A Mission for Christian
My best mate Jayme has been in a constant and lengthy fight trying to understand and treat his son Christian's condition which until recently, little to no help was available that promises the results the NAPA centre in Sydney can offer but of course this comes at a price.
A little background information on Christian's story so far...
After a fairly uneventful pregnancy Christian was born premature at 34 weeks, but to Jayme and Emily's delight, completely healthy. By nine months of age they began to notice Christian was too weak to meet milestones typical of a child his age (sitting, attempting to crawl, and even holding his head up for more than a few minutes). After several assessments and referrals, at 13 months of age Christian received a very broad diagnosis of Global Developmental Delay, which refers to a delay in all aspects of development including speech, fine motor and gross motor function. Since being diagnosed Christian has received regular speech, occupational and physiotherapy and although he has made improvements Christian's development is still delayed to that typical of a one and a half year old.
In a search to find something they could do to improve Christian's chance at a life without limitations Jayme and Emily came across the NAPA centre. The NAPA centre is based in Sydney and offer a three week program which provides 4 hours a day of intensive therapy. This specific approach of therapy aims to encourage 6 - 12 of development from each child per visit. As Christian's biggest struggle at this stage is communication this is their main focus for his therapy - Ideally this will take away of lot of Christian's frustration and provide him with the foundation he needs for further development and the chance at a better life.
Given Christian's condition, the quicker he undertakes the treatment the better his chances are of getting successful results.
There are availablities for Christian to attend the NAPA centre later this year and it would mean the world to both Jayme and Emily if we can help get Christian there. However in order to achieve this, they need in excess of AUD 10,000.00 and they need it within the month otherwise they may have to wait until next year, a wait that Christian's progress can not afford.
After pooling money from their saving accounts Jayme and Emily have managed to cover the initial AUD 5,000.00 but are struggling to find ways to gather the rest which is where we can help :)
For anyone who has never met Christian - let me be the first to tell you this kid has the best soul and I know there is a bubbly, charismatic kid waiting to emerge and enter the world he just needs a little help to get there!