2021 Golden Service Award

Meet Barbara

 Barbara Anderson
My son was discharged from Early Intervention this week and we had such an amazing experience that I wanted to reach out to see if there is anything we can do to further recognize his team members. If there is any type of award that we can nominate them for or anywhere I can share my story (below) I would be happy to. We had an amazing experience with both Bonnie Eckerman and Barb Anderson, but the information below specifically relates to Barb (since Bonnie is a contractor and since my son formed an extra special connection with Barb that I find so remarkable given the fact that we only met in person a handful of times). We feel like Barb is a diamond in the rough and the thank you gift we gave her just doesn’t feel like enough in terms of recognition. If there is anything else we can do, please let me know. Thank you for connecting us with such a special group of people, we are so grateful for the progress our son has made because of them. 

Our story:
My son Carter began early intervention with PT because he could not lift his head when on his belly at 5 months old. After about a year of PT, his team suggested that we meet with Barb to begin pre speech services, in hopes that he would never need to transition to speech services. When we began, I did not have high hopes because we were in the middle of a pandemic, so I figured it would be very difficult for my son to engage with a total stranger via zoom. He was very hit or miss with his PT sessions and he never had much interest in FaceTime even with family at the time (beyond a quick hello). I had also heard from other EI moms that zoom was highly ineffective. So we moved forward, but I had very low expectations.    However, I was clearly underestimating the magic of Barb Anderson. She truly is one of a kind and we couldn’t be more grateful for what she did for Carter. When we started working with her, he was very quiet and timid, and now he speaks nonstop and in nearly full sentences. She somehow was able to not only keep him engaged, but to absolutely captivate him. The impact she was having was undeniable as he walked around the house repeating things they worked on together that week (using the same inflection and everything). He was even requesting to call her on days we didn’t have a session. He developed such a close bond with her that his friends and family knew all about her (and the special nickname he created for her). 
The fact that she was able to form this deep connection with him in the middle of a pandemic while meeting only remotely, is just amazing. It’s a true testament to how great she is at her job. She brings so much energy and enthusiasm to each session, she takes the time to get to know the child and builds their interests into her games/exercises, and she gets creative when she can tell they’re losing interest. She has a natural gift when it comes to connecting with children and she is extremely dedicated to her job. She is always well prepared, always positive and she works hard to make the most of each session. She made my son feel special and loved and because of that, he continues to ask about her almost every day. It made saying goodbye extremely difficult, which is something I never thought I would say about EI. I can’t even imagine how effective she must be when her sessions are all in person. She is so smart, so talented, and someone we will never ever forget. 
 Thank you!

Jen