To kick off 2023 we are starting our 3 week intensive Feeding Therapy & Physical Therapy!! You know the drill for the next three weeks… well actually, maybe you don’t?
My oldest daughter Jaxlee was born with Cerebral Palsy (she is 8 years old now 🥺) and every 6 months for the last 2 years she has been doing an intensive therapy program at a specialized clinic in Bakersfield, CA.
Have I ever told you about that story? Rewind, 5 years ago, Jaxlee was 3 at the time. We were living in Orange County and I was in the throws of researching every therapy opportunity possible for Jaxlee. If you are not familiar with Cerebral Palsy, it is a super broad diagnosis, but specifically for Jaxlee her Cerebral Palsy has affected her motor movements and motor control so on a daily basis she struggles to walk, eat and talk. But let me tell you, this doesn’t slow her down.
Back to my research. I found the Napa Center through another special needs mom. Pro tip; If you are a fellow special needs mom, your best resource is going to be another special needs mom, no doctor or therapist is going to give you the scoop like another special needs mom will that has gone before you or is a little further than you on the journey.
The Napa Center is a world-renowned pediatric therapy clinic that offers specialized therapy programs in short “intensive” sessions, for example, therapy sessions will be everyday for three weeks straight, instead of the standard therapy approach which is 1 to 2 hours a week, every week for the whole year.
There are 9 Napa locations in the entire world, one of them being Los Angeles. Which living in California, makes it really accessible to us (we can drive, we don’t have to fly). With this specialized therapy and only 9 locations, the waitlist of actually getting on the calendar for therapy is pretty intense 😜. So you better believe, in the fall of 2019 I set my alarm on the release day and I signed Jaxlee up for an intensive program at the Napa Center for 2020 as fast as my fingers could type.
Well then we all know 2020 happened and so the therapy sessions did not.
We ended up moving from Orange County to my hometown, Visalia. One of my biggest special needs mama fears was that moving to a small town we would not have as much access to resources and therapies for Jaxlee as we did in OC.
In the summer of 2020, I got a DM from Leap Pediatric Physical Therapy asking if we would be interested in an intensive therapy program in BAKERSFIELD, CA. You could say my ears (and my heart) perked right up.
Next thing you know, January 2021 Leap Pediatric Physical Therapy was born, and Jaxlee was their FIRST intensive therapy patient in their clinic. What we then found out was that our Therapist and founder of LEAP, Amanda, was formerly at the Napa Center in Los Angeles, and wanted to be able to serve more kiddos in another area. Like are you serious, what are the “chances”?
Living in Visalia we are an hour and 20 mins North of Bakersfield (in the intensive therapy world this is basically in our backyard) and since that first therapy in January of 21’ we have been back to LEAP every 6 months for a three week intensive.
Well if that isn’t a God story then I don’t know what is?? I wanted to walk you through all of that to say a few things.
- We want to invite you into our 3 week intensive. With the start of the New Year I am sure you have some physical activity goals right? Well, let’s get “Jaxed” together shall we? Commit to moving your body (however that looks for you) 5 days a week for the next 3 weeks. Post on your socials and tag me @emilyreneebarton & use the hashtag #gettingjaxed -We can’t wait to cheer you on too!!
- Just a reminder, sometimes our “God stories” are 3 years in the making. Whatever you are in or walking through right now might be some of the details you will get to look back on three years from now and say… this is where it comes full circle. Thank you Lord.
- If you’re a Beautycounter client, THANK YOU. When you shop with me, you’re a huge part of making these PT intensives possible for Jax. If you’re hoping to clean up your skincare and/or makeup routine with some nontoxic beauty, hit reply and I’d love to give you a personalized consult!!
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