Our son, Eben, is 9 years old. He has one brother, 12-year-old Easton, and a dog, Peach. Easton and Eben are best friends. Eben loves to hang out in Easton’s room and be by him as much as he can.
Eben was diagnosed with moderate-severe autism at age 3. He also has sensory processing disorder, diagnosed at the same time.
We were first introduced to Rainbows when Eben was 2 years old and received speech therapy through Rainbows until age 3. We were reintroduced when Eben qualified for the IDD waiver and began receiving services through the Targeted Case Management program.
Our Case Manager Karina Vargas has since been a contact that we can come to with any questions and concerns. She has an impact in our lives daily because we know that she is there and we feel like there is someone in our corner that we can turn to, ask questions, find ways to get involved in the community and help lead us through the future with our child. It’s all unknown, so it’s really comforting to have a contact that can help guide us when needed.
Karina has helped us get diapers and wipes through the Shriners organization. She also helped us with fruit and veggies packets that he has to have to help with his diet and food aversions.
Our dream for Eben is that he can lead a happy, comfortable life. We hope he will find the best way to communicate and feel confident in expressing himself and his feelings. We want him to always be surrounded with people that love and support him. We don’t know what his dreams are quite yet, but we do know how intelligent he is. He has a love of exploring and we are confident he will find his passion in life.
Eben’s favorite way to communicate with us is through his favorite videos and tv shows. If he is excited about Christmas, he will find a Christmas episode and show us. If he’s not feeling well, he will find a show that talks about their tummy hurting. It’s absolutely amazing. He loves to make home videos around the house and anywhere he goes. He’s always filming.
We are very thankful for Karina and Rainbows. We want to make sure we do right by Eben and give him the future he deserves. It is amazing to have an organization that can help navigate that. With their help, we can make sure we know all that is available to Eben.
Written by Tabitha, Eben’s Mom
