Please Don’t Stop the Music: Changing Lives One Child at a Time

PLEASE DON’T STOP THE MUSIC

CHANGING LIVES ONE CHILD AT A TIME

Amy Spawn writes:

I love what I do. For over two decades, I have had the pleasure of watching how The Warren Center staff and supporters come together with one common goal in mind: helping children with developmental delays and disabilities reach their full potential. Sometimes I describe us as an orchestra, each one coming together with their unique skills and abilities to bring the best result to each individual family. Like most things in life, the impact of such a change is hard to describe unless you look at it through the teller’s eyes. So, I’d like to share a story of one our family’s with you and hopefully you’ll be able to see the beautiful symphony that came together.

Amelia, found herself in a place she never thought she would be, in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) with her son, Gad, born 10 weeks premature. She had two older children and those pregnancies went smoothly but here she was gazing at her son trying to disseminate all the information being given to her. The days went by and to create some normalcy in her life Amelia would leave the NICU to pick up her older children from daycare. At the daycare, the lead teacher came out to greet Amelia and handed her a brochure. She explained that a few weeks earlier a family education and support specialist from The Warren Center came by to tell the staff about the organization and left brochures “in case any of our families ever need it”.

After two months Amelia’s son, was released from the NICU and went home still on oxygen and with a feeding tube. She followed up with her pediatrician the next week. At appointment, the pediatrician told her to call The Warren Center as soon as possible to get Gad evaluated for therapy. She immediately remembered the brochure previously given to her and called right away.

At the start of the call, she explained to the referral specialist that she feels more comfortable with the Spanish language and asked if anyone could speak Spanish. Our referral specialist quickly switched from speaking English to Spanish let her know that there were bilingual therapist on staff. This eased Amelia’s mind and after Gad’s free evaluation, services began right away with a bilingual therapist who specialized in feeding therapy. Not every day was easy for Amelia, but Gad still made phenomenal progress. He learned to use a bottle and over time, he progressed to puree food then solid foods.

Amelia’s entire family participates in donor-sponsored events like Operation Santa and Spring in the Park. For her, participating not only brings her family together but also shows her that she is not alone. Gad continues to receive services through The Warren Center and continues to master his therapy goals.

From our family education and supports specialist, to our referral coordinators, to our therapists and supporters, everyone came together and changed the trajectory of this family’s life for the better.
It has been said that no one can whistle a symphony, it takes an orchestra to play it. I want to thank everyone one of our staff members and supporters for continuing to play their part. If you would like to become a part of this beautiful symphony and support us for North Texas Giving Day you can do so here.

NORTH TEXAS GIVING DAY

Thank you for playing your part.

Amy Spawn, MS CCC-SLP
CEO
The Warren Center