Jill Armentrout of Birch Run is Parent Liaison for the Saginaw County Great Start Collaborative. In this position contracted through the Saginaw Intermediate School District, she coordinates the Parent Coalition, bringing the parent voice to the early childhood system and outreach to families. She is the mother of two daughters.
The logo on my daughter’s teddy bear says “No Limits.” It’s a slogan for United Cerebral Palsy of Michigan. As parents of children with disabilities, we want to follow that credo. I told Lily it means she can do what she sets her mind to, but her body has limits. All humans do. No, you can’t fly up to the moon, I told her when she asked. But you can ride a bicycle and play baseball. We are going to work to make those things happen.
We got the bear at a family fair sponsored by UCP and the University of Michigan at Washtenaw Community College a few weeks ago. That’s where we met volunteers with PEAC, Programs to Educate All Cyclists. They had several adapted cycles at the fair and Lily, who is 6 and hasn’t mastered pedaling her oversize tricycle, got to try out a $2,000 tandem bike. She loved it! “This is the best day of my life!” she said. She is an enthusiastic first-grader who was born a preemie and used a walker until she learned to walk on her own at 4. She wears orthotics on her lower legs but now only uses the walker to go long distances at school. She plays baseball on Saturdays with the Great Lakes Bay Miracle League, which has an awesome field in Bridgeport and wonderful volunteers to help kids with all kinds of disabilities play. She even got to try out tennis through Miracle League. I have learned about the Michigan Victory Games in May in East Lansing, which are for kids with physical disabilities.
But we do have limits on what we are offering her, even though we are blessed to have insurance to cover physical and occupational therapy and had great free early intervention services in our home. We can’t afford to buy a $2,000 bike. I can get a trainer to hook onto my bike though and now I know she can sit safely on it. We haven’t been able to do therapeutic horseback riding, but are looking for a program. She tried dance lessons and has taken regular swimming lessons. She can’t do all the steps, but got to perform on the stage at the Dow Event Center.
I know these experiences add to important things for her. She is a thoughtful and faithful girl who has told me, “Never give up Mom.” She does get frustrated and whines and gets tired, but she really does want to try to grow. She is a Daisy Scout and has great friends and last week she went to the school roller skating party and she skated with a rolling trainer. This was big! There were times when I wasn’t sure she would walk and here she was roller skating!
When the doctor at the UCP fair talked about stem cell research and alternative therapies, I felt overwhelmed. But then he said he believes a loving, caring family is even more important than expensive alternative therapies. He doesn’t like to see parents sell their homes to pay for trips to Poland. As long as there are different abilities to pay for special treatments, children do have different levels of experience. But our love and care as parents and siblings and grandparents are priceless and can grow strong kids of all abilities.
We got the bear at a family fair sponsored by UCP and the University of Michigan at Washtenaw Community College a few weeks ago. That’s where we met volunteers with PEAC, Programs to Educate All Cyclists. They had several adapted cycles at the fair and Lily, who is 6 and hasn’t mastered pedaling her oversize tricycle, got to try out a $2,000 tandem bike. She loved it! “This is the best day of my life!” she said. She is an enthusiastic first-grader who was born a preemie and used a walker until she learned to walk on her own at 4. She wears orthotics on her lower legs but now only uses the walker to go long distances at school. She plays baseball on Saturdays with the Great Lakes Bay Miracle League, which has an awesome field in Bridgeport and wonderful volunteers to help kids with all kinds of disabilities play. She even got to try out tennis through Miracle League. I have learned about the Michigan Victory Games in May in East Lansing, which are for kids with physical disabilities.
But we do have limits on what we are offering her, even though we are blessed to have insurance to cover physical and occupational therapy and had great free early intervention services in our home. We can’t afford to buy a $2,000 bike. I can get a trainer to hook onto my bike though and now I know she can sit safely on it. We haven’t been able to do therapeutic horseback riding, but are looking for a program. She tried dance lessons and has taken regular swimming lessons. She can’t do all the steps, but got to perform on the stage at the Dow Event Center.
I know these experiences add to important things for her. She is a thoughtful and faithful girl who has told me, “Never give up Mom.” She does get frustrated and whines and gets tired, but she really does want to try to grow. She is a Daisy Scout and has great friends and last week she went to the school roller skating party and she skated with a rolling trainer. This was big! There were times when I wasn’t sure she would walk and here she was roller skating!
When the doctor at the UCP fair talked about stem cell research and alternative therapies, I felt overwhelmed. But then he said he believes a loving, caring family is even more important than expensive alternative therapies. He doesn’t like to see parents sell their homes to pay for trips to Poland. As long as there are different abilities to pay for special treatments, children do have different levels of experience. But our love and care as parents and siblings and grandparents are priceless and can grow strong kids of all abilities.