Patrick’s Story

“We recently relocated to Fort Lewis, WA from Fort Dix, NJ. It was the biggest move that I had ever made with my two children. It is a scary step for any family, but for us, there were more than just the “normal fears” of moving. Most people worry about their things arriving safely, traveling on a plane with children, housing, and so on. Of course that worried us, but not as much as some personal issues that my family was dealing with.

My son, Patrick, is an amazingly happy boy with the best personality. He loves attention and just loves to laugh. When Patrick was young, I knew that something was not right. I told his pediatrician my concerns and we kept a close eye on him. When he turned 9 months, he still was not able to sit up on his own. This was when we began Early Intervention. Over time, I grew close with his therapists. Patrick progressed like crazy. He is a determined little guy!

When we received our relocation orders, I was terrified. I did not know what to expect for Patrick. We had a great group of people working with us and I felt like I was going back to square one. That scary, unknown place. I hate that place. The place of what if’s and worst case scenarios.

We set up an evaluation with Children’s Therapy Center to see what specific services he would get. I was really nervous going in because I did not know what to expect. As soon as I walked in the door, that feeling went away completely. We were greeted with all smiles. I felt relaxed and accepted.

I received a phone call a few days later and we set up some days and times for Patrick to receive PT, OT, and speech. In our short time here, I have been AMAZED at his progress! His therapists have awesome and realistic ideas that I can work on with Patrick at home. We’ve been introduced us to things that I did not even know existed to help him progress. Patrick is making so many different sounds. He is beginning to understand sign language. He is so much more focused. And he is taking steps! He is so close to walking completely independently. He lights up when he sees his therapists. It is so nice and comforting to know in your heart that these people genuinely love your child. When I have something new to tell them about Patrick, I cannot wait to go to therapy to share the news with them. My absolute favorite thing in the world is when I have family come and visit and they cannot believe how far he has come.

CTC has also helped me cope. When we moved here, Patrick had not yet been diagnosed. In March, he had an MRI and they diagnosed him with Mild Cerebral Palsy and a Global Developmental Delay. While I pretty much knew to expect this, you always have that hope that your instinct is wrong. You pray that a doctor is going to call you and tell you that you overreacted and you are just crazy to think anything is wrong. It was really, truly hard to hear. And being thousands of miles away from family did not help either. I was amazed by the love and support that I received from his therapists. They listened to me and they guided me. They hugged me and reminded me that Patrick has a diagnosis, but he is not defined by his diagnosis. They reminded me of all of the triumphs that we have had over the past few years with Patrick. They gave me the boost that I needed to move forward and celebrate Patrick.

I cannot even put into words just how thankful that I am for everything that they have done for my family. Patrick is not just a client to them and it is not just a job to them. They have hearts of gold and bring smiles and hope to so many people!”