YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE
Children's artwork at Waves Early Learning Program
Before our visit to the Waves Early Childhood Learning Program, I'd always associated Waves Inc. with its services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. While those services for adults have been in place since the organization began in 1973, the children's programs have been around almost as long - since 1984.
My fellow group members have done a thorough job providing information about the basics of the program here already, so I want to share two things that made the greatest impression on me during the visit (and some photos):
1. Waves Early Learning provides specialized services to children with developmental delays, at the earliest stages of their development.
All I could think is what a relief these programs must be to families who, typically through a medical diagnosis, have just absorbed the news that development does not seem to be progressing "normally." There must be at least some peace of mind knowing they may have access to a convenient community resource staffed by caring, experienced therapists who are prepared to intervene and provide solutions immediately.
2. These services benefit ALL children, period.
Many of the children enrolled in this program - 60 percent of them - do not have developmental challenges. Blending the children together at an early stage in a play-based environment allows them to learn from one another, not just from the therapists/instructors. I suspect the children without delays gain as much from the program as those who do. When we walked into the classroom, it was alive with activity; all were participating in some way.
Seeing United Way funding in action is always inspiring; for the two reasons above, it was especially so at Waves Early Learning. Happy children engaged in learning and socializing always is a great thing to behold. Unfortunately, some of the organization's therapy programs that have been in place for six years will discontinue at the end of this month, due to lack of funding. This type of news is testament to the importance of giving to United Way.
Below are a few more photos from our visit:
