I am very excited to write about our experience with Stepping Stone School for Exceptional Children, or Stepping Stone, as we call it. I realize “miracle” is a strong word, but Stepping Stone has helped our Grey reach milestones that two years ago seemed so far away. After spending days upon days researching for the best possible solutions for Grey in three states and after seeing the incredible progress my child has made while going to school at Stepping Stone, I am extremely grateful and amazed by this school. Stepping Stone School delivers care and instruction to children who have developmental disabilities, preparing those children to be successful once they enter traditional K-12 learning environments. The 54,000 s.f. facility provides a safe, secure, and stimulating setting for students, and state-of-the-art spaces for teachers and staff, per C.R. Crawford Construction, who built Stepping Stone. To learn more about Stepping Stone and the many services it provides and the people whose lives it impacts, please click here.
OUR STORY
I will start with our story and what led us to this life changing place. I grew up in Ozark, Arkansas, about 20 minutes east of Alma, Arkansas where Stepping Stone is located. I moved to the Texoma area in 2007 for my dream job. That’s where my family and I were living when another incredible job opportunity was proposed to me in 2015. I was working full-time and in graduate school and feeling like I had chosen the wrong growth path. I was not in a good place. I was very ready for a change. The problem was this would be a huge change, as the job opportunity was located in Fort Smith, Arkansas, just a few miles from Alma and three hours from where our home in Texas is. Out of curiosity and a strong internal push, I told my sister about the job option and she then informed me of Stepping Stone. I never knew Stepping Stone existed before that conversation. Once my husband and I toured Stepping Stone and learned about the opportunities Grey would have to learn and grow there, we knew a move was in our future. I believe that all of this was not happenstance, but divine intervention. We left our meeting with Stepping Stone feeling incredibly grateful and full of hope. Lots of happy, overwhelmed tears were shed. There was no turning back.
Grey went from receiving services at home to receiving a holistic, individual education and therapy plan. He started going to Stepping Stone in January 2015. He was 28 months old. Unlike most two year old children, he could not run, jump, climb, say more than a handful of words (and never consistently), or show affection through using movement (i.e. hugs and kisses). He didn’t play with other children, not even his sister. He struggled feeding himself, as his hands were almost always clenched. At that time, we didn’t have any idea why he was experiencing these delays because our doctors kept telling us not to worry so much. By this time we had already had Grey evaluated by two different neurologists, an endocrinologist, and a geneticist. We kind of felt like we were playing a game of what seemed similar to musical chairs for a diagnosis.
Fast forward to today and our Grey can run, climb up and down stairs, talk in sentences (though we still don’t always understand him), give the best hugs and kisses, show empathy, feed himself and is getting closer to being able to dress himself. Grey is a hundred times more independent than he was two years ago. I attribute Grey reaching all of those milestones to the services he received from Early Childhood Intervention and Stepping Stone and to David and I being determined to be Greyson’s advocates.
There is a lot of work that goes on at home too. I know that may sound like a really silly thing to say, as it is so obvious and I am sure that those of you who have kids with special needs are shaking your heads or saying “oh, yes!”. The struggle is real…We have worked with a wonderful group of specialists from ECI and Stepping Stone who have taught us things we can do at home to empower Grey to be more independent and retrain his brain. I am always grateful for little reminders from those folks to do what I can to help Grey at home too.
A COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION
Stepping Stone is a well-organized and incredibly structured, miraculous beacon of hope. I mean, look at the preschool building (Stepping Stone provides services to individuals beyond preschool, as well). It’s stunning on the outside, but the magic is of course on the inside. There is a special room for PT services, with all kinds of interactive tools and devices. The playground has special flooring and equipment that makes it possible for kids with various disabilities to play safely and have fun. There is a safe, secure drop off area. Each classroom has space for play, eating, and learning. There is a large onsite cafeteria where healthy meals are prepared onsite for the children to have breakfast and lunch at the school. The school hosts special programs throughout the year to give students an opportunity to shine.
The leadership and mission as Stepping Stone lends itself to an incredible environment for the students. Every morning Grey is greeted by several individuals and often with kisses and hugs. Mrs. Gail, the gatekeeper, always greets us with a warm hello and she somehow seems to know every child’s name. There are usually two to three aids and one teacher in every classroom. Grey has two aids, one teacher and 10 children in his room. I think he had about 16 children in his class last year. I feel that each day I leave Grey at Stepping Stone, he’s in the best place that he could possibly be to learn and grow. I know he will get the services he needs with love and compassion.
Having every service Grey needs available to him under one roof makes it possible for me to still work and help provide for my family. When we were living in Texas, in order for Grey to receive therapy services, I left work for two to three hours at a time on several days a week to take him to therapy services at our home. I had a phenomenal boss and employer who let me make up my work after standard business hours. The most frustrating part of the situation was that even after all the hustle and bustle, Grey still wasn’t getting everything he needed because his daycare was not designed to cater to children with special needs. Nothing in that area was or is available to give Grey what he really needed.
Besides offering education and one-on-one therapy services onsite under one roof, which is extremely rare, Stepping Stone is also different in how it is primarily funded.
MEDICAID AND TEFRA – WHAT AND WHY
Stepping Stone is funded mostly through funds from TEFRA 134(a), which is a Medicaid plan option, private donation and the United Way. TEFRA 134(a) is a look-alike TEFRA option. Eligibility to receive Medicaid via TEFRA 134(a) is solely determined by the child’s need and cost is determined by the parent’s or caregiver’s income. To read more about TEFRA click here. To read more about TEFRA in Arkansas click here. This type of funding makes getting the right care possible for many disabled children whose families would not be able to afford it otherwise, while also allowing disabled children to live at home rather than in an institution.
From my experience, qualifying for Medicaid in Arkansas via the TEFRA waiver is no simple task. Caregivers will need to complete dozens upon dozens of pages of paperwork each year, make sure appropriate assessments are done to verify eligibility, and work with their healthcare providers and special needs partners to ensure every box is checked, as needed. While the paperwork piece is cumbersome, I understand why it is a necessity. It helps to ensure that funds are not being wasted and that only children who really need services are getting help. Hopefully, this will help to make funding sustainable over time. I know many individuals do get denied and are not granted Medicaid via the TEFRA act waiver and I can only image how frustrating and terribly disheartening that must be.
If you live in Arkansas and have questions regarding Medicaid, TEFRA, or where to go to get more information and help regarding eligibility for services, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
Texas does not provide the TEFRA option and Oklahoma does. I have not found a single school in Texas that provides a setting that is as comprehensive and individualized as Stepping Stone. The RISE school of Dallas is the most similar option I have found in Texas, but PT, OT, and ST are offered in a group setting rather than individually and all students must pay monthly tuition which exceeds $1000 currently. In Oklahoma, the only school similar to Stepping Stone that I found is Special Care, Inc. It is in Oklahoma City and provides onsite therapy services, specialized care, and early childhood education. It sounds Ah-mazing. Learn more about Special Care here. It appears to be primarily funded through donations and United Way. Both Special Care and the RISE school serve individuals with and without disabilities. Stepping Stone only serves individuals with developmental delays and/or disabilities.
MORE COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTIONS LIKE STEPPING STONE ARE NEEDED IN OTHER AREAS
There are many schools in Texas who serve children with special needs, most of which serve children with learning disabilities. In Texas, it seems that the solution for providing services during one of the most critical periods for growth and development in a child’s life, birth to five years, is their Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) program. ECI isn’t enough in my opinion. It provides only a piece of the solution.
It is hard to say how Grey would have progressed had we not taken the leap of faith two years ago and enrolled him in Stepping Stone. I know how fortunate we are to be able to have jobs that made it possible for us to give our children the opportunities we have and bosses who supported us to support our family. The only reason that warrants thinking about where Grey would be had we not enrolled in Stepping Stone is to think about the hundreds of other children whose parents either have no idea how critical and life-changing early childhood intervention can be or do not have resources available near them to help their child, which is very sad to me.
I strongly feel that there should be more schools like Stepping Stone available to children who desperately need them. One of the similarities between all of the phenomenal schools I have read about, including Stepping Stone, is that they were brought to fruition due to the strong will and passion of one or two people who recognized an unmet need. God keeps telling me to explore this option for Texoma, but right now, I am focusing on my Grey and making sure he has what he needs to reach his maximum potential. However, if you are reading this and feel called to bring a school like Stepping Stone to Texoma, please reach out.
And, if you are looking for a wonderful option for donating to – an option that changes lives – please consider making a donation to Stepping Stone or an organization in your community who provides early childhood interventions for kids with disabilities.
One last thing to mention in this very long post, much thank you to Toni Wilson, for being the person who was instrumental in bringing Stepping Stone to life in 1972 and still leads it today . The impact her life has made is immeasurable.
With Love,
Sara
Picture Source: www.crcrawfordconstruction.com