Larissa

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Larissa is 3 years old and included in a Chicago day care center.

LARISSA Dr. Edith Fifer Senior Advisor, Early Childhood Special Education Programs When we think about children being included in integrated settings for our babies, many times the setting is not in the public schools because for a three year old, that child would naturally go to maybe a daycare center or a babysitter. So as we began to look at how we could develop programs that could provide an option for children who aren’t normally in a public school, we began to look to the community and that was the exciting part. To be able to knock on doors and find community daycare centers who would open their doors to children who might have significant disabilities. Carmen Maya Larissa’s Mother When I first found out that my daughter Larissa had Down Syndrome, I was devastated. I felt lonely. I felt depressed. I felt withdrawn. It was hard for me to accept this child. As time went by, Larissa wasn’t functioning like my other two children. She wasn’t turning over. She wasn’t crawling at the age. She wasn’t walking. She wasn’t speaking. Little by little, I came to accept that I had a special child. Accepting her and finding resources has helped me come a long way. Mailman. Mailman? Where was the other mailman at? Hey! How about that? What’s that? Good match! Good girl! How about a high-five! Thank you! There have been times that I felt that I’m the one with the disability because I can’t make people understand the services that I need for my child. Dr. Edith Fifer Senior Advisor, Early Childhood Special Education Programs The key is early intervention. The earlier we begin to identify a need and begin to work on that, the much better the prognosis for the future. We all have unique talents. We all have unique needs. And to concentrate on our strengths and help them develop is just as important as working on the areas of need. So when we look at a child with disabilities, we think of the child as the child first and then working on areas that we need to develop, in order to help this child have a more productive life. Don Hamilton Child Care Associate When Larissa first started she was withdrawn and she didn’t socialize very much. Larissa is in the mainstream of the program now. She knows what to do. She knows how to clean up after herself. She knows when to put away toys. LARISSA WITH TEACHER SPELLING HER NAME S A No, S A M A Y A Whose name is that? Larissa Maya. Good Job! This morning she spelled her name with the help of a teacher but she said the words, said the letters, she can say certain words now. When she first came to us, it was all sign-language. Now she’s saying words, she can tell you when she wants to go to the washroom. She can call your name. She can call the other children’s names. She can say in words what she wants to do. It’s just a great difference in what she could do know and what she did when she first started at St. Vincent’s. Carmen Maya Larissa’s Mother Children, they’re so innocent. They don’t the disabilities. They’re willing to help her out and the kids are all relating to her. And there has been other cases where if she can’t do something, they’ll say: Hey, Larissa I can help you. Dr. Roberta Silver Speech Pathologist Any child of this age needs a lot of Language. That’s what they’re learning, reading. To learn how to read they have to have what we call pre-reading, pre-language, well, language experiences and that’s what we’re feeding into the children. So we all need this language input and we all need this identification of sounds and to be able to listen to a story and retell the story. Larissa needs maybe a little bit more focusing but their needs are very similar. TEACHER What kind of noise does an airplane make? Let me hear you Larissa. Good for you! That’s an airplane. How about, raise your hand, who knows what this it? I know, I know! Larissa what is this? A sheep, right. And who knows what sound a sheep makes? Let me hear everybody. Bah. I hear a pig. I hear some sheep and I hear a pig. Carmen Maya Larissa’s Mother Well, she’s learned how to be a little bit more vocal. Her self-esteem has shot up real high. Her achievement is to have a friend. And she has come a long way; she has got more than one friend. And she’s in a place where they have accepted her. And her teachers have come a long way. At first, they didn’t know how to relate because they go: Are we qualified to take care of her? When they noticed that she was like another individual she fit right in. And she’s learned how to cut. She didn’t know how to use scissors before, she knows how to cut. She didn’t know how to put her shoes on. Now she puts on her shoes and coat and her socks. She knows how to dress herself up now. Dr. Edith Fifer Senior Advisor, Early Childhood Special Education Programs As Larissa develops and grows up and gets ready to take her place in her community, she will be much better prepared because of the experiences that she’s had at an early age. And when we think about Larissa, this was an excellent opportunity for her to be included in a program at St. Vincent. But we don’t want it to stop here. We’re looking at the next level, so that all through her educational life we want her to be included with her age-appropriate peers as much as possible. Carmen Maya Larissa’s Mother The vision I have for my daughter is for her to become someone. Even with special needs you could still learn how to work with special equipment if it’s needed. To be able to live and get her own apartment. To be able to go to a store and get her own groceries. To make, have some kind of income coming in. I know that she’s not going to be a professional. I can’t even say that. I just hope. And the services and the education will be there for my child in the future, so she can function in society as an individual, an independent individual. Dr. Edith Fifer Senior Advisor, Early Childhood Special Education Programs We’re looking toward the future and a brighter future for our children with disabilities. We know that the educational system is very important, but at the end of that educational system, we want them to be able to take an appropriate place in the community in which they live. We began to prepare them at an early age by involving them in programs that give them an opportunity to interact with their age-appropriate peers. Integrating them, including them in all activities and having that go throughout their schooling so that when they leave school they become an active member of the community and they feel comfortable within that community setting.

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