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CAITLIN AND ALLISON'S STORY

Caitlin came to the Lund Early Childhood Program when she was an infant. She had significant developmental delays. She struggled to make eye contact with caregivers, displayed no signs of attachment to her mother, exhibited motor delays, and had poor muscle tone. Caitlin’s mom Allison was 16 years old. She had suffered significant trauma in her past, which had a severely negative effect on her parenting skills. She was often flat with Caitlin, struggled to appropriately provide for her basic care needs, and rarely engaged with her emotionally or physically.

Lund’s Early Childhood Program staff began working with Allison daily, providing parenting education, feedback, and support. When Allison dropped Caitlin off every day in the morning and picked her up in the afternoon, the teachers showed Allison quality interactions and soothing techniques to use with her daughter. They showed her how to provide stimulating activities, and supported the development of attachment between Caitlin and Allison, as well as Caitlin and her caregivers.

Caitlin moved to the toddler room of the Early Childhood Program a year later. The hard work of her mother and Lund staff had paid off! At the time of her transition, staff assessed Caitlin’s skills to be developmentally appropriate for her age! She was walking, talking, and had developed a strong attachment to her primary caregivers. Allison had demonstrated that she had learned new parenting skills from the modeling and education provided to her by her child’s teachers. She had gone from flat and disengaged to healthily displaying affection towards her child, and consistently interacting with her in a positive way. She had developed a beautiful transition routine when she dropped Caitlin off in which she spent several minutes helping to engage Caitlin into an activity with her friends.

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