I knew when my husband and I adopted Jonathan as a newborn with Down’s Syndrome that he would face challenges in his development; however, I thought that our love for him, coupled with hard work, would be enough to help him achieve his developmental milestones. By the time Jonathan was two years old, we realized…
Jacob was born at home with a birth diagnosis of down syndrome. From the moment the NICU doctor mentioned the possibility of Jacob having down syndrome and belittling his worth at only 1 hour old, I made it a life goal to always be his biggest advocate and never feel satisfied with ‘good enough’. Jacob…
Our family first heard about NACD in August 2023. We immediately decided that this is the program we have been looking for all along for our son with Down Syndrome. Living in Australia, there is some funding available for therapy, but therapists often don’t have personal experience with clients with Down Syndrome; there are long…
by Melody DeLuca Quite a few of you know my story and journey with NACD, but for those of you who do not here it is in brief: We started our journey with NACD in December 2008. At the time my son Grant, who was five years old, was completely non-verbal, developmentally delayed, a flight…
As told by her parents Our daughter Sanjana was diagnosed with a rare chromosome disorder at five. At around two and half years she took her first steps, and her first words were only after she turned 5. Despite intensive Speech/ OT/ PT, her milestones came painfully slow. In the following years, she went through…
From Lyn Waldeck, Stella’s NACD Neurodevelopmentalist I never tire of hearing stories like the one we are sharing with you today. This family worked together and totally transformed their daughter’s confidence through opening up all new abilities. When I first started with Stella, only a short while ago, it was apparent that we were working…
Below is a message from Dawn Zachmann, a superstar mother of a young man with Down syndrome and autism. Dawn is one of our exceptional parents who has taken her role as parent and grandparent very seriously, to the great benefit of her family and others. Dawn, mother of 5, brought her then five-year-old son…
How She Overcame Cerebral Palsy by Sara Erling M.ED. “Program has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. For many years, the focus was primarily on addressing my physical, visual, and processing abilities. Despite ongoing physical and visual challenges, by the time I got through high school and into…
by Captain Carol Benbrook I will never forget the feeling I had the day when Jack was labelled as autistic, he was five years old and had received a heavy educational input from myself and my supportive family with reading, math and general learning. My husband and I had left our jobs to take our…
by M. Harrington We brought our daughter to NACD after adopting her from another country at the age of 7 and trying for four years to homeschool her ourselves. While we were making progress developmentally and academically, progress was slow before we found NACD. Lyn helped us discover specific things about our daughter’s brain and the…