Easterseals Helps Children Meet Milestones

This September, three-year-old Jherzy Morales-Payne, of New Castle, DE will be donning his bookbag, smiling for first-day-of-school photos, and heading off to preschool with his peers, better prepared for a classroom setting thanks to the Easterseals Children’s Therapy program. His therapies have also given his parents confidence that he will soar in this new environment, thanks to the firm foundation he has built.

“Therapies are important for children because sometimes they just need a little guidance. They want to explore items/toys and may not know how.” Easterseals Early Childhood Educator, Jackie McDonough, says. ”Early Childhood Education (ECE) helps children prepare for school activities. We model play, work on attention spans, and use calming/coping skills, social-emotional skills, language, and cognition, as well as the ability to do some independent activities successfully.”

Therapists model play, provide hand-over-hand assistance, and use language to narrate what they are doing. Reading books, singing songs, and using actions to those songs help them with rhythm, patterns, language, and much more. When Jherzy started receiving therapy, he did not make eye contact and wasn’t able to attend to a task for very long. He used to throw books, but now enjoys sitting with one and placing it down when he is done. 

“Jherzy is more regulated, able to engage in play, socially aware, and making excellent eye contact and seeking affection from his family. He is able to calmly sit and occupy himself with reduced seeking out unsafe activities,” Easterseals Occupational Therapist, Martina Brennan, says. “He is happy and smiling more and is well-loved!” 

Like all Easterseals services, Children’s Therapy is comprehensive and individualized to meet each child’s needs, family-focused to address each family member's concerns, and focused on enhancing independence. Jherzy loves bubbles. He is now signing “bubbles” and vocalizes his desire for more bubbles. His parents and Easterseals therapists are happy to oblige by incorporating bubbles into his therapies.

“Jherzy has truly made a lot of progress,” Alexis Maxwell, Easterseals Speech-Language Pathologist, says. “Getting the opportunity to begin speech therapy at a young age is so valuable and important. The first few years of life are an essential period of brain development for language, communication, social interaction, and learning. Early speech intervention can help children make faster progress and gain skills that support success once they enter preschool and work towards their best achievable outcomes.” 

A trusted provider of children’s therapy services, Easterseals Delaware & Maryland’s Eastern Shore specializes in treating children from birth through 18 years of age with a variety of challenges. Easterseals specializes in meeting the needs of children and their families through creative, playful activities that go beyond traditional services.