as an Administrative Assistant. I am happy to have become a Parent Liaison and look forward to see what all of "our" futures hold.
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Amelia y la
Intervención Temprana
Por Heather Iandoli
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La historia de Amelia comenzó como una bebé microprematura de 24 semanas que pesó 1 libra y 8 onzas. Después de 80 largos días en la Unidad Neonatal de Cuidados Intensivos (NICU), pudimos llevarnos nuestro pequeño milagro a casa, donde pertenece. Una vez que dejamos la NICU, nos dirigimos al mundo de lo desconocido. Además de este mundo lleno de cosas desconocidas, obtuvimos una derivación al Programa de Intervención Temprana del Centro Kennedy-Donovan.
Cuando Amelia comenzó con Intervención Temprana (Early Intervention, EI) tenía 4 meses de edad y solo había estado 2 meses en casa con nosotros. En ese momento, pesaba apenas un poco más de 9 libras y no era para nada activa. No podía mantener la cabeza erguida y ponerla boca abajo era todo un desafío, al igual que todo lo demás. Durante el tiempo que estuvo en EI, Amelia trabajó con especialistas en el desarrollo y con terapistas físicos. Poco a poco, comenzó a mostrar progresos. Poco tiempo después pudo mantener la cabeza erguida, ponerse boca abajo y darse la vuelta. Después de mucho trabajo y paciencia, Amelia comenzó a gatear y, finalmente, a los casi 19 meses de edad, comenzó a caminar. Su habla se desarrolló más lentamente, pero ahora habla muy rápido y junta de 2 a 3 palabras.
Somos afortunados de tener estos servicios disponibles. Creo firmemente que nuestro pequeño milagro jamás habría progresado tan rápido si no hubiera sido por el increíble personal de Intervención Tempr
ana que trabajó con nosotros. Amelia ahora pesa 25 libras, camina y habla sin parar, y acaba de celebrar su segundo cumpleaños el 3 de febrero. Le encanta bailar, trepar y colorear. Le debemos muchísimo al Centro Kennedy-Donovan y a su Programa de Intervención Temprana.
Me gustan tanto los valores del programa de EI y lo que hace por las familias que decidí volver a trabajar: estoy trabajando como asistente administrativa en el Programa de Intervención Temprana Centro-Sur del Centro Kennedy-Donovan. Estoy feliz de haberme convertido en una Intermediaria de Padres y espero con ansias lo que nos deparen "nuestros" futuros.
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What's New at Family TIES of Massachusetts
Family TIES of Massachusetts is excited to introduce the
Topic Sheet Series
. These are one-page, resource materials for specific topics by categories like Accessibility, Advocacy, Child Care, Family Support and Special Health Needs. An example of two in the Accessibility category would be Home or Van Modification Funding. Be on the lookout as we continue the development of this project.
Another exciting announcement is that the new
2019 Directory of Resources
has been printed and is now available!
If you are interested in either of these free tools, please reach out to your Family TIES Regional Coordinator. Their contact information can be found on the Family TIES website at
www.massfamilyties.org
.
Family TIES is a statewide parent-to-parent information and support network for families of children special health needs, chronic illnesses or disability, and their professional partners. We are a proud Alliance Member of Parent to Parent USA, a national organization that provides technical assistance to parent-to-parent programs across the country. Family TIES of Massachusetts is a project of the Federation for Children with Special Needs, with funding from and in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Division for Children & Youth with Special Health Needs.
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"Like" Us on
FaceBook - "Follow" Us on
Twitter
A Sampling of our FaceBook and Twitter posts...
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WRCP In-door Picnic
(click below to see photos)
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#MotivationalMonday
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Resources
Click for link to learn more about the AbilityExpo coming to Boston, September 21 - 23, 2018!
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#DYK
? MA EI ICC stands for the Massachusetts Early Intervention Inter-agency Coordinating Council. These folks inform the Department of Public Health on ways to make Early Intervention in MA even better!
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THE PARENT LEADERSHIP PROJECT
The EI Parent Leadership Project (EIPLP) strives to develop an informed parent constituency, promote leadership and lifelong advocacy skills for parents and family members, facilitate family participation to ensure that Early Intervention Services are family-centered and support EI programs to identify, train and mentor families to take on roles across the EI and Early Childhood system.
The Project is a parent driven endeavor, which continually seeks family
involvement and input regarding the needs of families enrolled in Early Intervention and is staffed by parents whose own children have received EI services. The Project staff consists of a Coordinator of EIPLP
, a
Media
Coordinator
, a Statewide Family Engagement and Collaboration Coordinator, a Statewide Monitoring Coordinator and a Statewide Training and Technical Assistance Coordinator.
To receive the
Parent Perspective Newsletter,
a free publication, published
four
times a year
or the Parent E-Perspective published at least two times a year,
by the Parent Leadership Project, call us toll-free at (877) 353-4757 and ask to be added to the PLP mailing list or email
[email protected].
NEXT DEADLINE
:
We welcome your input and suggestions for resources and articles. The next deadline is
September 30, 2018
.
Please call our
toll-free number (877) 353-4757 or email the newsletter editor at
[email protected]
.
The
Parent Perspective
newsletter is
published
by the Early Intervention Parent Leadership Project, through funding from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
If you would like to be removed from this mailing list, please contact
[email protected].
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