Help Marshall Get A Therapy Robot
Donation protected
My name is Christa and this fundraiser is for my son, Marshall.
My son was born full term. He was healthy, until he aspirated on meconium during my delivery. The aspiration was so severe, his lungs couldn’t properly exchange gases and doctors were unsure if he would survive. Marshall spent weeks in Intensive Care fighting for his life. He had to be emergency lifted to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center for specialty treatment in their Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (thinking he might require ECHMO) because the hospital I delivered at didn’t have a NICU equipped to care for how sick he was. After being intubated, having countless tests, treatments, and medications, he slowly got better to the point where we could take him home.
Once home, Marshall still required oxygen for several months, breathing treatments, tube feedings, weekly doctors appointments, visiting nurses, feeding therapy etc. Slowly his body healed and he was able to gain some weight, as he required less and less medical intervention. However, his body was still so susceptible to infection because of his continued chronic lung disease. Despite our best efforts of keeping him isolated, he had to again be hospitalized for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) because our insurance company refused to cover costly immunizations since he didn’t meet “criteria” for coverage.
When my husband and I finally started to think that things would be better, (and dare I say some normalcy) we started seeing that Marshall was delayed in development and not able to do things that children his own age could. He was late to sit up, walk, eat solids, was not giving consistent eye contact, unable to play with toys appropriately, not interested in playing with other toddlers, sensitive to light and sound, and not saying words as he should.
At two years old, Marshall was diagnosed with Autism. After weekly hours of Physical therapy, Occupational therapy, Speech therapy, special education teacher therapy sessions via Birth-3, Marshall is still not speaking more than a few words and struggles daily to communicate with others.
Marshall is now 3 years old and recently started preschool. He struggled to adjust to a new routine and transitioning from home therapy to being in school was a major challenge for him. He continues to receive therapy in school but I feel that it is not enough despite everyone’s best efforts.
Through my research, I have found a company in Connecticut called Movia Robotics. This company specializes in software that they run through a lifelike robot to help children with Autism learn to speak, develop social skills and assist with learning readiness. Robotic therapy would make all the difference in Marshall’s developmental process, however, this type of technology is not covered by insurance whatsoever and is quite costly. The robot alone is $6,000, therapy software access is $3,000 for one years access, and the required tablet and laptop are an additional $700.
As my husband and I are still struggling to pay medical bills from Marshall’s first years of life, this is something that we can not afford. Our son is a sweet, forever smiling, and affectionate little boy and we only want the best for him. We understand that budgets are tight with the holidays soon approaching, but please consider donating as little as $5 to help our son to achieve his development goals with the assistance of robot therapy.
www.moviarobotics.com
My son was born full term. He was healthy, until he aspirated on meconium during my delivery. The aspiration was so severe, his lungs couldn’t properly exchange gases and doctors were unsure if he would survive. Marshall spent weeks in Intensive Care fighting for his life. He had to be emergency lifted to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center for specialty treatment in their Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (thinking he might require ECHMO) because the hospital I delivered at didn’t have a NICU equipped to care for how sick he was. After being intubated, having countless tests, treatments, and medications, he slowly got better to the point where we could take him home.
Once home, Marshall still required oxygen for several months, breathing treatments, tube feedings, weekly doctors appointments, visiting nurses, feeding therapy etc. Slowly his body healed and he was able to gain some weight, as he required less and less medical intervention. However, his body was still so susceptible to infection because of his continued chronic lung disease. Despite our best efforts of keeping him isolated, he had to again be hospitalized for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) because our insurance company refused to cover costly immunizations since he didn’t meet “criteria” for coverage.
When my husband and I finally started to think that things would be better, (and dare I say some normalcy) we started seeing that Marshall was delayed in development and not able to do things that children his own age could. He was late to sit up, walk, eat solids, was not giving consistent eye contact, unable to play with toys appropriately, not interested in playing with other toddlers, sensitive to light and sound, and not saying words as he should.
At two years old, Marshall was diagnosed with Autism. After weekly hours of Physical therapy, Occupational therapy, Speech therapy, special education teacher therapy sessions via Birth-3, Marshall is still not speaking more than a few words and struggles daily to communicate with others.
Marshall is now 3 years old and recently started preschool. He struggled to adjust to a new routine and transitioning from home therapy to being in school was a major challenge for him. He continues to receive therapy in school but I feel that it is not enough despite everyone’s best efforts.
Through my research, I have found a company in Connecticut called Movia Robotics. This company specializes in software that they run through a lifelike robot to help children with Autism learn to speak, develop social skills and assist with learning readiness. Robotic therapy would make all the difference in Marshall’s developmental process, however, this type of technology is not covered by insurance whatsoever and is quite costly. The robot alone is $6,000, therapy software access is $3,000 for one years access, and the required tablet and laptop are an additional $700.
As my husband and I are still struggling to pay medical bills from Marshall’s first years of life, this is something that we can not afford. Our son is a sweet, forever smiling, and affectionate little boy and we only want the best for him. We understand that budgets are tight with the holidays soon approaching, but please consider donating as little as $5 to help our son to achieve his development goals with the assistance of robot therapy.
www.moviarobotics.com
Organizer
Christa Anderson
Organizer
Wolcott, CT
