Jaime’s Journey
A rose in bloom
More than anything, John Gilbert wanted to convey to his audiences the beauty, strength, and promise he saw in his granddaughter.
He never missed an opportunity to talk to groups about 4-year-old Jaime’s struggle to overcome the disabilities she was born with. He loved telling her story and he especially enjoyed speaking to the UCP employees, with whom he credits Jaime’s amazing progress.
But John sometimes struggled to find the words that would do Jaime justice. Then, in his garden, he discovered the ideal metaphor: the rosebud.
“That metaphor came straight from my heart,” he said. “I tell people Jaime is like a little rosebud, who can only bloom with the right amount of sunshine and nourishment. God gave Jaime unlimited potential, we give her all the love and attention we can, and UCP provides the nurturing to help her reach her potential.”
Jaime has been part of the UCP family since she was 10 months old. “We were so fortunate to find our way to UCP,” said her mother, Kim Gilbert. Family services specialist Marilyn Martinez assured Kim and her husband Bill that the UCP staff had experience dealing with all of the disabilities Jaime would be working to overcome.
“When I first visited UCP, I was so touched by everything I saw, especially the love in the baby room. I was pleased to see there were children with no disabilities because I thought Jaime could learn so much from normal kids. And, we were especially thrilled to learn all of her therapy sessions could be received in the center, during the regular school day.”
“Up until then, Bill and I were taking her to therapies three days a week during our lunch hours and her grandparents were taking her threw additional times a week,” Kim said. “Marilyn explained that all of the therapists would work closely with each other, with the teachers and with us so Jaime could get the best services all day, everyday. This was, as we fondly call it, our one-stop shopping location.”
Jaime’s disabilities stem from a congenital condition known as CHARGE Association, a set of birth defects including eye, heart and respiratory problems, retardation of growth and development, genital and urinary abnormalities, and ear abnormalities and/or hearing loss.
Her progress at UCP began immediately. When she started, she couldn’t roll over, sit up or hold her head up and she had no social skills.
Soon Jaime was scooting around the room on her back, playing with other children and within a year, holding her head up. At 18 months old she was sitting and going through the motions of feeding. Today, she is beginning to talk, uses sign language she learned at UCP, is walking independently, loves school more than home and is a social butterfly. She has learned to swim and the next goal is to start dance lessons.
Kim says Jaime is a walking testimonial for the power of early intervention. “In the two areas she started receiving therapies early, she now tests at the age appropriate level. The areas where she started receiving therapies later in her development still show delays of 18 to 24 months.”
On May 28, Jaime crossed the most significant threshold yet: she was one of UCP’s 88 graduates receiving diplomas in a ceremony at the Rosen Centre Hotel on International Drive.
Harris Rosen provided the refreshments, the UCP staff brought the balloons and streamers and the families brought the best gifts of all: applause, tears of joy and gratitude for achievements they thought their children might never enjoy.
For the Gilberts, graduation means transition but not goodbye to UCP. Jaime will be back for summer camp, and when she begins Kaley Elementary School in the fall she’ll continue to receive therapy during UCP’s after school program. And, the Gilbert family will still be working hard to spread the word about UCP.
Kim plans to serve as an advocate for other parents who have children with special needs, helping them navigate the system to get the best services and education for their kids.
And, of course, John Gilbert will continue to harvest rosebuds from his garden, carry one in his pocket and produce it at the first opportunity to tell the story of how his granddaughter blossomed under the watchful eyes of her UCP family.
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