07/25/2025
Meet Obi! He is a bright-eyed, almost three-year-old. Obi has Spina Bifida, a condition in which the spine doesn’t fully develop. Obi’s Spina Bifida has resulted in no feeling or control of his lower body. But, that has not slowed Obi down. With help from his parents and staff from GCBDD Early Intervention, Obi is making lots of progress.
Obi began services with Early Intervention when he was around 10 months old. “Obi’s goals have almost exclusively been mobility. We worked on sitting and rolling initially, and then army crawling,” said Jess Shipe, GCBDD Physical Therapist.
Now Obi’s goals are focused around learning to use his wheelchair and preparing for preschool. With the help of Family Support Services funding, Obi’s family has purchased a table that works well with his wheelchair, so that he can play and work on activities at table level, similar to what he will be doing in a preschool classroom.
Obi’s mom, Kori said, “Early Intervention services have really given us lots of ways to help Obi. The program gives us really good direction and ways to work with him at home, like the foam stairs and ramp, so that he can get in and out of bed on his own.” Kori likes that EI staff come to their home for the visits because it makes it easy to work on the techniques that the staff shares. EI staff use everyday objects in the home like pillows and toys to help work towards new skills and milestones.
Ohio Early Intervention is a statewide system that provides coordinated services to parents of infants and toddlers with disabilities or developmental delays.
The first three years of life are an important time for the health and development of all children. Starting intervention services early improves the child’s ability to develop and learn, and may prevent or reduce the need for additional services later.
If you have concerns about your child's development contact the Early Intervention staff at the Guernsey County Board of Developmental Disabilities at 740-439-1858.
