By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

helping kids

Aspire keeps ticking nearly 35 years since opening

Sep 14, 2019 | 4:04 PM

The team at Aspire Special Needs Resource Centre in Red Deer continues to improve the communication and lifeskills of children who needs an extra boost early on.

On Saturday, Aspire held its annual Fall Into Fun event at Joseph Welsh Elementary, complete with BBQ, the fire department, RCMP, a bouncy castle and a Kerry Wood Nature Centre booth, just to name a few of the fun activities on site.

The event is designed to be inclusive and sensory-friendly for families who utilize Aspire.

Angela Davis, Fund Development Coordinator, says the difference staff see in the children from when they enter the program compared to the end is breathtaking.

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“The children who attend Aspire generally start off with limited socialization and verbal skills. By the end of the program, even after their first year, we see leaps and bounds for the majority of these children,” says Davis. “The biggest thing is these families feel supported; when you’re living with a child that has specialized needs, you often feel like you’re alone, in the dark, but when you come to Aspire, you have that support and understanding.”

This year, Aspire will serve toughly 525 families from the central Alberta region, including the Porters. Lawrence Porter’s four-year-old son Kash has attended Aspire for a year, and in that time has improved his speech significantly.

“He’s got a little bit of a speech issue with pronouncing his words and stuff like that. The interaction with kids at Aspire has been amazing, and with most of the kids (and instructors), it’s one-on-one interaction. They come out to your house to visit, even during the summer. Next year, Kash will have progressed enough to go to kindergarten,” Porter says.

“At one time, he couldn’t even say simple words like mom and dad, but now he’s speaking in sentences and pronouncing all his letters. It’s very emotional; you’re so happy to see your kid talk.”

Saturday’s event was made possible thanks to donations from the Red Deer Firefighters Childrens’ Charity and Servus Credit Union.

Aspire Special Needs Resource Centre, which has been a charity in Red Deer since 1985, is always looking for volunteers. For more information on that or other events hosted by Aspire, visit www.AspireSpecialNeeds.ca.