Early Intervention Appeals to Fun Loving Emmanuel

Standing in his family’s living room, Emmanuel Rodriguez smiled and happily bounced up and down as he watched cartoons on TV. Emmanuel, who is nearly three years old, has Down syndrome. His mother, Teresita, was concerned about him reaching developmental milestones in his first few years, so she contacted Denver Options. “I wanted to make sure he developed appropriately, especially since he has Down syndrome,” Teresita explained.

When Emmanuel entered early intervention (EI) services at about four months old, he was not demonstrating many of the skills typical for a child his age. Emmanuel received physical therapy to help with his motor skills, and he is now able to walk, play with toys and eat by himself.

He also received speech therapy and is learning to talk. The family’s speech therapist also taught Emmanuel and his family some basic words in sign language. “Emmanuel has made wonderful progress,” his Service Coordinator Elsa Chavez shared. “He walks, talks a little and uses at least five signs to communicate what he wants or needs.”

Since Teresita speaks Spanish, Denver Options provides all its EI materials in Spanish and translation services when necessary. Elsa, who is bilingual, conducts her discussions about Emmanuel’s services and progress with Teresita in Spanish. Teresita feels she has a comfortable relationship with her service coordinator and that EI services are helping her family and her son. “I feel they are providing support and teaching us how we should work with Emmanuel,” she said. “If I had never heard of early intervention, I wouldn’t have known how to help him.”

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