Learning that your child has developmental delay or disability can be a stressful experience. Parents may feel frustrated, anxious, sad, or helpless. This can both impact the well-being of the family and further affect the development of the special needs child.
Early intervention helps build a nurturing and supportive environment for the entire family. Family-directed services are meant to help family members understand the special needs of their child and how to enhance his or her development.
We invite Missouri First Steps families to share their stories about how early intervention services have enriched their lives. Your experiences can inspire and support other families on their journey. Along with your story, feel free to share a photo of your family and a photo of your child to be featured by MPACT and DESE (optional).
PartnershipOur son Rory was diagnosed with hearing loss when he was 6 weeks old. Thanks to the newborn hearing screening, we got additional testing at the hospital to confirm his hearing loss. At first we scared, anxious, and unsure what our sons future would look like. The hospital immediately referred us to First Steps and got our family in touch with the Moog Center for Deaf Education. Within days we had spoken with both and had a plan in place. Ever since that day we’ve had a great partner in both First Steps and Moog. Our son received hearing aids at 4 months old provided by First Steps. Because of the quick action by First Steps and Moog, our son is thriving and his speech is in line with his peers. They also make sure to address any other concerns we have, including physical or mental development. We are so thankful for the great program Missouri has and the wonderful providers that have touched all of our lives.
GratefulPregnancy with my son was as normal as possible, born at 39 weeks and we had no issues. Walker was originally hitting all of his milestones until about 9 months things started to back track, things he had started to do had began doing was suddenly not being seen anymore. My husband and I had voiced our concerns to our pediatrician and our pediatrician immediately sent a referral for first steps. First steps has been such and amazing thing for our family. They have helped me find resources, helped guide me in the right direction, given comfort and advice when needed and provided us with the most amazing service. Our family is so thankful. Walker has started behavioral therapy and will be starting therapy at school in January and he is showing so much progress since he first started in October of 2022. One of the big challenges with Walker is when we try to leave the house and go to appointments or run errands. Walker elopes and takes off running as soon as he sees open in front of him. Our coordinator got in touch with the most amazing blessing and was able to get us funding for a Wagon to help transport Walker from the car to building and we are just so thankful for everything first steps has done for us.
EngagementOur family received an unexpected Down Syndrome diagnosis when our daughter, Molly, was born. As we navigated a new path, everyone from our neighbor to the NICU team immediately guided us to First Steps. We began therapy through First Steps when Molly was just 8 weeks old, participating in multiple sessions per week for physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), and speech therapy. Our therapists are truly part of our family, beloved by us, our daughter, and her siblings. The First Steps team not only helps us achieve our goals but celebrates them with us too. They are experts in their professions and always think of innovative ways to engage Molly and our family in play-based therapy. It is impossible to describe the joy of watching our daughter walk down the aisle as a flower girl, zip up her coat, and sign for more dessert; these achievements were made possible by the early interventions we received. We are forever grateful for all First Steps has done for our family, as well as for what they do for families throughout Missouri.
ThrivingWhen my son’s therapist first started to work with him he was only able to say one word. He would get frustrated because he wasn’t able to express himself and we were all worried about him and his development. Within weeks of working with him he was starting to use more words and even sign language. Now he can talk in full sentences and has astonished everyone with how far he has come. It would never have happened without the help of our therapist. We are forever grateful for Kara and First Steps.
ProgressAt first, we thought maybe that the reason that Thomas wasn’t speaking was because he was shy. Our pediatrician didn’t mention anything, but we were still concerned. A family friend at Head Start referred us to First Steps, and we are so glad we called to set up a time for an evaluation. We are happy that First Steps comes to our house, his “safe space”. Kids don’t function well in a new environment like a clinic or a center, so it’s really important for us that First Steps comes to our house. This is because our whole family is really involved with his learning: mom, dad, his aunt, grandma, and grandpa are at every session. Even on Saturdays, which is when Thomas has his sessions! It would be much harder for us to have sessions on weekdays, after getting out of work and when the kids are out of school—we would be too tired. His speech therapist, Ms. Samantha, and occupational therapist, Ms. Francine, work really well with us and show us a lot of strategies. We completely trust Ms. Samantha and Ms. Francine. We trust that they will help Thomas in any way, shape, or form. He’s always ready to learn when they come over. Ms. Samantha and Ms. Francine introduce us to new strategies and they give us lots of ideas to help Thomas speak more and improve his fine motor skills at home. Thomas usually doesn’t like strangers, so we are really lucky that we were assigned these ladies! Since Thomas stared with First Steps, he's grown a lot. He’s speaking a lot more words than when he first started. Thomas can now talk to us better, and we can understand him better. He now gives us cues to help us understand what he wants. Now that he’s in the program, he has more confidence to talk. He gets so excited when we tell him, “Your teachers are coming over!”
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