Our son, Julio, is six years old and was diagnosed with autism exactly four days before he turned two. Julio is an outgoing boy—a happy child with a bright big smile. He likes to do things on his own, to make achievements. He feels good about what he does by himself. He’s enjoys life and is very active. Very active. He loves sports, especially swimming and track and field. He’s sweet, he’s adorable, he’s my son, and I love him so much.
Julio was born with Hirschsprung’s disease. Part of his large colon was taken out. He had surgery 10 days after he was born—his first surgery. He has had five surgeries, but now he is doing great.
At six months, Julio was like a doll that could breathe. He couldn’t move his arms, nothing. He just lay there. But he didn’t qualify for Early Intervention (EI) yet. When he was 12 months, he was accepted into EI and started physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech, and special education. After his autism diagnosis, he got Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), too.
EI intervention ended when Julio was three, but he still needed many of the therapies and ABA, and he was approved for preschool special education services. He had a huge change in his life in his first few months there. He got mature. He went to preschool with a pacifier and a “blankie” and he drank from a bottle and was kind of shy. He was talking but not that much. Suddenly he was like a flower that opened up. He realized: WOW! I can socialize here. I can have friends. In EI he learned the alphabet, he knew words, he knew structure, and he learned to follow directions. When he got to preschool he began to put all that to use, and he learned to read. All these were huge changes that he made and he made them really fast. Thanks to EI he was able to go to preschool and do awesome. Awesome.
Now he has graduated to the Horizon public school program for high-functioning children on the autism spectrum. It is amazing. They follow the curriculum of general education. He began with a good foundation in EI and preschool, and is developing more skills now at Horizon, and because of that his future is bright. I’m very happy with everything that has happened to him. I know he is not “cured” of his autism, but I am so grateful for all the progress he has made.
But as a mother it hurts me to see what is happening to EI and preschool. Many very good EI programs have shut down because the EI providers were losing so much money they had to close. The preschools are also losing money, and several of them may close, too. Without EI and preschool services, how are children with special needs going to get the skills they need to progress? I really believe that the years before age 5 are the best time to build a solid foundation. It’s a fact. The best time to learn is when they are young, when their brain is like a sponge, when they want to do things, when they are curious. How will their brains develop without the foundation that EI and preschool provide? EI and preschool are like the food that the children need to learn. They cannot afford to waste this time.
I want to ask the legislators who are here today: please increase the funding to save EI and preschool so that other children with special needs will have the same opportunity that Julio had to make such enormous progress. Please don’t let those children be deprived of EI and preschool services, which can truly change their lives.
Thank you.