My son Krishna, now 8 years old, was diagnosed at 4 with Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, part of the Autism Spectrum, where he progressively loses skills like speech, writing, social skills etc. apart from attendant health issues. After attending a lot of therapies and school, Krishna is now at EAS for the past 2.5 months. Recently, he has shown improved sitting tolerance, readiness to listen to instructions, and increased vocalizations. As a parent, I would say that the best part of the EAS experience is:
○ Kindness and commitment: The way the therapists interact with the children is wonderful, with the real caring evident. Krishna (the best kid in the whole world for his parents!) presents a challenge to work with because of his health and other issues. The way the EAS team is addressing this, right from the directors to the therapists, studying his responses and trying different approaches to best manage his behaviors and facilitate learning, is heartening. This especially contrasts with previous experiences at other places where discomfort was expressed at Krishna’s behaviors, or the same approach was mechanically followed despite yielding no results.
○ Transparency: EAS clearly explains what is happening in the sessions, the goals and objectives, and the results. There are regular parent observations where one can see the therapist in session with the child. EAS maintains meticulous data sheets to track the child’s responses to the therapy.
○ Safety: All the therapy rooms are on camera, with no blind spots. This really reassures on the safety of the child, specially for non-verbal kids who can’t express if something is wrong. Also, the therapists themselves completely care for the children right from snack breaks to potty breaks, without an ayah. This is very reassuring as I personally don’t feel comfortable to trust my son with someone who isn’t trained to handle a special needs child.
So… wonderful work, Team EAS! We hope that with you, Krishna learns to cope with the googlies his body throws, learns self-help skills and communication, and becomes better equipped to handle life!