Olivia Sabin, 2, tried out her first tricycle Wednesday at Elgin’s newly-expanded Easter Seals location, earnestly pushing the pedals as her mother and physical therapist assisted.
The trike is pink with ribbons streaming from its handles, but more importantly it’s retrofitted with a high back and other features for Olivia’s special needs.
Before Olivia was born, she suffered an intracranial hemorrhage, which caused physical delays and epilepsy. The family was referred just after Olivia birth to the DuPage and Fox Valley Region chapter of Easter Seals, and has been coming weekly ever since, said Olivia’s mother Becky Sabin of Elgin.
During a weekly physical therapy session Wednesday, the toddler rode the trike – donated by the West Suburban Pioneer Club – and completed exercises to aid walking, balancing and other physical development.
The spacious and colorful therapy room allowed for Olivia to ride around, while other children received their own treatment.
That wouldn’t be possible if it hadn’t been for the organization’s recent expansion into the space next door at 799 S. McLean Blvd., said President and CEO Theresa Forthofer.
The old space was “older, darker and very crowded,” she said. “Our therapists are some of the best in the nation. We wanted (the space) to match that level of service.”
The 7,200 square-foot space also features more spacious halls, natural light and larger therapy rooms for the more than 1,000 clients that visit each year, Forthofer said.
Besides physical therapy, the chapter provides social work programs, early learning intervention and occupational and speech therapy for children with a variety of disabilities – from the relatively minor to the more severe. It also offers audiology services to individuals of all ages.
Now that the organization has moved into a more appropriate space, Forthofer said it was important to reach out to more people in the community – including those who speak Spanish – because there’s now room to serve them.
As a result, a new bilingual social work program started about six months ago with the help of a $10,000 grant from the EFS Foundation, she said.
In the program, a Spanish-speaking social worker is able to better communicate with parents about their child, said Clinical Manager Wendy Lirgameris.
Before the program was in place, children would often have to translate for their Spanish-speaking parents, Lirgameris said.
“It was just very difficult,” she said.
To show off the new space, there will be a grand re-opening event from 4 to 7 p.m. March 8. Besides a tour, free hearing screenings will be available to adults.
For information, call 630-261-6190, or visit www.eastersealsdfvr.org.
