Description
As his school bus pulls up in front of his home, 6-year-old Luke smiles from ear to ear in his seat. His parents, Mark and Emily, love this time of day.
“Did you ride the bus?” his dad Mark asks, as he carries Luke home.
Most days, Luke even hugs the bus — a physical way to express just how much he loves it.
Expressing feelings as a child at any age comes with growing pains. For Luke, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome and apraxia of speech, learning to communicate verbally has been a journey since birth.
“When he was born, the neonatologist said, ‘I’m sorry, your son has Down syndrome,’” Emily said. “That’s not something we want any family to hear, because we’ve never been sorry.”
At 6 months old, the whole family learned sign language to aid communication with Luke. As he got older, speech and other therapies were introduced to support his development and help him share his voice in more ways.
Significant progress was made through speech therapy. However, with a limited number of sessions covered by insurance — and the added medical costs required to continue his therapy — Luke’s parents weren’t sure if they could swing it.
“The ability to invest in speech therapy is the most important thing our family can give him,” Emily said.
With help from the UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation (UHCCF), Luke’s family qualified for a grant to help cover the costs of additional speech therapy sessions.
“It gave us — and him — a boost we really needed,” Emily said. “Entering kindergarten would have been harder. It gave him a strong foundation, and he’s been able to accelerate his skills because of it.”
Since 2005, UHCCF has awarded more than 40,000 grants valued at over $80 million. The funding pays for children’s medical expenses not covered, or not fully covered, by a commercial health insurance plan.
Luke’s confidence continues to grow at school, along with his speech. His parents can’t wait to see what’s next for him in the years to come.
“We want other families to see there’s help and hope,” Emily said. “Luke is thriving, in part, because of organizations like the UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation that help make that possible.”