Patches

Having a child that is developmentally delayed presents many challenges--inside and outside of the home. One of the biggest challenges for a child with special needs is finding a safe, dependable childcare facility.

Brandt's current daycare, Little Steps to Bright Futures, is a very nice, clean facility with high security features. They provide families with daily individualized reports and weekly lesson plans. But, Brandt does not necessarily meet the mold with his delays, and he tends to acquire many bumps and bruises.

After much debate and frustration with Brandt's current situation, I decided to tour Patches. Patches is a pediatric nursing care facility. It is open the normal hours of a daycare, but it also offers on-site physical, occupational, speech, and respiratory therapy. In fact, most children in the facility do all disciplines of therapy daily! And, they even offer transportation to and from the facility, if needed.

I was blown away by the amount of services provided. If Brandt was doing physical therapy every day, he'd be walking in no time! His range of sounds would quickly expand and turn into words. He'd learn ways to better help himself and move towards independence. I can't even begin to fathom if Brandt was receiving all of those services on a daily basis. That's just amazing.

On the flip side, the facility is overcrowded. They are in the process of expanding, but the final product is months away. When I toured, it just seemed like a big cluster of like thirty or so cribs and pack n plays (none of which matched), and then I turned the corner, and it was wall-to-wall highchairs.

Also, I feel it is noteworthy to mention that there were two toddlers sitting in highchairs in front of a TV--which really bothered me. First off, Brandt doesn't even have a long enough attention-spam for TV. He shows no interest for it at home, and I'm not too keen on all that TV anyway.

Then, there is the range of children they service. Children at Patches range from minor speech and motor delays or asthma to the most extra of cases, like children who are bed-bound with feeding tubes. And, in their current facility, they are all together in one common area.

But, after asking questions about their services and routines, it came down to logistics. Brandt simply cannot go there. The only way for a child to attend Patches is if they are on medicaid. And, just so we are all on the same page--I'm way too rich (huh, if that's what you want to call it) to even qualify for medicaid.

And, so, that being said, it is nice to know that needy people in the community have that resource available to them. And, for now, Brandt will have to continue taking his "Little Steps to Bright Futures."
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