DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – Parents routinely say they have no idea where they would be without United Rehabilitation Services, and one mother is saying how grateful she is for the organization.
“Alright, handsome. Are you ready?” Meagan Rodriguez asks her eleven year old son, Miguel Wade, that question already knowing the answer. He most certainly is ready. Miguel is like every 11 year old.
“He’s got such a personality,” Rodriguez says. “He’s got so much character.”
Like many mothers, she has dreams for her bundle of joy. “Every parent wants the best for their child,” Rodriguez says.
While this bond is the normal mother/son connection, their circumstances are most certainly not.
“So when you get a diagnosis like this it’s quite shocking,” she says.
It can be overwhelming, too, when you have no where to go. Miguel was 7 months old when he was diagnosed with seizure activity. When daycares closed their doors to him, United Rehabilitation Services opened theirs wide open, and they have stayed open for years.
Rodriguez says, “I don’t know where I would be without them. They came into our life at a time when I was struggling to find someone to take care of him.”
Sara Hudson is Miguel’s occupational therapist. Putting on a shirt is something some may take for granted, but it is a major box to check for Miguel and his mom.
“We were helping him participate in dressing,” says Hudson. “What he can do to help do in that process so it’s not such a burden to his caregiver to have to force his clothes on him.”
Renee Waldron is Miguel’s physical therapist. Helping him learn to walk on his own is one of her biggest goals. She says these baby steps are huge strides for Miguel, steps toward independence.
“He has made a lot of progress over the years,” Waldron says with pride. He’s “a lot more mobile and independent, and I think that makes a big difference at home and at school.”
Waldron says each step is a celebration, “He definitely gets a big sense of pride. He gets very excited and has a nice big smiles.”
So does Waldron and Hudson and, of course, Rodriguez. As matter of fact, everyone in the room is willingly affected with the joy of Miguel’s successes.
Rodriguez says she has no idea where they would be without URS and the love they pour into her son.
“That is the most important thing that we have people that care for him like I care for him.”
Rodriguez still has big dreams for Miguel, that one day he will walk on his own. Until then she is grateful URS is walking with her son, saying of URS, “There’s no place like it.”
The full article from WDTN can be found here.
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