Christian

Meet Christian! A three-year-old who loves to explore the outdoors, go for car rides and snuggle with his family.

As Christian grew, his mother Bertha, sensed that something was different with his communication skills and overall development. It was challenging for Bertha to understand his needs and as she sought help, she was met with closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Luckily she did not give up and found help with Southwest Human Development’s Children Developmental Center (CDC). The team at the CDC came alongside the family and helped them with assessments and options to receive tele-therapy.

Soon Bertha’s anguish turned to hope as she learned techniques for communicating and interacting with her son through the DIR Floortime therapy. Through this intervention Bertha was able to understand Christian’s individual differences as it relates to his Autism diagnosis and promote his social-emotional, language and cognitive development.

As the sessions progressed, Bertha and the family learned ways to understand Christian’s needs. Christian is a non-verbal communicator, but is now able to alert his family to his wants and desires through eye gaze and guidance by the hand.

Christian is not yet able to walk and the family received additional support through the ADAPT Shop in the form of a loaned gait trainer and wheelchair. He also receives occupational therapy, speech therapy, feeding therapy and dietary guidance as he continues to grow.

Despite having significant delays, Christian continues to show small progress in how he relates and engages with his family. His mother is so thankful that she can now connect with Christian and “be in his world.”