Our daughter, Sierra, came to HMS at the age of 18. Like many children with cerebral palsy, Sierra is nonverbal. From the age of one, we introduced her to touchscreens and then communication devices. She became a whiz at finding items on her communication device when asked, but rarely used it to tell us what she wanted, either proactively or when prompted with a question.
Last year, when we first visited HMS, we were impressed that students were constantly encouraged to use their “voices.” After Sierra started at HMS, over just a few months, she began to proactively say things like, “I have to go to the bathroom” or “I want to go on the train.” After just one year, not only is she communicating more, but she actually wants to do more! Last Saturday, we went on a train ride, shopped at Costco, and then went out for dinner. In the past, doing just one of those activities would have been too challenging.
Our daughter is thriving at HMS. Her teacher, Kevin Rafferty, and the entire staff are dedicated, caring, and passionate about what they do. Our daughter is so proud of herself and there are no words to describe how happy and proud we are of her. We are so grateful we made the decision for Sierra to attend HMS!