Camden’s Story

Service

After suffering a traumatic brain injury at three months old, Camden was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. His family was determined to not let the diagnosis change them, and their focus was to help Camden approach every day with joy.

“Camden loves to laugh, loves music and loves his family and dogs,” said Camden’s mom, Brianna. “He wakes up smiling and every night you can hear his giggles before he goes to bed.”

Camden was attending a traditional daycare where he received plenty of love, but he was missing out on the specialized care that he needed. That’s when Camden’s family found Medical Childcare at ChildServe’s Woodland location, and his parents were ecstatic!

“He has always been a very happy kiddo,” said Brianna. “But he knows when we pull into ChildServe’s parking lot and immediately starts kicking the backseat and squealing out of excitement.”

At Medical Childcare, Camden receives occupational, physical and speech therapies. For children like Camden, speech therapy is all about learning how to communicate in unique and adaptive ways.

“Our goals for Camden are currently focused on using and exploring multiple forms of communication including vocabulary and an array of messages,” said Julie Palmer, Speech Therapist at ChildServe.

With support from Speech Therapy, Camden is making progress on his goals. He uses an eye gaze board (a see-through frame with pictures on it) to make choices using his eyes.

“Camden has been practicing making choices with this new equipment, which is helping him communicate his wants and needs at home,” Brianna said. “Camden has become much more verbal since joining ChildServe.”

“Camden and I continue to work on developing his oral speech skills to communicate simple words such as ‘hi,’” said Julie. “When Camden started therapy, he was only vocalizing ‘ahh.’ Recently, upon walking into Camden’s classroom I got to witness one of Camden’s friends greeting him in the morning and Camden saying ‘hi’ in response. What a special moment that was! It was so rewarding to see the smile on Camden’s face.”

Thanks to his loving family, the therapists at ChildServe, specialized equipment and his own hard work, Camden is able to live a great life.

“Having people around him that understand how to help him throughout every day has been one of the best things about ChildServe,” said Brianna. “The care at ChildServe is top-notch. We really love his therapists and staff; we are grateful to have them in our lives.”

About

ChildServe improves the health and well-being of 5,700 children each year through specialized clinical, home, and community-based programs and services. We serve children with developmental delays, disabilities, injuries, and other special healthcare needs.