When Harrison turned three, Travis and I made the decision to get him tested for developmental delays as a result of concerns we had. Having both worked at Heartspring, Trav spending every day teaching children with special needs, we wanted to arm Harrison with early intervention tools and resources should he need them. Tests revealed he barely missed the minimum bar in several developmental areas making him eligible for the Early Childhood Education program through Wichita Public Schools. Because he was so close to goals, the facilitators told us he would probably be fine if we didn’t want to go that route, but the choice was completely ours. Knowing the importance of early intervention, we elected to get him into the program and got his IEP that May.
We were also on a waiting list for preschool at Rainbows United and a spot opened up that August. In the almost two years since those initial tests Harrison has made mind-blowing progress. We’ve now had fall conferences at Gammon and Rainbows and we couldn’t be more proud of the smart, funny, charismatic kid we’re raising. Everyone loves him. Literally. Everyone. He’s crushing his goals. And I can take very little credit for his gains. He’s got an army of teachers, paras and specialists that are tireless in their efforts to help him be the best Harrison he can be. I’ve never been more confident thinking about his future thanks to the teams at USD 259 and Rainbows. How lucky we are to have these amazing resources in our community. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love Wichita.
-Katie, Harrison’s mom
