Meet Isla

AARON: if I were to describe Isla she's just always happy CHRISTINE: She's determined She knows what she wants She's full of joy She's very happy So really exciting for us Since Isa started at Easterseals she's started to take her first steps like almost right away when she started She's become a lot more social She's met so many other people She has new teacher She has friends She has therapists So she's been a lot less anxious For us I think the best part of being a parent to Isa is just the joy that she brings us every day I mean she's full of smiles She greets you every morning no matter how her night was um with a huge smile and she's ready to be part of your day and it's just I wish we could all be a little bit more like her. LAURIE: Isa is like a happy social butterfly She lights up when people walk into the room She is very interested in her surroundings and her peers and what everyone in the room is doing We are working on getting her to learn how to touch icons on a high-tech device that she uses to be able to interact with her peers make choices at circle time She can use it to request her favorite food So we're she's learning to be able to empower herself to be able to ask for things that she needs BRITTA: Really the underlying goal is to help children better access their environment and participate whether it's in education or with their family or in the community So Isa is so fun Isa has some difficulties with mobility She's not an independent walker but she really likes moving And so we put her in some assisted devices to help her get better to help her be more independent to help her be able to move around the school and out on the playground And what I like most about working at Easterseals is helping support children and families Our goal is to help them improve how they participate how they interact to help families understand better how to help children gain all the skills that they could possibly gain. LAURIE: What I like about working at Easterseals is the kids I started here fresh out of school 25 years ago and I've been here ever since I just enjoy working with kids with complex communication needs I love being able to work with their parents and trying to help the parents learn strategies to get their kids to be able to communicate with with all the people around them. CHRISTINE: When we walked into Easterseals she was greeted with enthusiasm There was like great communication It was super important to us to find the right place where we felt comfortable sending her and where we would know that she would be happy every day A weight was kind of lifted off of our shoulders once we found the right place for her