- K
- S
My son, Ayden McLean, is a beautiful, sweet, happy little 3 year old.
He was born at 25 weeks gestation - a micro-preemie, born weighing only 2lbs.
Ayden is non-verbal. He was diagnosed with level 3 autism and also Global Developmental Delay due to prematurity. He was born with Chronic Lung disease - and had to be put on a feeding tube - which he had removed when he was nearing his second birthday.
He spent the first 4 months of his life in the NICU in the children’s hospital in Macon, GA.
Having been born during the pandemic, we believe that his emotional, mental and physical interactions and learning experiences were not as they should have been - Covid protocols in the hospital kept his father and I - who live together - separated as we were not permitted to be in the hospital at the same time with him for his entire stay - no family was allowed to visit him either.
The feeding tube kept us from being able to do tummy time with him - the port made it uncomfortable for him and he couldn’t tolerate it for more then a few minutes at a time and his lung disease forced us to keep friends, family and other children at bay in an effort to keep him healthy. We believe that all of this played a significant role in Ayden’s overall prognosis.
Ayden has since done early intervention through the state - we worked with The Babies Can’t Wait program - doing virtual occupational and play therapy before his 1st birthday through to him turning 3 - when he was turned over to the public school system.
Despite moving to a better school district this past April - Ayden only receives 2 hour sessions of classroom instruction- Monday through Friday. He receives 1 half hour session of each speech, occupational and physical therapy per week (during his classroom sessions)
After almost 2 years on waiting lists with multiple establishments- we were able to get him 1 half hour of outside speech therapy once a week. We are still on waiting lists for occupational and physical therapy.
ABA therapy was recommended for Ayden - we were on wait lists for multiple facilities - we got a call back for one after 6 months - and the services were sub par (Ayden came home with injuries the 4th day) and the location was unhygienic.
Another location - “the best in the area” called us in after two years and the physical location was also filthy - we were so disappointed.
They recommended 40 + hours of therapy with them - yet to their own admission only 5.5 hours of actual work are being done with the children.. we insisted on a tour and we didn’t see one therapist actually working with a child - the RBTs had their noses in iPads and the kids were doing “whatever” we decided after seeing “the best the area had to offer”, that this isn’t something we wanted for Ayden - he would get more love and attention at home with us than he would there for all those hours.
Despite all of this we are seeing so much progress - but it is evident to us - his teacher, and therapists - that Ayden needs more - much more.
It has been so frustrating and heartbreaking to see your child trying so hard - and the services he needs just aren’t available.
Then we found a school that is dedicated to special needs children - an inclusive environment that blends neurotypical children/non special education children with those that are. They integrate all of the services that Ayden requires into his care plan - ABA therapy, speech, occupational & physical therapy! He will have a full day of school - that is 30 more hours a week than he is currently getting and we just know that this extra time of instruction and interaction with other children - will be so beneficial to him.
We are 13th on the waiting list.
With the recent move and issues with my husband’s job and lack of work (he is in transportation) - I am unable to work because Ayden needs constant supervision and is not independent. We are struggling to get up the funds needed for when we do get the call.
Our family has been amazing and have already helped us so much - we won’t ever be able to repay those debts!
We, like most parents - just want to do everything we can to give the most opportunities to our child - and unfortunately we are coming up short.
We are so grateful to the friends and family who have already given us funds towards this goal - it means the world to us.
Thank you for reading and considering contributing to our cause.
Sincerely,
The McLean Family
