The following piece was published for Partners In Learning Child Development and Family Resource Center

The growth and development of a child are dependent on the people, influences, and opportunities that surround them. We know that the foundation for developmental advancement is laid in the first five years and that children grow and develop at a pace during these years unequal to any other time in their lives.

As the parent of a child with special needs, this fact is laden with pressure. We get only five short years to lay the foundation for our child’s developmental future. How is it even possible when you take into account delays, medical complications, and all the necessary early intervention? The answer is people, lots of people with knowledge and big hearts. 

Raising a child with special needs takes more than a village. It takes a dream team of parents, extended family, friends, doctors, therapists, and, for the working parent, childcare professionals. Quality childcare is imperative when you leave your child with these professionals for eight to ten hours a day, five days a week, for the majority of these first five years.

Our son Cooper was diagnosed with Down syndrome the night he was born. At the time, we knew little about the diagnosis; however, we knew that we would love him unconditionally and that his life would be just the same as we had planned, including school, church, extracurriculars, and more. We chose to enroll him at Partners In Learning Child Development and Family Resource Center, a five-star model inclusion childcare center accredited by NAEYC, because we knew that there would not only be the knowledge of what he needed but also the high expectations we have for him and his future. 

At Partners In Learning, Cooper has received not only care and love but also the evolution of a team of people who have directly affected his development. He has had the opportunity to be part of a phenomenal inclusion program where he has been challenged by his typical peers, around other children with special needs, and afforded the opportunity to inspire and encourage others. 

Cooper is now four and nearing the end of his journey at the center. It’s a time enveloped in pride and excitement about the next steps into the school years and a reflection of all the time, energy, and care it took to get to this point. 

Cooper began attending Partners In Learning at just eight weeks old. From the very beginning, the teachers did not look at him as a child with low muscle tone and developmental delays, but rather looked into those almond-shaped blue eyes filled with curiosity, hope, and determination and saw a child who was destine for many things. 

When he was one, the children started eating independently. I remember he was having a hard time because his fine motor skills were behind, and every time he would scoop his spoon through the bowl, it would slide into his lap. His teacher took it upon herself to make a special tray to keep the bowl or plate he was using in place. When he was 18 months old and still not walking, his teacher spent time with him every day working on standing and trying to take steps. When he was three, one of his teachers spent half a day on her day off at his IEP meeting and then stayed after to talk to the therapists about ideas in the classroom. The teachers have made accommodations all along the way, whether it was a special chair, visual charts for routines and directions, or special arrangements for his cubby. The examples could fill a book. 

When you have a child with limited verbal skills, communication is paramount. The teachers provide us with a daily journal with information about our son’s day, including what he learned, activities he was engaged in, and any other important information to pass on.

All children with special needs deserve the right to be taught and the expectation to learn in an environment with their peers. All of his teachers along the way found ways to make sure he could participate and be included in all the activities with his classmates, no matter what the hurdle. It is this kind of dedication to children with special needs that makes the difference for a child who works ten times harder than his peers to do the same things they do. It is this kind of dedication that helped our child grow and prepared him for a transition into an inclusive school setting where he will be successful in the future.