Kiefer’s Story
Our son Keifer was born July 11, 2003 in Worland, Wyoming. At 17 months, we took Keifer to our pediatrician to inquire about the fact that he had not yet begun to walk or talk. The physician did not seem too concerned, but asked us to follow up in 3 months. Although Keifer was walking by this time, we again voiced our concern that he wasn’t talking and also added a few more: he seemed to prefer to be alone in his room, liked to twirl objects or spin the wheels of his toy cars, wouldn’t acknowledge us when we called his name, did not point to objects, would only “play” with electronic toys that made noises or had lights, and his diet consisted of only 5 foods. He had also begun to constantly wiggle his fingers in front of his eyes. At that time, he was diagnosed with developmental delays and our pediatrician gave us a referral to the state run program in Wyoming for children with delays/disabilities. Unfortunately, they would only offer Keifer speech therapy twice a month and no other services. As Keifer’s parents, we KNEW that he needed more if he was ever to progress.
In Wyoming, services and service providers are extremely limited and we grew tired of trying to cobble together a therapy plan. Knowing that obtaining the appropriate therapies for Keifer would require a move out of state for our family, we began an exhaustive search online. In May of 2005, just before his 3rd birthday, Keifer was officially diagnosed with autism in Salt Lake City, Utah.
We toured two “schools for autism” that summer: one in Utah and the other being the Alta Vista Center in Denver, Colorado. Although the school in SLC was absolutely beautiful and the staff seemed very competent, we decided to visit the Alta Vista Center before we made our decision. We were met with open arms and more importantly, open hearts.
The staff at the Alta Vista Center is truly the key to their success in treating children with autism. We have never encountered a more truly dedicated, warm group of professionals who are personally invested in each child’s success. With their caring intervention, we have watched Keifer blossom from an overly anxious child who preferred spending time alone playing computer games to a happy preschooler who loves to play hide and seek with his big sister and now asks, “Play with kids?” when he wants to go outside to see the neighborhood children.
Although Keifer has made fantastic progress at the Alta Vista Center in the past year; we
feel that he can continue to benefit from their amazing staff and program, so he will be enrolling for another year of preschool this fall. With the Alta Vista Center’s ongoing support during his preschool years, we feel that Keifer will be able to succeed in a typical kindergarten setting when we return to our hometown in Wyoming in 2009.
