Meet 9-year-old Weston

Meet 9-year-old Weston. He is a happy, loving and
friendly boy whose smile and contagious laugh can brighten anyone’s day. Weston
loves playing on his iPad, with his brother Jase, all of his friends and enjoys
pretty much any sport offered to him.

By seeing Weston, you’d never know he has had to overcome so many challenges, but he hasn’t always had it so easy. Weston was born with Spina Bifida which was diagnosed the day he was born. He was brought directly to Sick Kids where he underwent successful corrective surgery at only 3 days old. Weston has been a client of Grandview Children’s Centre since he was an infant and attended Grandview’s educational partner, Campbell Children’s School (CCS), for both Junior Kindergarten and Senior Kindergarten before heading to mainstream schooling.

“We don’t know where Weston would be without the
dedication of all the staff at Grandview and CCS, who have worked so hard with
him,” said his mom, Krystal. “They are truly an amazing group of
people whose love and compassion make the days for our children so much fun!”

Weston has delays in his speech and physical movement, as
well as with his fine and gross motor skills, but after regular help from
Grandview for Speech-Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Physiotherapy-
Weston is thriving!

Now in third grade, Weston is seeing much success.

“Weston has always been an amazing reader. He is currently reading at grade level but still has delays in his verbal communication. He has received in-school assistance from a Speech-Language Pathologist and an Occupational Therapist. During recess, he sometimes rides a bike or trike around the school which gives him a dose of Physiotherapy.”

Weston has made plenty of new friends since beginning
school and has overall been having an excellent learning experience.

“He is not at all shy, but we still feared he may be
rejected from his peers because of his differences. His teachers always assure
us that is not the case and that his friends tend to offer him help
occasionally, explained his mother.”

Weston’s favourite sport is hockey and he takes any
chance he can to play ball hockey with friends at school and his brother at
home – if his brother doesn’t want to play, he’ll set up Buzz Lightyear as
goalie and fire off some shots. He has been practicing his ice skating every
weekend he can in order to improve his balance and strength.

“It is tough to watch him struggle, his body moves
somewhat robotically and he does not have quick reflexes so falls happen often
and he gets very frustrated, we just have to keep reminding him to get back up
and keep going.”

Weston also loves making comic books, which he mimics
from his favourite books Captain Underpants and Dogman. When he is finished
with his creation, he reads you his story while barely being able to contain
his laughter – he thinks he is hilarious.

Every time we have to go to Grandview, Weston lights
right up. He absolutely loves Grandview and the amazing staff that know him and
chat him up from the moment he walks through the door.

With every new therapist we see, we always learn
something different; a new way to help him achieve his goals.

Through Grandview, we learned about the Durham Regional Police Children’s Games. Weston participated for the first time this past October. He was able to see so many familiar Grandview faces, staff and old classmates, and had so much fun participating in all of the events that he ended up winning his team’s spirit award!