Izaiah & His Family: Hope & Success Through Therapy
Imagine a little boy with severe medical challenges that at times left him barely able to walk or lift his head let alone leave home, or sometimes even bed. Now, imagine this child also has Autism and could benefit from services at Capper Foundation. For some time, Bart and Annie brought their son Izaiah to Capper for speech therapy, but due to his numerous health challenges, the desired progress was slow in coming.
“Those years were a heart-wrenching part of our journey, but we always had the support of Capper staff and knew we were welcome to return for services when Izaiah was able,” shared Annie. Fast forward to today when Izaiah is a 15-year-old teenager who is healthier, happier, and is unlocking his potential with occupational and speech therapy that his parents reinforce every day at home. Annie noted, “Working with Kailey and Connor is revolutionary for our family as we get to teach Izaiah, watch him learn, and be with him in a way we never could before.”
Kailey Petrehn, Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP), worked with the family to integrate speech into all daily activities and introduced Izaiah to specialized iPad apps to better communicate. “When I was concerned, her assuredness and professionalism drove confidence in me that he would gain the ability to use the apps, and he has. My current dream is to be able to teach him to type his own words into the app because to me, this will unlock Izaiah on a level that none of us have experienced before. We might finally know the depths of our son that we have never been privy to and more importantly, he will come face to face with the fact that there really is not anything he cannot do if he could communicate this way,” expressed Annie.
Connor Tanking, Occupational Therapist (OTR/L), helped them understand that Izaiah experiences dysregulation leading him to be very stimulated, unfocused, and always moving. With practical activities, Izaiah can now fulfill his sensory needs to regulate his body allowing him to sit still, focus, and enjoy doing schoolwork for periods of time. “Connor established a foundation for Izaiah to feel whole and comfortable in his skin,” says Annie.
“As parents of two children who have needed therapeutic support, I can promise you that there are never enough places like Capper. Everything is expensive, time-consuming, life-encompassing, and very lonely. It is more than Capper’s services that are needed, it is also the community. To have such loving people rally around you is an incredible phenomenon. We have given our kids all we have for twenty-one years. All our resources, our time, our futures–we have invested everything in our kids to help them get where they dream of being. Our daughter, despite being severely autistic at one time, is now a senior at Washburn University because of our family’s tireless work. We did not have a resource like Capper’s when our daughter was young as we did not live in this area, and this is partly why we were so exhausted when we landed on Kailey and Conner’s ‘doorstep’. We are so thankful to Capper Foundation for putting so much into Izaiah and our family. Their staff’s encouragement, faithfulness, knowledge, talent, and big hearts have truly penetrated our lives. We now feel like our son has a great purpose in this life.” – Bart & Annie
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