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February
20: Dougie's graduation day. But Dougie's graduation signaled the
beginning of his school years, not the end. This three-year-old dynamo
completed Curative's Birth-to-Three program and moved on to a
pre-kindergarten class at his neighborhood school.
Dougie
was admitted to Curative's Birth-to-Three program soon after his birth. In
the beginning, Curative therapists worked with Dougie and his family at
home. The first goal was to improve his swallowing skills so he could
breastfeed. When he turned two, Dougie started attending Curative for
individual therapies and group activities.
"Once
we started going to Curative, it was just a huge growth spurt for
him," says his mother Kari.
"He
loved the socialization and learned from being with peers and seeing what
they were doing. I think, in a lot of ways, the therapists were teaching
us, the parents, as well as Dougie."
Kari
continues, "They taught us things that we could do to help him
develop better." She praises the therapists' team approach. Together
they developed goals, which changed continually as Dougie mastered new
skills such as rolling over, crawling and, just before graduation, walking
on his own.
"Our
last day at Curative was sad for me," Kari says, "because we've
been seeing these therapists for so long and Dougie just loves going
there. The staff gave him a CD of his favorite music and that's very
special. So we played the music all the way home and Dougie sang along in
the back and loved it." Of course, the CD included Dougie's favorite
song, "The Funny, Fat Frogs."
"What
it comes down to is he was ready for school when he turned three,"
Kari says, "and without Curative, he wouldn't have been ready. And
the end goal is that he becomes an independent, contributing member of the
community."
On
that final day, Dougie's graduation was like many other similar
celebrations, with applause, cake, emotional adults, and an exuberant boy
who headed out the door -- ready and eager for the challenges ahead.
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