Zoey’s New Beginning

The idea of surgery can be daunting, but to 16-year-old Zoey, it felt more like a new beginning. As a child, Zoey was diagnosed with a rare condition called Krabbe disease, which caused significant tightness and spasticity throughout her legs and hips. This summer, she underwent a major, multi-level surgery at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul, Minnesota. The surgery lasted 10 hours and ultimately released her tendons and realigned her hips, knees and feet.

After spending six weeks in a cast at home, Zoey was ready to begin her road to recovery! Her family knew she needed a place to safely regain her strength and daily living skills, reach her goals and be pushed to her full potential. That’s when they came to ChildServe’s pediatric Inpatient Rehabilitation program.

“We came in with the goal of maximizing Zoey’s strengths and minimizing her weaknesses,” said her mom, Amber. “We weren’t sure what that would look like in the end, but we are beyond surprised and ecstatic at the progress she has made. Before surgery, independence was not a reality for Zoey. Now we see her ability to keep moving forward and have the best chance at true independence. We are excited to see where this takes her!”

While at ChildServe, Zoey received intensive physical and occupational therapies, where she worked hard to build her muscles and increase her flexibility. Her team used specialized technology to help Zoey build strength in her legs.

“It was such an amazing pleasure to get to work with Zoey,” said her physical therapist, Josh Beukelman. “We integrated both the functional electrical stimulation bike and Xcite program into her therapy sessions. Both may face. Their goal is to help the kids succeed in a world filled with environments and situations that are difficult for them,” said Kaylee.

Life changed drastically as the girls began reaching their goals.

“The resources ChildServe has given me to learn more about the world of autism helped me become a better parent,” said Kaylee. “They helped my children blossom into amazing little humans that have surpassed my expectations and dreams. The ChildServe team has given my children a life they would never have had otherwise.”

After three years at ChildServe, Amelia can communicate at her age level and be understood by her peers and adults. Likewise, after one year, Aryana can accept touch, play with her peers, accept new people and communicate her needs.

“ChildServe has given Amelia and Aryana tools and coping mechanisms to learn how to adjust and function in a world that used to be crippling for them,” said Kaylee. “If that is not inspiring, I don’t know what is.”

Our One-of-a-Kind Autism Program Is Growing!

Thanks to the generosity of our Forward Together Campaign donors, ChildServe has been hard at work expanding our life-changing Autism program to serve more children across Iowa. Our first Autism Day Program classroom opened in 2015, with just five children in the program. Today, we are serving 94 children in eight classrooms across four locations. As the need for this service continues to grow, we have plans to open additional classrooms in the coming year.

Many parents share that before coming to ChildServe, getting their children to all of the appointments needed to help them work on important goals was either impossible or required at least one parent to leave the workforce. ChildServe’s program offers a unique “one-stop-shop” for children with autism—the only one of its kind in Iowa. The result? Parents can continue working, and children receive care from multiple experts and services all under one roof.

As participants in ChildServe’s Autism Day Program, children may also receive Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and outpatient therapies as appropriate for their needs and goals. These services are built into their day so there’s no extra scheduling or coordinating for families. The experts in these services partner closely as they support each child:

• Autism Day Program—a specialized weekday care option for children two to six years old. Children participate in evidence-based treatments focused on their individual needs, abilities and goals.
• Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)—a behavioral intervention program that focuses on developing skills to thrive at home, school and in the community.
• Outpatient Therapy—includes occupational, speech and physical therapies that focus on motor skills, social skill development, language development, feeding skills and executive functioning (e.g., memory, decision-making and self-control).