Rise to the Challenge

BY KATE UNDERWOOD

In 2004, Mike Loiacono was a relatively new manager at Christian Appalachian Project’s Child and Family Development Center (CFDC) in Parkers Lake, Kentucky. The center admitted David Louden* in the preschool program. Louden was the first child at the center that had an autism diagnosis. Loiacono provided opportunities for staff and volunteers to receive training about autism and how to effectively serve families and their children on the autism spectrum.

“Each child’s needs are different,” Loiacono emphasized. “Because we are a small center with lots of flexibility, we were able to get to know the family. We did home visits with David and his parents and connected them to our teachers at the CFDC. They also worked with auxiliary services like speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy.”

Shawnda Spradlin, a preschool teacher at the center, also played a key role in Louden’s life. She invited him to her house to play with her own children because she knew the family needed a place to bring David where people understood his challenges.

“We really focus on developing relationships with the entire family,” Loiacono said. “That’s when you see progress, when we’re all working together.”

Going through the process of working with a child with special needs taught the staff many skills they’ve continued to utilize. “We rose to that challenge and designed a good learning environment for him,” Loiacono added. “That gave me confidence that we could serve students with all kinds of abilities and challenges.”

One of the demographics most served by CAP’s centers is children with special needs. That could be as simple as speech delays or more challenging diagnoses like behavioral disorders or autism. Loiacono said, “For both CFDC’s last year we had a total of 51 children enrolled with 33 percent identified as having special needs.”

The high percentage of children with special needs indicates that CAP’s Child and Family Development Centers will need to continue implementing best practices and strategies for helping children and their families. n

* Names have been changed to protect the privacy of our participants.