featuresFebruary 17, 2018
Flying higher with Easterseals: Area children have a chance to play, grow together
Laughter and shrieks rebounded from the rafters Tuesday while children bounced on trampolines at Ultimate Air in Scott City during an Easterseals social event. There was lots of socializing going on, not just with the children with special needs and their siblings. But the parents, too...
Laughter and shrieks rebounded from the rafters Tuesday while children bounced on trampolines at Ultimate Air in Scott City during an Easterseals social event.
There was lots of socializing going on, not just with the children with special needs and their siblings. But the parents, too.
Part of Easterseal's objective is to do more than help get the most out of a child's potential. Family members also get help, from individualized training to family-based activities designed to foster relationships and help several different families bolster each other.
Jordan Starr, autism services manager at Easterseals, said these bounce-party events give families a chance to relax together while their children play.
Starr said Easterseals has several special events geared toward children under 15 years of age.
At Ultimate Air, she said, "kids can play, hang out, jump around" while their parents can either meet with support staff or just relax together.
In other words, families can interact, and the children can interact with the staff.
Starr said siblings are encouraged to play together, and that is a lot of fun to watch, she said.
Besides, "we want them to interact and give them that family experience," she added.
Parent Abby Griffin said Easterseals has done so much for her and her family, including both sons, one who has autism and one who does not.
"It's made us feel like we're not alone," Griffin said, which, she added, sounds dramatic but is true.
Activities such as going to the water park are hard to prepare for ahead of time, Griffin said, but these events make it easier.
"He's blossomed," Griffin said of her son.
The Ultimate Air activity sessions aren't the only opportunities for interaction, either, Starr said. There's a Christmas party with milk and cookies. There are Cardinal baseball games in the summer, a Halloween party every October.
"But in the spring, there aren't as many holidays to celebrate," Starr said, and now that Cape Girardeau has a few more indoor play areas, this kind of activity is easier to organize.
Easterseals Midwest -- Southeast Missouri at 611 N. Fountain St. in Cape Girardeau serves 19 counties, from West Plains, Missouri, east to the Mississippi River, north to Ste. Genevieve County and south to the Missouri Bootheel.
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There's an office in Cape Girardeau and another in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, Starr said, and the family services are designed to teach parents strategies for helping their child who has autism.
In-home training sessions include training, then sessions to help apply those lessons with the child, Starr said.
Other, shorter, more intensive trainings are offered in the Cape Girardeau and Poplar Bluff offices, and give foundational understandings of what autism is and the special needs of children who have it. These sessions are especially useful for families who might not have dealt with autism before, she said.
To bring on a client, Starr said, there's a referral process, usually from a pediatrician or school staff, and the intake coordinator takes child and family through a process designed to tell Easterseals staff where the child is, developmentally, so the particular child and family's plan can be put together and implemented.
After the parent training is completed, music therapy is available, Starr said.
Board certified music therapists use music to help address objectives such as communication and social skills, and cognitive and motor skills.
The Cape Girardeau office also has a pre-employment skills workshop for children ages 13 and up, Starr said. Not only do children learn and practice social skills, such as making a telephone call, they also go on community outings together.
"They love bowling," Starr said, and they also go to the park for picnics and have game nights.
"It means quite a bit to me," Starr said, adding she has a personal stake in finding ways to help individuals with autism develop socially, as she has a family member who has autism.
"Just the difference in the families from day one to a year later," Starr said, smiling. "There's so much growth."
That growth is made more possible by Easterseals' mission of spreading help, hope and answers as they change the way the world defines and views disabilities by making profound, positive difference in people's daily lives, Starr said.
"This is a place they can feel accepted and not different," Starr added.
"I love coming to work," Starr said. "Every day is an adventure."
mniederkorn@semissourian.com
(573) 388-3630
Pertinent address:
611 N. Fountain St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.
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