Simmons Family Testimonial

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 waiting lists; funding can change from year to year; and funding is only sufficient for therapy sessions once a week or even fortnight. In this system, we did not see Llewy progress much with speech, behaviour, auditory processing, independence in self-care and in the home, and social skills. At 5 years of age, Llewy was mostly non-verbal, using some key words signs and a few words. His behaviour, auditory processing and cognitive abilities had been that of a 2-year-old for some years. NACD have us HOPE for change. NACD’s values of believing in the unlimited potential of all humans made SENSE to us. The approach of working as parents with your children multiple times a day for short periods of time promised faster progress than a 1hour session once a week. NACD stood out as a unique, affordable, accessible and supportive program that we could implement in Australia. 

Since implementing the program, our family life has been transformed. Llewy has learned to communicate in long phrases and sometimes even short sentences. He can tell us his thoughts, preferences and questions. He can share his humour with us—which is a daily delight. He has progressed to the developmental age of a 4-year-old with above prep maths skills. Through NACD, I have felt empowered to homeschool Llewy—therefore changing the trajectory of his whole life with the targeted, one-on-one attention he gets. Our coach, Ellen, has been an angel over the years, providing a detailed program every 3 months and by making necessary modifications and suggestions. Llewy is now contributing actively to the home—folding laundry, watering the garden, weeding, feeding and training our dog, dusting and tidying up various areas of the home. When I started homeschooling Llewy in April 2024, his teacher had asked me what I expected for him to get out of attending school. I was speechless. Now, less than 1 year later, he has learnt to count to 100; skip count by 10s; can complete double digit addition (without carry over), double digit subtraction (without borrow) and one digit multiplication problems. He is learning to read, recognise numbers and play various interactive games. 

Recently, we also started using the program with our older son, who has ADHD. Through NACD we have found out the root cause of his distractibility and have been working steadily on progressing his auditory processing. With NACD, a diagnosis is not the end, rather it is the beginning of targeted, individualised support that allows children and adults to fulfill their true potential.

I have been recommending NACD to many of my friends, because the life changing impact can be observed by all and many other families are desperate to get the support they need. We will be part of the NACD family for many years to come!