I knew the program would be a great program, but the person doing the program is really the reason why I came. I’ve always been interested in doing intensive therapy for Tristan, but as he got older I didn’t think it was available for him.

It's a very intensive program.  He was here for 3 hours a day for 3 weeks straight, Monday through Friday.  That's a lot for a boy-- a man that has been sitting in a chair for 20 years.  It was a lot, but it was very well worth it.

He stands better.  I could not even get his diapers on and off because his legs were always scissoring.  He's much looser and able to do things that I never thought he would be able to do!

We have a long road ahead of us, but the 3-week intensive program was 100% worth it.  It was very upbeat, whoever was here, everyone was cheering him on.  Christine worked endlessly to get him to where he is the past 3 weeks and we will definitely continue the program.  It was a lot of work for everyone and it was very well worth it.

It was very expensive, but it’s an investment that’s worth every penny.  Every penny.  And I would recommend it to anyone because you can't put a price tag on getting someone up and out of a chair.

G:  Well, we certainly wanted to strengthen her core to begin to develop some of the skills that we'd like to see.  Skills that she had lost in the past with big bouts of seizures.

K:  The core was very important to us because that seems to be the beginning part of being able to sit independently and walk.

G:  We've seen a lot of progress in the period of time that she's been here in terms of holding herself up better and being able to sit up and keep better head control.  Those are the sorts of things that we're starting to see now.  Things that we hoped would improve over time and then get to a point where she's able to sit up independently.

G:  First off, I think she actually enjoys it and we like to see her smiling and being able to work at something.  Chance comes and visits us every once in a while which is always great and Christine is always smiling.  We like coming to a place where we feel welcome and that Katelynn is doing something that helps her out, which is always a goal of ours.

K:  Absolutely.  I'd have to say that we always feel welcome here, Katelynn's progress, Christine is awesome, she's amazing.  I'm just very very happy that we found this place and that Katelynn is progressing the way she is.

K:  I think you're just very accommodating.  Even if it's with time frames or with what your concerns are.  I think that you're very open to hearing us out and what we are looking for as far as with her progress.  And that you care.  You care about her.  You care about the patient.

G:  You want to go to a place where you feel like they're on the same team, that you're working together towards a goal.  I've never seen somebody work so hard at that as Christine.  All the services that are provided here, with Sibshops and working with different organizations, trying to raise money for different organizations.  It's not just about the therapy-- it's about the entire experience.  You always want to go somewhere where you feel like you're a team working on something as a goal and that's what we feel here.

G:  Everything that we said, you will experience here and is probably not something you will see at other places, in terms of the dedication and caring for your child as if your child is the only child that's here.  That's the feeling that I always get-- Katelynn is the only child that matters. That's how I always feel when we come in the door.

My goal when Barret was little was for him to reach his potential.  Now my goal is to keep his body from deformities and pain.  My main goal is really to keep him from pain because I know, with age, the contractures will get worse.  I try to keep him moving.  He has difficulty controlling his body and movements.

I've seen improvements in his posture, his strength, and his balance.  I notice when he sits on the edge of his bed, he's straighter.  He's gotten stronger!

I love that the therapy is different.  The whole body is working at the same time.  I think working all of his muscles and every part of his body is making him a lot stronger.  And his therapist is great.  She really cares, which is very important.  

Experience a new type of therapy.  I think it's good for everyone.

Try the therapy.  You have nothing to lose.  I was looking for this kind of therapy for years.  Thank God I found this place!  It's really about Christine.  I am so thankful for her.  She is helping me and she cares for her patients, which is very important.

I came to Breakthrough  because I wanted to improve my own physical abilities with the technologies and equipment offered.  I also saw it in other states and thought it was a cool technique so I wanted to try it.

I have tried home and school PT, but that hasn't given me the same results as this has.

I believe that since I came to Breakthrough, my quality of life has greatly improved because I've become more independent and my strength and endurance has also improved.  I've been able to do a lot more independent activities in daily living and I'm able to be a lot more helpful at home to my parents when they need to assist me.

I have worked with Christine since August 2016.  I have seen my own abilities improve with her method and style of therapy.  My motivation to make progress and work harder has increased due to Christine's positive energy and tough love approach.  She pushes me to be the best that I can be.  I know she has my best interest in mind and I know she's willing to do anything possible to help me reach my full potential.  I am grateful to have her by my side in my therapy journey.

When we first started working with Breakthrough PT, Howie could not lift his head by himself and sit up, which is one of our biggest goals for him.  So we chose to come here and try to reach that goal for him.  We're frustrated that he is able to sit up, but his head control prevents it.  He throws his head back and his body gets thrown back.

As a result of working with Breakthrough PT, we have seen that he now can hold his head in midline.  He's not dropping it all the way down.  When he's in the equipment, he's standing and sitting and supporting his head a lot more.  He's definitely showing improvement in the areas of controlling his head better and they're even seeing it in school.  

It's easier at home now because he's more tolerant of us putting him on the wedge and picking up his head and he actually seems to be enjoying it.  He's cracking up laughing while he's lifting his head and we're telling him how wonderful he's doing.

It's definitely a more intense program.  The bungee cords and the equipment take the weight off of his muscles and allows him to get better control without tightening up his whole body and he's definitely enjoying it.  He's very happy, he doesn't feel the pressure.  Just in general it is a really excellent program for kids like my son.

Anything is better than nothing.  To give a try to this kind of program is worth it because kids like Howie might not get anywhere with conventional PT.  This gives him a straight hour of support and actually using his own muscles without having to overwork his whole body.  Anything is worth a try to improve and get them to the best ability that they can reach.

I've seen people in the past who've gone all the way to Poland, Florida, California to try these types of programs and they weren't available to us on Long Island and now they are.  I've seen improvements in kids through my work that have gone on these week-long trips.  So it definitely has it's values and it's definitely something that our kids have available to them now.  I think it's worth it to give it a try and to give the kids an opportunity to improve.

Ella is 4 years old and at birth she presented with congenital vertical talus, which meant that both of her feet were deformed and in a very very stiff position with really no mobility at all.  When Ella came in to Breakthrough, she had already had a couple of years under her belt of physical therapy through Early Intervention and now through our school district.  By age 3, she took her first steps so obviously those therapies helped her, but she had poor posture.  She stood kind of bent over.  She fell a lot and was unable to engage in age-appropriate play with other kids her age.  When she would fall, sometimes to catch her balance, she would grab onto other kids.  A couple of times she fell on top of other kids and at 4 years old, most children perceive that as pushing and aggression and they no longer want to play with that child.  I feel that Ella is very capable of having friendships.  She is very cognitively aware and sharp and wants to be friends with other kids.  

Most notably her posture has changed dramatically.  She is able to walk for longer periods of time.  She falls significantly less.  She's able to navigate our environment at home and is just able to do more without having as many falls.  Playgrounds are still a little tricky for her, but she is able to handle stairs better.  Prior to starting at Breakthrough, she was using her hands to pull her up the steps.  Now she's actually engaging her leg muscles to do that.  I also noticed that her speech improved.  She was very talkative, but it was difficult to understand what she was saying and she really couldn't engage in a two-way conversation.  I found that since doing the intensive program, Ella has been better able to communicate.  She can stand still for longer without feeling like she's off balance so that's helped her tremendously.  Overall, I'm just noticing a great deal of improvement. 

It's just been a great experience overall.  When we were trying to get started with grants and apply for some funding for Ella to receive the intensive program, Breakthrough was very helpful with letters and whatever I needed to help Ella.  I always felt very comfortable asking questions and discussing my concerns.  How far do you push?  When do you pull back?  I think that's kind of a fuzzy line.  When you're out and about and you child starts to feel pain, how do you know where the breaking point is?  I got a lot of good guidance.  I also really love that my whole family has been impacted here.  My older daughters have attended the sibling workshops and I think for them that was really important to meet other children who have siblings with significant needs.  Of course the parent workshops that are offered here are great.  It's nice to feel supported.

It's definitely a more intense program.  The bungee cords and the equipment take the weight off of his muscles and allows him to get better control without tightening up his whole body and he's definitely enjoying it.  He's very happy, he doesn't feel the pressure.  Just in general it is a really excellent program for kids like my son.

Christine's knowledge and the types of equipment that are used here really promote the best outcome for your child.  This a very warm environment here at Breakthrough.  They're very easy to work with and very supportive overall.  Intensive physical therapy is different from anything else we've ever tried for Ella.  At Breakthrough, the whole family is considered.  It's great when you can come to a place and get the support that not only your child needs, but that you and your family need.  

J- Dino started having uncontrolled seizures at 4 months. He never developmentally sat, stood or walked by himself…everything was assisted. We came here after he had a pretty bad seizure episode and was hospitalized. So any progress he had made, there was a lot of regression. So we came here in hopes that he would be a little stronger. We thought it would help him work on his strengthening, balance, especially balance. There are things that he can’t do if someones assisting him, so the bungee, the idea of the bungees gave him this sense of self, which is also what I was excited about.

A- Yeah, we were researching different options and different things to do and we came across this type of therapy and we thought it would be something that would be good for him.

A- I think with both sitting and standing. He still needs a good amount of support, but it’s much easier, handling him has been a lot easier.

J- And now he’ll stand, if he’s sitting in his chair and I want to take him out he’ll stand up and give me enough time to kind of give him help. Before it was never like that where he would even be sitting in his activity chair and be kind of slumped over - we never see that anymore. His trunk control is significantly better, he’s able to stand just me holding his waist for anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes or even more.

A- Cognitively too!

J- Cognitive growth! I really saw huge difference too, which was almost unexpected. I wasn’t really expecting that. Cognitively he’s just focused now. He looks at people, smiles at you. When he sees someone come into the room he’ll acknowledge you now, he acknowledges our pet dog. You know things that he never noticed before, I feel like after doing an intensive program especially, that really helped him.

A- I feel like he’s doing better after each session, he s able to tolerate everything a little longer.

A- It’s a fun experience when we get to come here, we get to see him smiling when he's working hard.

J- I mean most importantly is he likes coming here. I was worried that coming here would just be more frustrating because it's hard, but Christine is really good at giving him a short break when he becomes frustrated. Or not really a break but doing something that's still work but something that he enjoys. I think that really helps him like it here and then in turn we like it here...and how awesome you guys are.

A- Don't be intimidated by the videos and pictures you see. At first we didn’t know what to expect but after the first session, and dealing with Christine and seeing like the operation of everything... it's just a good experience. Anybody who can give this a shot - definitely try it out. It's well worth it. We definitely made a good decision by doing this.

J- I feel like this was an investment we made, and that we're really happy that we made it. I think that the first time that we saw this and spoke with Christine she really listened to me. She was accepting of what I was saying and understood my concerns. So when we did come, she addressed my concerns upfront with me so I was much more comfortable. Instead of just telling me "yes, I've worked with kids like him", she listened to me and made it more personal for him and us.

L- He found a level of confidence in him that he didn’t have, he was trying things at home that he didn’t do before hand.  We would see him try to climb off the couch or lift himself up to stand. Things that he may have learned through Early Intervention, but didn’t act on.

L- Our concern was really that Michael was getting physical therapy through Early Intervention, but we knew that with his condition we really needed more. He needed different things and with Early Intervention it was more simple things to get through life but they weren’t really focusing on the big things. They weren’t pushing to get him to walk immediately.  They focused on different things - that were still great, but just not what we wanted. And we wanted more walking out of him, more strength and balance. When we learned that Breakthrough had the equipment and the alternative methods to do this is, it's what brought us here.

L- Part of his condition deals with missing a portion of the cerebellum vermis which controls balance.  And so even if Michael could stand he couldn’t stand very well. He’d be very wobbly.  Breakthrough has given him strength and core balance  that he didn’t have in the past and has also taught him how to control himself. If he were to fall he would catch himself - that’s what we’ve really seen the big difference in. Those improvements have really impacted us because we feel a little safer.  I mean Michael used to sit up and just fall, and not know how to catch himself. Now he puts his arms out and grabs himself and doesn’t fall as much which is much better as well.

L- I think that just by speaking to some of these families. Since I’ve been here for a year I’ve spoken with other moms that also come here and all of us only have good things to say. We are all so impressed with how far our children have come along since we’ve been here. Connecting with other parents really makes you understand what's right.

C- When I first started here I was looking for her to really build that core strength so she’d be able to sit up, crawl and eventually walk. Her doctor told us about this type of therapy. We didn’t know if we would find it so we put it on the back burner and then our occupational therapist from Early Intervention told us about this place specifically because she had somebody coming here. She was raving about it and all the great work that Christine does, at the time it was only Christine, so thats why we called Cher and came for an assessment. Savvy was hysterical the first 2 times because it is hard work for her. She didn’t have that core strength and Christine just kept saying, "we’ll keep trying, she’ll do fine, she’s really a great candidate for this" and eventually Savvy just kind of took to her.  I think it was like 3 or 4 sessions and now every time we come here she’s saying she’s ready when we get to the door, she’s excited, she’s smiling. First when we were at home we’d have to prop her up with pillows and blankets so she could sit up on her own and we could play games but after coming here she can sit for almost 16 minutes independently, and if she goes to fall she does bring herself back up and that’s all because of Breakthrough.

C- Just with her ability to do more. She holds a cup to drink and I think that's because of the stamina she now has from being here. She’ll try to pick up a fork to eat something. To sit in her chair alone and I’m not saying to her to keep her head up or to put her head down when she’s eating. She’s not falling anymore in the chair. I think that from being here she is able to sit up and do more and I can see long term that she will be able to do a few more things herself.  Well the good thing is that she can do these things. Before this therapy you kind of doubt what she’d be able to do. So with the therapy it helps us see all the things that you guys think she can do and then do it.  Like for example, Christine put her on the treadmill one time and I didn’t think she could do that but she took like 20 steps on the treadmill - I mean she’s hooked up to the bungees and what not, but I mean who would have thought she could do that. It gives us hope that she will be able to do more and improve her daily living skills.

C- Well not even just the therapy, everyone here is so friendly and helpful. The transition from hiring - there's new staff members actually everywhere here between the office staff and therapists - Savvy transitioned really well with them and I wasn’t expecting that. She usually gets upset with anything new so I think  everyone being friendly and helpful and her seeing that helped.

C- That it's a really innovative and new approach to physical therapy. It's not only the bungees and the therasuit, it's also your regular therapy. But I think that the take they have on it here, they’re so positive, they praise the kids and they really work hard to get them to work hard, that's how you see the results. Just keeping with it. I think all the praise and encouragement is really what keeps Savvy motivated and happy to be here and work.

If someone was hesitant about working with us, what would you want them to know?C- I think that you really have to come in and try it and see for yourself. To not be on the fence about it? Maybe talk to parents like myself about it, to give our stories and share our experiences. And if you’re going to try it, try it a few times. If we had given up, we wouldn’t be where we are today.  We really had to stick it through, quite a few weeks I doubted coming as well, but now looking back I’m glad that we did because she has made so many gains in her abilities.  To sit, to crawl, to take steps with a walker, she wouldn’t have been able to do that if I gave up.

When we first started working with Breakthrough, I think he just needed a program that had a lot of consistency and had a greater frequency. He had a lot of potential when he started and I just think that Breakthrough unleashed all of that potential so we got to see him show how strong he was, physically strong. We already knew that he was mentally strong but I feel like the program just brought out the best in him and we got to see his true potential that we always one was there.