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Meet Olivia When Beth joined the family of Penfield Children’s Center’s Birth-to-Three Program as a Special Education Teacher 10 years ago, she never dreamed that she would one day benefit from the program as the mother of a child with special needs. Three years ago, Beth and her husband welcomed their daughter Olivia at birth through a domestic adoption. Born a month premature, Olivia had overwhelming challenges to face in her new life. She weighed less than 4 pounds due to malnutrition and intrauterine growth restriction. Prenatal drug exposure to morphine required her to be put on methadone for drug withdrawal and she was extremely jaundiced. She desperately needed to gain weight, but struggled with feeding. Beth knew her daughter’s fragile situation could lead to developmental delays and that early intervention services were the only hope Olivia had of making critical progress. After initial therapy at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Olivia came to Penfield’s Birth-to-Three Program when she was a year old.
	Though delayed, Olivia made immediate progress with Penfield’s multi-faceted therapy services. Through physical therapy Olivia found the strength in her tiny body to sit up and eventually crawl on her own. Occupational therapy improved her hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills and gave her a newfound independence. With the help of speech therapy she learned to engage her therapists in conversation, ask questions, sing songs and imitate her friends during playtime. But, the Birth-to-Three program at Penfield hasn’t only changed Olivia’s life; it’s also given Beth a profound learning experience. As the Director of Special Education, she now wholeheartedly understands the frustration and worry her families are experiencing when they come to Penfield. She can share her personal journey with Olivia, empathize and assure the quality of caring service their children will receive. Most importantly, she provides the same strength and encouragement she’s grown to rely on from Penfield staff. “Penfield has been a huge support,” Beth says as she reflects on the co-workers and friends who have worked tirelessly to enrich Olivia’s life. “I owe my deepest gratitude to all of them. Olivia wouldn’t be here today without her therapists and teachers.” Now three years old, Olivia is celebrating two exciting milestones. In May, she started walking all by herself and in November she graduated from the Birth-to-Three Program at Penfield with flying colors. She recently started school in a full inclusion program in the public school system. At Penfield, we still see Olivia and her cheerful laugh is unmistakable. She continues to brighten the Center with her beautiful smile. Olivia embodies the natural resilience, strength and vitality that shine through every child—when given the time and opportunity to grow.