Success Stories

Early Intervention

When triplets, Jonah, Andie and Sadie were born two months early, their parents experienced a great deal of fear and uncertainty.  By the time the triplets were four months old, their developmental skills were similar to those of most two-month-old children.  This made them perfect candidates to benefit from UCP-OC's Early Intervention Program.  In California, all who are born with disabilities or who are at high risk of developing disabilities (including children born prematurely such as the triplets were) are eligible to receive free Early Intervention Services. 

Since entering UCP-OC's Early Intervention Program, the results have been nothing short of amazing.  During the past 18 months, UCP-OC's Infant Educator, Pati Skinner, has been working with the triplets each week in the comfort and safety of their own home.  Using individualized learning plans, the triplets have learned to crawl, walk, talk, and participate in play activities.  Since the triplets' mother, Tracy, is a teacher, she knows the difference a quality program can provide. 

"It is an invaluable service to have someone so loving come into the house every week", said Tracy.  She says that it has been extremely helpful to know what activities to focus on with each of her children, and what she can do to promote their optimal development.  While the triplets continue to have mild developmental delays, they are making steady progress in all areas.  "Pati makes such a difference.  She treats the children like they're her own, not just clients.  It is always comforting to know that I can go to Pati for any questions I have." 

Respite Connection

My 11-year old daughter, Kathryn, has Rett Syndrome, a severely disabling condition that requires 24-hour constant care.  It wasn't until after our second child, Andrew, was born that I began to feel overwhelmed and first experienced the realization that we couldn't handle all of the demands of taking care of  Kathryn AND a newborn.  I began to sink into a deep depression; I had a hard time eating, sleeping and functioning in general both at work and at home.  Luckily, those who care about me stepped in and told me I needed help.  That's when Margaret Yeomans came into our lives.

Margaret is a respite employee at UCP-OC.  The first time she came over, Kathryn immediately connected with her.  Margaret drew my daughter out of her shell by singing, talking with her non-stop, creating new games, showing her love and giving Kathryn her undivided attention.

Having someone like Margaret supporting and nurturing Kathryn for the past four years has allowed me to do some of the basic things that parents with non-disabled children take for granted - going to the grocery store, to the doctor and just organizing the house.  I am so thankful for UCP's Respite Connection and for having Margaret Yeoman's support and encouragement.  I hope that other parents in similar situations will experience the same kind of relief I did from this service so they don't feel hopeless as I did.

Childcare Connection

If you are a parent, perhaps you're able to imagine what it's like to work full-time and meet the needs of three children - lots of scheduling, lots of driving, lots of laundry, lots of noise, and lots of pressure.  And now imagine how that might become significantly more complicated if those three children werer 11 year-old triplet boys.  Take this scenario one step further and imagine that one triplet is diagnosed with ADHD, one triplet has quadriplegic cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, and one has cerebral palsy and is blind.  Feeling somewhat stressed?  Well, meet the Gessler family who live it everyday!

The Gessler triplets, Samuel, Benjamin and Austin, were born prematurely at 25 weeks.  The parents, Deborah and Steve, both work in addition to being full-time advocates, chauffeurs, therapists, and master logisticians.  So it became imperative for them to find some assistance that would allow Benjamin and Austin to attend a summer program to provide Mom and Dad a chance to work without worry or interruption.  This is where UCP-OC entered the scene.

UCP's Inclusion Connection Program completed Functional Assessments for two of the boys and made specific suggestions about what modifications and adaptations they were going to need in order to be safely included in a summer program with typical children.  Regional Center of Orange County accepted both reports and supported the recommendations.

David and Christina, the trained Inclusion Facilitators from UCP's Childcare Connection, took the boys to the Sunshine Company Day Camp and made sure they were able to participate in activities, interact with the other children and most importantly - HAVE FUN!  The triplets mom wanted her boys to have the kind of summer every kid should have.  Days filled with friends and fun.  As the summer progressed, she watched with amazement how her boys matured.  They typical kids demonstrated social skills to her boys that no adult could teach them.  "For the first time in their lives, my sons are starting to make friends with other kids."  Steve Gessler added to his wife's expression of satisfaction by simply saying "it would be hard to be happier."