Theme Child
Brady Dennington
Brady Dennington represents one of the thousands of children helped each year by the California-Hawaii Elks Major Project, Inc. He is five years old and lives in Hemet with his parents, Sara and Gabe.
Charlene Brown, Regional Manager South, met Brady's grandmother at a scrapbooking class. A conversation ensued and pictures of Brady were shared. Knowing this this family could benefit from our services, Mavis Johnson, Occupational Therapist, was contacted. Brady has received occupational therapy in his home setting since February 2002. A diagnosis of cerebral palsy wasn't made until Brady was three years old.
Brady's therapist, Mavis Johnson, remembers Sara sharing the story of Brady's birth. His delivery was traumatic for all of them. He was delivered by forceps after a very difficult labor. Sara remembers that Brady's head was somewhat misshapen when he was delivered, and he looked like he was bruised about the face.
At first he seemed stressed and was immediately handed over to the nurses. Their response was somewhat neutral and mom suspected something was wrong but couldn't put a finger on what it was. She waited for someone to reassure her, but the answers weren't immediate.
It has been a very slow but steady growth process for all -- his therapist who wanted to fix everything and help his family understand what their son needed and for his family to understand exactly what his future might involve. Brady's family needed to understand that faced with a great deal of hard work in the coming years they needed to learn how to accept his disability and to be there by his side.
It took several months before his mom and therapist were able to discuss the extent of his disability. It was a slow and painful process, but without having the Major Project in their home, the working out of these painful feelings of loss and the point of acceptance of the diagnosis of cerebral palsy would have been slower to arrive.
Brady is now five years old and is changing every day. Although he is unable to independently experience a variety of movement experiences due to the increased tone throughout his body, he continues to be motivated to move around the house using a commando crawl. He attempts to get into a sitting position by himself, and he can get safely down from the couch. With adaptations he can sit up in a chair at the kitchen table and feed himself independently. He is working with a communication board to express his wants and needs.
He has just started using a walker and is learning that it isn't as easy as it looks! Brady's needs are being assessed by the school district, and he soon will be attending a program that meets his needs to education, physical, occupational and speech therapy.
Brady loves country music and exhibits a wonderful playfulness and can be quite the tease. He demonstrates love and gentleness towards the animals in his home is participating in a therapeutic horseback riding program. The family is pursuing the companion dog program, and it is hoped that he will soon receive a dog of his own.
By sharing their son with you as the 2004 Theme Child, his family expresses their grateful thanks to you. They hope that you will continue to be inspired by the results of the help you give to children with disabilities.
The Elks of California and Hawaii truly make a difference! By providing preschool vision screening, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language therapy, financial aid to children through the Vision Care Program and by awarding scholarship aid to students with disabilities, the California-Hawaii Elks Major Project transforms hope into reality.
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