Just wanting to repeat to you a few words Tim and I heard from Kathleen, Timothy, and Connor’s 1st grade teacher here in Hillsboro. The kids recently received reports and we went to their teacher conferences just prior to Halloween. Their teacher (there’s only one 1st grade at the tiny country school they attend) asked us about their history in more detail than we had provided at enrollment. After listening to our long tale of prematurity, health issues, developmental delays, and fantastic progress and development due to the great people and programs at Abrazos, she sat for a moment, looking astounded. Here are her words, paraphrased: Well, you are a very lucky family to have had such a great program available to you!

A person has no idea the significance of a program like this until you have a child with Autism. …The benefits of this program include improved social & body awareness, following directions, better eye contact, better cognition, and ability to process sensory stimulation. … I have noted that the children behave better in public…

My oldest daughter, Michaela, was born 11 weeks early. She weighed only 1 lb 9 oz. She had a grade 3 brain bleed and had to have a shunt put in the right side of her brain. Her doctors in the NICU couldn’t really give us any idea about what her long term prognosis would be. When we first brought her home, on oxygen and an apnea monitor, we were a little lost and didn’t really know what to do next. We had been referred to Abrazos as part of our discharge out of the NICU. They were exactly what we needed. They came into our home and evaluated Michaela and she started to receive services right away. Over the next 3 years she received services from a Physical Therapist, a Developmental Specialist, an Occupational Therapist and a Speech Therapist. They were with us every step of the way and provided us with invaluable knowledge about how best to help Michaela. They became part of our family and even supported us during my husband’s deployment to Iraq.

Riley has made friends! He has learned so much from all of the activities. Thank you.

We were new parents with many gaps in our parenting, especially as we were parenting a special needs child. What Abrazos offered was a true professionalism and dedication to our individual needs. A plan was put into place, and with regular reassessments, the plan was altered to meet Lucas’ changing needs.

Abrazos opened so many doors for our family. Lucas was introduced to professionals with passion, to programs with proven success rates, and to practices that helped him navigate his world. We were introduced to other families as a result of Abrazos, which truly comforted us. We were constantly reminded that we were never in this alone. For this support, we are eternally grateful!