My Nonprofit Reviews

I met who would become a “miracle” client in my eyes. As I began my assessment, a 3 ½ year old boy walked (very unsteadily) into my office for the first time. I’ll call him Harry. Harry was exposed to severe neglect, suspected physical abuse, as parents were addicted to substances. Harry was very underweight for his age when he was found and removed from his parents by CFS. Harry was used to watching TV and had a far-off look about him. Engaging in back and forth play was not even on the table when I first met with him, and the only known way of play was to look at toys and hold on to the table occasionally naming off names of toy objects. The foster parents were very supportive and informed me of how smart Harry was once you got to know him. After a few sessions, it was clear that Harry knew a great deal, but displayed delays in expressing himself verbally. Harry also had very low frustration tolerance, and would hit his own head if he were to trip or make a mistake. It was heartbreaking to see. During the treatment process, Harry was discovered to have vision issues and needs for occupational therapy; walking is hard when you are unable to see clearly where you are in space!

Fast forward to a year later, and the healing gift of repentance and sobriety along with hard work has led to the reunification of Harry’s biological parents. Up until the reunification I was able to work with 2 different foster families who had cared for Harry consistently and diligently to support Harry move from global developmental delays to gaining many skills within age appropriate milestone areas. For the past year, my treatment has included weekly therapy utilizing ‘Floortime’ which supports attachment building and fostering of development for Harry. When it came time to transition Harry from participating in treatment with foster parents over to participating instead with mother and father I was concerned that the biological parents may not “buy-in” to treatment and may not follow-through on all the gains acquired over the previous year. Harry’s mother began participating with Harry when the reunification process began. I have had the opportunity to witness Harry’s mother develop (& transform!) a new confidence as a parent as she has consistently participated in therapeutic treatment now for 6 months! Mother and I have had some emotional moments as she has worked through her own fears related to parenting in the process of supporting Harry with his needed interventions. Harry and mother now demonstrate warm, playful interactions and mother is able to limit set with Harry when needed. Harry has a variety of health needs, and it has taken a village to support him well. The SART program was able to support a variety of needs for Harry, such as referring Harry to a developmental optometrist and participating with Laura, our occupational therapist, at the clinic. All of us working together has allotted to a beautiful boy who is now living back with his parents, and enjoying preschool with peers! There is still room for growth, but Harry has caught up to most of his milestones, is able to run, and no longer becomes distressed when mistakes happen. Harry is a miracle to me because although he has been through such harsh circumstances, he shows the face of resilience!