Jasmine, 4, and Christian, 6, sit with their therapist Leanne Offner as theyconduct developmental exercises. Things that seem like simple tasks to most people are a constant struggle for some exceptional children.
Young children all over Quantico are preparing for upcoming holiday festivities, but several exceptional families only have time to prepare for their next hospital visits and therapy sessions.
Four-year-old Jasmine struggles with autism. So does her brother Christian, who is just two years older. Their mother, Rose Sutton, has a small aneurism, that she’s praying doesn’t burst.
The symptoms and severity of autism vary, but Jasmine also suffers some serious physical health issues.
‘‘She will be having surgery on theMarine Corps birthday ... to look down her throat to her large intestine,” Sutton said. ‘‘[She will have] six biopsies along the way.”
While at a tender age when development is vital, Jasmine’s body struggles to keep up.
Seven-year-old Timothy is confined to a wheelchair. His mother, Paula Donovan, has seen her son through more than 20 surgeries in his short life.
Sutton and Donovan reached out to Quantico’s Exceptional Family MemberProgram and their newest committee for a sense of belonging.
Donovan now stands as the Military Committee for Persons with Disabilities’president and has hit the ground running to improve some of the base processes for those with disabilities.
‘‘I want to be able to provide, for families, the resources they need to deal with all the issues that come up,” said Donovan. ‘‘I want them to feel like there is someone they can turn to when they need help, but most important for them to know they are not alone.”
The committee has only been around for two months, but the members meet to identify and discuss problem areas on base that exceptional family members face, such as handicapped parking and accessibility in homes.
Sutton has been with EFMP since 2001 and just recently took a seat as vice president of the committee.
‘‘The program has come a long way,” Sutton said. ‘‘This is a new group, and the focus is for families to come together to let the base know what we need and,in turn, help our Marines focus ontheir jobs.”
The MCPD was established to advise the director of the Marine Corps Community Services division about services for people with disabilities aboard the base, said Albert Thompson, the deputy director of Personal Readiness and Community Support.
‘‘[It] works in conjunction with EFMP,” said Thompson. ‘‘They are dealing with some of the same concerns and issues.”
‘‘Families need to advocate for themselves,” Sutton said. ‘‘There is still a stigma that if you have an exceptional family member, it’s a bad thing. Some families don’t want it to be known, [and] some don’t speak up because they can’t or don’t know where to start.”
Base Commander Col. Dan Choike has lent a concerned ear to the committee during their parent advisory board and has taken action toward getting them the services they need.
Choike made himself available to the committee and ensured them he will make changes.
‘‘What we can do is go out there, see what we have and what we need, and fix it,” Choike said at the meeting.
‘‘The base commander not only cares about his Marines, but about families too,” said Donovan. ‘‘I feel he is very family oriented, and he wants to make sure the families aboard Quantico are taken care of.”
Choike made it clear that he will not tolerate a lack of safety on the base.
‘‘Numbers speaks volumes,” said Sutton. ‘‘Which is why I joined the Military Committee for Families with Disabilities. The key ... is awareness.”
To help increase awareness, all exceptional families are encouraged to attend committee meetings and take part in the process for change.
For more information, visit www.usmc-mccs.org⁄efmp⁄ or call 703-784-2172.
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