AIR DATE MAY 11, 2023
Title: Support for Children with Developmental Delays and Disabilities
Emily learns about resources available for children with special needs and their families. Find out how we can all work toward a safer and more supportive community.
Guests
Early Steps of Central Florida, Family Resource Specialist Supervisor & Child Find Coordinator – Rose Mary Lumm & Marilu Santos
UCP of Central Florida, CEO & Superintendent – Dr. Ilene Wilkins
Tap into Child and Family Resource Opportunities in Central Florida
Early Steps is an early intervention program providing services to families and children with developmental delays. They offer three paths toward eligibility, delivering a coaching model in the natural environment, which is where kids live, play, and learn.
UCP of Central Florida was started more than five decades ago to help local kids diagnosed with cerebral palsy or significant disabilities. They currently serve over 3,500 people across eight locations, advocating for families by offering engagement and recreational activities for families while operating inclusive charter schools.
“We have kids with some disabilities that maybe you could see, a physical disability, maybe in a wheelchair, maybe having trouble walking,” said Dr. Ilene Wilkins, CEO of UCP Bailes Community Academy. Then we have children that might have more of a speech and language delay… maybe they don’t exactly have a diagnosed disability but just something that they’re not developing at a typical rate.”
Many Families Don’t Realize the Process Can Begin Anywhere
When seeking services for kids in our community, families often need help knowing where to begin submitting applications or requesting assistance. The good news is that you can go almost anywhere.
“We do serve birth to three years old,” said Marilu Santos, who serves as the Child Find Coordinator for Early Steps. “A lot of times, the parents will find out about us through their provider or their physician.”
Even hospitals and NICUs can refer children because of the diagnostic qualification that most programs have as a pathway to services.
“We are a federally funded program,” Santos said. “That means the family doesn’t pay anything out of pocket to be part of our project. Once they’re eligible, we do the process of billing the insurance and doing all those processes.”
According to the US Department of Education, over 400,000 infants and toddlers receive early intervention services yearly. Families need to know they are not alone, even if it sometimes feels that way.
The Goal Is to Make the Experience Feel Like Being Part of a Family
UCP is also a federally funded program. “Truly everyone knows their name,” said Wilkins. “When a parent walks in, they’ll greet them by name, and they really feel like they’re part of a bigger picture and a bigger family. They have hat support and somebody that knows all about their child.”
“We screen in different areas of development but if there is a concern, our clinicians will give a list of referrals and places that we would recommend that they would go,” added Rose Marie Lumm, who serves as a Family Resource Specialist Supervisor at Early Steps.
When early interventions are available, the outcomes are typically better for each child. “Those first three years of life is when there are millions of neurons that are connecting,” Lumm told me. “A child’s brain grows in the first three years of life to 80% of the adult size. So much happens in those early years and it is so important that if intervention is needed, that we provide that.”
You can find more information about Early Steps at floridaearlysteps.com. If you want to connect with the UCP Bailes Community Academy, you can reach them at ucpcharter.org/bca.
