The room looks cheerful enough, even in the half light. Toddlers’ toys are scattered about; a giant orange ball sits in one corner.
Three-year-old Sam Brandon whimpers, quiets momentarily, then erupts in a long, loud wail.
“Don’t fight it, Sam. This is an easy place for you to look and reach,” says vision therapist Becky Burns as she waves a light globe in front of him. The darkness is supposed to help him focus on the object.
Sam continues to wail while another gentle pair of hands manipulates his torso.
“You need to calm down,” says occupational therapist Theresa Barnes. “I know, you’re not happy today.”
This is the world of pediatric physical therapy, one where progress to move a muscle can be painstakingly slow, but one where hugs and joys abound.
It’s also an expensive world, full of specialized equipment and procedures. That’s where Friends of Children in Therapy (FOCIT) comes in.
The Arlington Heights-based organization was formed several years ago by a handful of parents whose children were going to Arlington Pediatric Therapy, a private organization in Arlington Heights.
The group not only provides programs for patients that go beyond traditional therapy but also helps fund therapy for families in need.
“FOCIT has been great for us because they’ve fulfilled needs and extended themselves into areas that can’t be attended by schools or therapists (such as social skills),” said Noel Angerame of Arlington Heights. Her son, Johnny, 11, has participated in the organization’s classes.
Although FOCIT is in the same building as Arlington Pediatric Therapy, they are separate entities. The non-profit Friends purchases therapy services and programs from Arlington Pediatric Therapy and other providers for the children and families it supports. Likewise, its programs are open to families who receive therapy elsewhere. For example, the Angerames heard about the group’s social skills program through the Suburban Service League for the Disabled.
With pediatric therapy costing $90 per hour, expenses can run up quickly. FOCIT plans to spend $10,000 to $12,000-almost half of its budget-in fiscal 1994-95 in financial aid to parents, according to Jeff Brandon of Schaumburg, father of Sam and FOCIT program administrator. Aid is awarded to families based on income and out-of-pocket expenses.
FOCIT has sponsored general programs such as STEP (Systematic Training for Effective Parenting), but most sessions are therapy-related. These include behavioral counseling and crisis intervention for families experiencing difficulties and social skills classes for handicapped pre-teens and teens.
FOCIT has also occasionally organized clinics where vision and orthopedics specialists evaluate children. These clinics can provide children and their parents with valuable second opinions or point them toward new routes of treatment, according to Brandon and others involved in FOCIT.
Johnny Angerame has participated in the group’s social skills class, which teaches children in therapy how to interact with others. His mother, Noel, said the program was a wonderful opportunity because it put her son with boys of similar ages and disabilities in a controlled environment.
But just like traditional therapy, results don’t happen overnight.
“If I would put him in a room to play with another child, they would sit in opposite corners,” Noel Angerame said. “What this class does is bascially try to get them to the middle of the room.”
Chris Weber of Arlington Heights, a licensed physical therapist and one of the founders of Arlington Pediatric Therapy, notes that many participants in the social skills program have been in and out of the hospital and in therapy so long that they don’t know how to act appropriately.
The program “helps build their self-esteem so that they’re confident of themselves outside of the therapeutic world,” Weber said.
Weber and partner Elaine Sianis of Arlington Heights, also a physical therapist, introduced pediatric therapy to the northwest suburbs in 1979, they say. They formed APT out of their own need to work part time while raising their families, but in doing so, they also filled a niche for parents who previously had to travel to Oak Park or Chicago to obtain pediatric services.
Rick Renner of Palatine, former FOCIT president who helped found FOCIT, came to APT for his son Eric, now 10, who was born six weeks early. Among Eric’s health problems were persistent fetal circulation, whereby blood bypasses the lungs and doesn’t become properly oxygenated. Repeated infections and a lack of oxygen to his brain resulted in impaired vision, hearing and motor coordination.
“One of our initial impressions (when FOCIT began) was that we didn’t realize how vast (pediatric therapy) was and how many people were involved,” Renner said. “It became pretty apparent that there was a large need to help (others involved in therapy) in some way.”
Likewise, Jeff Brandon became involved with FOCIT through his 3-year-old twins, Sam and Grace, who both have brain injury.
Born 13 weeks early, Sam and Grace suffered from bleeding of the brain during their first weeks of life, but Sam’s was much more severe. Grace’s delays are not readily apparent, while her brother struggles with every movement during therapy. She plays and chatters in a nearby sandbox, but muscle weakness on her right side gives her an odd, faltering gait, and she must have physical therapy to make her project her voice.
One of the main goals of FOCIT is to make sure children get every therapeutic opportunity available to them.
Any type of brain damage is irreversible, but according to Arlington Heights pediatrician David Dobkin, early intervention is essential for children with disabilities because it has a profound impact on motor and developmental skills. An organization like FOCIT helps parents cope, too, he said.
“A lot of parents have a need to know that they’re doing everything they can for their child,” Dobkin said. “A parent who has a child with a handicap needs to participate. Parents need to continue that therapy at home.”
The budget for FOCIT comes primarily from fundraisers, such as the group’s annual “FOCIT Day at the Races” at Arlington International Racecourse. But with the racetrack’s uncertain future, the group is looking toward other avenues.
“We’re trying to figure out what grants are available, but it’s going to take some time for us to learn how you solicit grants,” Brandon explained.
For children like Sam and Grace Brandon, access to the programs sponsored by FOCIT has made a difference in their progress.
“Because of the muscle weakness on her right side, Grace would really be walking funny without therapy,” Brandon said. Likewise, Sam is more focused and responsive. “I see a big difference,” Brandon said.
“I’d hate to think of where they’d be without it.”
