Feb 9, 2007 6:12 pm US/Eastern
REACH Helping Children With Developmental Issues
by Dr. Mallika Marshall
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
We all want our children to develop normally, but sometimes they may need a little help along the way.
Dr. Mallika Marshall shows us about a new program which is trying to help those kids.
Many young children suffer from delays that can impact their ability to learn and develop normally, but they may not necessarily qualify for state early intervention services.
But this new program is reaching out to help families that may be falling through the cracks of the system.
Caroline O'Leary was born a healthy, full-term baby, but her parents became concerned because she wasn't crawling by night months. "When we were thinking she should be starting to crawl, she wasn't interested in it," said Mary.
So they brought Caroline in to see some developmental specialists as part of the reach program at Caritas St Elizabeth's Medical center.
Mary says "They took a look at her and what she was doing, and explained to us what she was doing and why and gave us some suggestions on how to promote crawling."
The program tries to identify kids with developmental delays as early as possible, to help get them back on the right track.
"What we found is that we needed to follow all kids coming through out hospital and provide some kind of support for families," said Nicole Croak, a REACH therapist.
"The really important thing is with the right intervention, you can turn those things around," said REACH Director Dr. Charles Anderson.
And it's made a huge difference for Caroline in just a few weeks.
Mary Saysm "Now she's crawling on her hand, which she wasn't before. She's very comfortable and much more confident in her movements)
The REACH foundation is holding its first annual benefit dinner on Friday, February 9th. For more information about the program, log onto
REACHFoundation.net
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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