Hope Update

Alanna and Matt have been actively seeking out medical help for our granddaughter Hope. I am copying a letter that she has sent out to some friends to hopefully help those who do know Hope learn what is and has been going on with her. Hope goes to speech twice a week occupational therapy once a week and ABA therapy 3 days a week for a total of 7 hours of ABA. Hope is continuing to show improvement and we are very encouraged. We hope to do a fundraiser/awareness walk for her sometimes in March. Hope's sister Karstyn will be 1 year old on March 11 and is quite the trooper attending these sessions with Hope and family, Karstyn is a happy camper who, like Hope is a very loving child.

To check out the place where Hope receives her ABA therapy you can click on:

http://www.brilliantminds.org/

From Alanna:

Our daughter, Hope Elisabeth, turned 2 on October 10. She has been involved in the Early Steps program since the end of October. At that time her speech and language skills were rated as that of a 6-9 month old. Early Steps provides Hope with speech therapy twice a week and occupational therapy once a week. With these programs we began seeing a slow progression with Hope.

We have taken her to see several neurologists and have appointments scheduled for her gastrointestinal issues. Hope's initial diagnosis was developmental and speech delayed. It has been determined that she has several “red flags” for autism but due to her age her current diagnosis is encepathy, which means a condition of the brain.

Hope began applied behavioral therapy at Brilliant Minds on January 4, 2010. Hope has responded well and is progressing very quickly. With ABA therapy her verbal skills are progressing quicker than I ever thought possible. Prior to ABA she would become easily frustrated because she wanted to communicate and could not. Her frustration level has decreased quite substantially as she is beginning to be able to communicate. I am so proud of my daughter. She inspires me everyday. She has to work so much harder than most children her age yet she willingly does it.


Since these sorts of conditions are usually considered mental and not medical it is difficult to get support from health insurance for ABA therapy. We currently pay $60 hr and Hope attends 7 hours a week. We are in the appeals process with our insurance company trying to see if they can provide us with any kind of support but in the meantime all expenses are out of pocket. Brilliant Minds does allow child sponsorship. They are set up as a non profit organization and sponsorship funds are considered a chartiable contribution for tax purposes. Any money designated for Hope goes 100% towards Hope's therapy.

We are trusting God to provide for our family whether it be through our own finances or sponsorship. We know that God is healing our daughter and it is truly a miracle to see Him at work in her life. God is going to use Hope in a mighty and powerful way.

I have attached the Brilliant Minds sponsorship letter as well as a picture of our family. Please don't feel obligated for a financial donation, but we would like to ask you to join us in prayer for Hope.

I would ask for you to pray for:

Our darling Hope and her family
Mrs. Iris Murray and family in the loss of Mr. Elmer
Doyle Ussery - spot on his bladder
Cyndy Bennett - Mobile Al - diabetic complications
Tiffany Thomas' family 2 yrs after her passing
Everyone involved in Mardi Gras - even if it is driving down the road