Arc of Union County - Bright Beginnings Child Development Center Continues to Adovocate for Disabled Children

Jason is a happy, social and motivated little boy who came to The Arc of Union County’s Bright Beginnings inclusive child development center when he was just 18 months old. Jason had been attending another day care center that was no longer able to meet or accommodate his needs. Jason had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and therefore required a great deal of assistance and more individualized attention.

Jason was involved with the New Jersey Early Intervention Program and was receiving physical therapy for gross motor delays, occupational therapy for fine motor delays, speech therapy and developmental intervention to address language and cognitive delays.

When he came to Bright Beginnings, we enrolled him into our infant classroom because he was significantly delayed. He was unable to sit without support and had poor head control. He had only a few specific words but otherwise just babbled and his fine motor skills were also delayed.

Jason’s family, team of Early Intervention practitioners and the staff at Bright Beginnings immediately developed a collaborative approach and became a cohesive team. The therapists worked with Jason right in the classroom so that the teachers & aides could see what they were doing and help to carry over such techniques. His parents communicated daily with the staff and the therapists so that they too could carry over these things at home. With time, Jason was graduated to our toddler room and ended with us at the age of 3 ½ in our preschool classroom with his peers!

Jason’s mother was his best advocate and when we were apprehensive about allowing him to move up to the next classroom because he was not walking but moved around by either crawling or using a walker, his mom told us that he needed to learn how to defend himself and get around! We agreed to try it, and from then on, Jason was a force to be reckoned with! He had more drive & motivation than most children his age. His therapists worked him for hours each week and even when tired, he never gave up. His teachers in each of the 3 classrooms that he was in gave him the individualized attention that he needed and they figured out ways to modify activities and lessons to make them more appropriate for Jason. They also worked tirelessly on helping Jason’s peers understand and accept him even though he was not able to do all the things that they were. The children honestly did not even recognize differences; rather, they embraced him and Jason had more “friends” and fans than most adults!

When Jason left our program at the age of 3 ½, he was using a walker 90% of the time to get from place to place or activity to activity. He was able to navigate on the playground surfaces which consisted of concrete, mulch and grass. His expressive language had improved dramatically and he was able to tell everyone what his wants & needs were. Jason’s attention span and ability to understand things receptively had also improved greatly.

Jason is a success story to us because he is a child who came to us with significant delays overall and by integrating him with his typically developing peers and utilizing a collaborative approach with him, he made great progress! He watched his friends and classmates get from point a to point b and figured out a way to do the same. He listened intently as his teachers and his peers spoke and identified objects and eventually, he was able to do the same.