When twins Brooks and Blakely were born, parents David and Valarie knew they had their hands full. The family adjusted to being a family of 4 and enjoyed the new season in their lives. As the twins grew, Valarie, who works as a nurse, began to have concerns about her son, Brooks. He was not progressing like his sister.
Connecting to Rainbows was an easy first step since David’s cousin had received services during his childhood and his mother works at Levy Special Education Center where many Rainbows’ youth attend life skills classes. The couple was familiar with services, never thinking they would also benefit from them.
“Amy, a Rainbows’ Physical Therapist, did an evaluation with Brooks at 9 months. He could not speak or crawl,” said Valarie. “Since we’ve been working with Rainbows we’ve seen a lot of improvement.” Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, Brooks is a Toy Story fan and loves Buzz Lightyear. He gets physical, occupational, and speech therapy to help with his development. He now walks with a walker and uses sign language to communicate.
The family will travel to the St. Louis Children’s Hospital for surgery on his spine in hopes that he will be able to walk better and decrease the spasticity of his muscles.
“I love working with this family,” said Amy. “From the first evaluation to a couple years later, I can see so much progress for this little guy. His parents are very involved and work hard to get him the care that he needs for a bright future.”
