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718 339-9700 Vol.
XV, No. 1 Cont’d
on page 5 SM
The Comprehensive
Network Newsletter
Cont’d. on page 2
Understanding Autism
The Benefits of
Home-Based El Services
From The Executive
Director News!
News! News! News
Professional Enrichment
Program Opportunities
Bulletin Board
COMPREHENSIVE
OPENS NEW
OFFICES IN
THE BRONX The
American with Disabilities Act opened
many doors for children. For thousands
of children in wheelchairs or
on ventilators, this act offered an opportunity
to interact with peers in a
regular school setting and allowed hope
for the future. However, some medically
fragile children were not able
to function in a non-medical school
environment. To
help meet the needs of these children,
Comprehensive Resources, Inc.
and Netcare, Inc., participating agencies
of our Brooklyn-based Com- prehensive
Network, Inc., opened a Bronx
division that will offer both
nursing and early
intervention services
to the children who need it. AUTISM
– A MOTHER’S
STORY “I
just want my daughter to come home
and say, ‘Mom, let me tell you about
my day at school… For me, that
would be better
than hitting the lottery.’”
For Elizabeth Bernadine of St. Albans,
NY, a normal conversation with her
daughter, Isabelle, seems like a far-off
dream. But it wasn’t
always this way.
Isabelle was born five
years ago weighing
only one pound and
13 ounces. Though
she spent three
months in the neona-
tal intensive care unit, once she
returned home
her development was normal. She ate
heartily, learned to walk, was happy and
playful and was soon learning the joys of
communicating through speech. And
then, at 2, her development ground
to a halt. At first, it was calls from the
day care center informing Elizabeth that
Isabelle was no longer interacting with the
other children or joining circle time. Later
on, Isabelle stopped responding to
her own name and began having wild
temper tantrums every time she encoun-
tered a crowd or was forced into a
public setting.
Elizabeth remembers a particularly
trying afternoon in the mall when
a stranger told
her that her child really needed a good spanking.
Still in denial, Elizabeth told
herself it was “the terrible
two’s” or some other
phase Isabelle would surely outgrow.
“My mom, who’s
a nurse, kept saying something
is wrong, you better check this out.
At the time, I really hated her for saying that,”
recalls Elizabeth. The
turning point was a trip to Florida to “de-stress”
at Elizabeth’s
best friend’s house.
Being with Isabelle all day every
day for a week
and comparing her behavior to that of her
friend’s children, made Elizabeth realize
she had to face facts. Isabelle was
not like other
kids her age. When
she returned to New
York, Elizabeth made
an appointment for
an evaluation at the Apple
Pre-School, a division
of United Cerebral
Palsy. After a series
of tests, Elizabeth received the dreaded phone
call. “We want to give you the results
in person, please come in to our
office.” Isabelle
was diagnosed with Autistic Spec- trum
Disorder. Though the staff at UCP helped
Elizabeth place Isabelle in a pre- school
for autistic children, she remembers the
next few months as a time of grief, loss and
confusion. She stopped working to devote
herself full time to Isabelle and spent hours
on the internet, reading all sorts of horrors
about autism she wished she had Isabelle
stopped responding to
her own name and began
having wild temper tantrums
every time she encountered
a crowd. Published
by Comprehensive Network, Inc. on behalf of its participating companies,
dedicated to health care, education,
and bilingual staffing and management services. ©
2003 Comprehensive Network, Inc. Elizabeth
Bernadine with daughter, Isabelle
