Mona Gardner is a speech-language pathologist on the Caribbean island of Antigua & Barbuda . Her Center for the Holistic Advancement of Therapeutic Services ( CHATS ) is the only such practice on the island where for the past five years , she and her team have been diligently working to change the invisible disability narrative on the island .
Her journey with speechlanguage pathology started within her household . Eighteen years ago , after her younger brother was born , daily she observed the difficulties her mom endured , knowing that something was a little bit different about her son , but not having access to resources for a diagnosis . Finding a professional to give advice or a diagnosis was challenging and hope within her household began to dissipate . At three years old , her brother showed the typical signs of a child who had delayed communication skills and was at risk for developing some sort of learning disability . He was a late talker , had constant ear infections and also had issues socializing at preschool . He then went on to Kindergarten and there too he was not succeeding academically - the teachers wanted him to repeat Kindergarten . Mona remembers the pain of watching her mom cry in despair as an institution blamed her for being the reason her son was not able to accomplish certain milestones , as expected . Specifically , it was a note telling her mom that it was her fault he had to repeat Kindergarten , because “ you are not spending enough time with your child .” Her brother was moved from school to school – four primary schools in total - and it was while he attended an international school on the island that had teachers on staff who were trained in special needs from Canada , that they were able to meet his learning needs . Although her brother changed school due to the closing of the international school , while at his next school he continued to flourish . Focus was then placed on his abilities , they concentrated on his strengths and from within him an entirely new personality and confidence emerged . Hope was restored to her family and Mona knew she had found her profession !
Her brother ’ s diagnosis lit a fire in her to help families in similar
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