Stories

"He's not the person he was before, and we have video footage to prove it," Rachel D'Errico says with a smile on her face.

She's talking about her son, four-year-old Ethan D'Errico, who first came to Central Coast Language & Learning Center in 2017. After Rachel's aunt (who works with children as part of her job) noticed Ethan displaying signs of autism, Rachel decided to seek out a doctor's opinion.

"But people kept telling me, 'Boys learn later than girls' and 'Just wait and see if he grows out of it' and I said, 'No, I don't want to wait,' Rachel explains. "He was totally non-verbal and before he turns three we can get help and prevent this from escalating."

As a military family, the D'Erricos were stationed in Hawaii, where there are limited resources for children like Ethan. After moving to San Diego, they decided to try at-home ABA (applied behavioral analysis) therapy, which proved to be a challenge for Ethan. "He would cry a lot," says Rachel. "The social aspect was very hard for him, he didn't even warm up to family members."

Ethan's learning delay was difficult for Rachel, especially as a first-time mom, and led her to question her parenting.

"There were lots of tears," she recalls. "I didn't know what to do as a mom. I didn't know what he wanted because he wasn't talking. I was confused and wondering if it was something we did as parents."  

Feeling discouraged, the D'Erricos prepared for their next military assignment in Monterey, which led them to CCLLC. "When Ethan started working with Jenn, he wouldn't even want to come into the room. But gradually over time he finally started to gain more developed social skills. We came three times a week and started seeing progress," Rachel says.

Rachel stills remembers the first significant moment of that progress. "Ethan had moved on from learning sign language to now using notecards to pronounce certain sounds and words. I was sitting outside the therapy room and I heard Jenn say, 'That's great Ethan!' and Ethan started clapping. He had finally started to babble and talk. I thought to myself, 'Ethan, I don't know what you're saying right now but I love every sound of it.'"

Rachel says she noticed more than just the therapy sessions working, but also the entire CCLLC team rallying around Ethan. "Everyone here knows him now, and he gives everyone hugs." She even brought her entire extended family to CCLLC to meet Ethan's team and show them his progress first-hand.

"He's more interactive now, he's totally ready for pre-school," Rachel says with a smile of confidence that wasn't there a few years ago. "I feel like without [speech therapy] it wouldn't be possible to be able to get to the place we're at today."

It's a place of progress, confidence and a deeper emotional connection between Ethan and his family.

"I've been told that with the way he's progressing, he will be a pretty bright kid," Rachel says. "I do think he will succeed. We will support him no matter what. This journey has totally shaped his future."