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It’s
Easy To Help...
CALL 720.565.3898
Kids
Connections
1371
Hecla Drive, Suite B-III
Louisville, CO 80027
720.890.1618
ardith@kidsconnections.org
www.KidsConnections.org
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Envision
being alone. Alone in a dark room. Completely dark. Blacker than
the starless nights that scared you as a kid. A place filled with
more uncertainty than the colorless depths of a vast, cold lake.
Think about a book of matches in the room. A flashlight on the table.
A light switch on the wall. Right next to you.
Consider
feeling so overwhelmed or unprepared or breathless that finding
the matches or flashlight – never mind the light switch
– seems impossible.
Imagine feeling "something just isn’t right"
with your child, a dear friend’s daughter or a sister’s
son.
Imagine knowing,
minutes after childbirth, that something’s wrong. Imagine
knowing, months after hearing someone tell you, "It’s
OK, he’ll
grow out of it," that he hasn’t. |
Click on image for larger picture |
But,
unless you have a child with any one of a thousand potentially devastating
conditions, don’t try to imagine the moment you hear the diagnosis.
You can’t.
"It just altered my life. It was quite difficult," said
Pamela, who Kids Connections has helped connect with equipment,
funding, therapists, seminars and other resources to support Cody,
her 3-year-old son, who has been diagnosed with a form of cerebral
palsy.
Now imagine a whole platoon of spotlight-toting
guides who know "almost any family has a different system"
of social workers, teachers, doctors, hospitals, therapists, school
districts, insurance companies and psychologists to work with and
piles of paperwork to understand, if it’s even written in
a language you’ve mastered.
Kids Connections is the light-carrying, connection-making platoon
that ensures infants and toddlers with special needs, and their
parents, have access to resources – from legal rights to equipment
to medical and other professionals. And more."We help families
get (to) the right folks," in the words of one worker.
This organization knows what the paperwork means. What the law says.
What rights your child has. Who the experts are. Which doctors are
experienced. How bills get paid.
One baby may need a specialized oxygen machine. They know where
it is. A toddler may need a series of vision, hearing or motor evaluations.
They know who does them, and when they should be done.
Children with developmental disabilities and their parents have
legal rights. Kids Connections helps parents understand those rights
and shape them into a plan that supports the child’s health,
learning and developmental needs, among other things.
Service coordinators identify choices. They empower parents. They
collaborate with and receive referrals from pediatricians, hospitals,
social workers, childcare providers, friends, family, teachers,
therapists and just about anyone who touches a child’s life.
Kids Connections makes sure the lights are on – so parents
can find what their kids need.
Imagine knowing, months after hearing someone tell you, "It’s
OK, he’ll grow out of it," that he hasn’t.
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