Carolina Children's Charity

Dear Jules,

I'm writing this letter about your music therapy but wanted to keep a copy of it for you, so I'm putting it in your blog!

My daughter Julia has Down Syndrome; because of the low muscle tone that often accompanies DS, she has difficulty with fine motor skills, namely using her fingers, coordination, and, because the tongue is a muscle, talking.  Speech has, in fact, been her biggest challenge, so I will never forget going to a South Carolina Down Synrome conference and hearing a presentation about music therapy. 

From birth, Julia has loved music.  I remember playing Bob Marley to her when she was still a tiny baby, and she would bop up and down to the beat.  When she was a little bit older, I took her to Kindermusik, and she absolutely adored that too.  I play violin and she has always been fascinated by watching me play.  So when I heard "music therapy," I thought this might be the ticket!  Perhaps music could engage Julia and get her talking!

There was only one problem--insurance would not cover music therapy, as it's not yet a "recognized" form of therapy.  And paying for music therapy every week would be hard on our budget.

That's when we heard about Carolina Children's Charity, a local organization that raises money, with the help of firefighters, to help children gain access to therapies or medical necessities that insurance will not cover.  We applied for a grant, and we got it!  Ever since then, Julia has been working with Jennifer Gossett, a local music therapist, and she has just blossomed.  She sings all the time, and now she's saying three and four word sentences.  And the music also helps her other fine motor skills.  For instance, here she is plucking the strings of a guitar, which increases her finger strength:

This is a tough time for the Childrnen's Charity, as for everyone else.  With budgets being tightened, stores closed, and the charity's annual boot drive cancelled, it's going to be difficult to raise the necessary amount of money to help these kids.  In the midst of such national uncertainty, this might fall low on one's priority list, but this is not, for us, superficial.  If Julia is verbal, if she writes, she will have access to so many more opportunities, including the opportunity to work and to contribute to our community. 

I know this is long-term planning, but that's how parents think when we have children with special needs.  When we are gone, we want our kids to be able to talk, write, navigate the world, and contribute.  Please consider supporting this charity to make this a reality for sweet Julia and all of her friends.

(Picture with Annmarie Leahy, Mount Pleasant Pediatric Therapy.  Annmarie is Julia's speech therapist, and she works together with Jennifer in order to maximize Julia's speech).