Friends who had a son in the Aspire Kids program highly recommended Aspire to Colleen and Michael for their daughter Annie. So they felt especially lucky when they were placed with an Aspire speech therapist and an Aspire physical therapist through the state’s Early Intervention program.

“When Annie was born and diagnosed with Down syndrome, we had a lot of questions and the challenges seemed overwhelming,” remembers Colleen. “Now, it’s still a challenge, but not the overwhelming one we once faced. Aspire Kids has made everything so much easier for Annie and our family.”

Annie is now in preschool and goes to Aspire Kids once a week for physical therapy. Her latest big accomplishment has been walking. She’s loving it because it’s allowed her to be much more independent. Colleen describes how before Annie was walking, she could only play on the swings when they went to the playground. Now she can play more with friends and go anywhere she wants.

There have been many goals and accomplishments for Annie along the way, and therefore many reasons to celebrate. As Colleen explains, “When your child takes longer to reach a goal, it’s a real celebration when they get there. And her therapist celebrates her achievements right along with us. It’s just so neat to have a community of people who care about our daughter and her progress as much as we do.”

Next on the list of goals for Annie: running and jumping!