By Olivia Minnier

A bright-eyed toddler excitedly starts cutting into red Playdough. He excitedly makes cuts and rolls out the fire truck red dough with the help of his mom on a plastic activity tray.

Jackson Katanik is a vibrant two-and-a-half-year-old who runs around the family’s Powell home with his two older siblings, Ben and Madison, and his parents. He delightfully plays with toys and can express what he needs and can communicate well.

But it wasn’t always this way, Jackson’s mom, Laura Katanik said, due to a series of ear infections, she started to notice he was missing certain milestones.

“In between six and nine months he had six or seven ear infections. They couldn’t get rid of them, and we had to get the shots. So, he spent the middle half of his first year basically not being able to hear because of ear infections. I’m a teacher and so I knew there were things to be concerned about, so I was weighing options. I was waiting and seeing if he caught up or not, but then I started to see some behavior issues with him and some frustration because he couldn’t communicate what he wanted.”

Laura said she didn’t feel like she knew the right ways to help him, and that she could use some help.

“Laura was always very appreciative of Early Intervention services. She generously shared her gratitude for our team and program. Service Coordinators ensure a child is evaluated, services are started, and services continue as needed. Jack’s mom recognized this and appreciated the follow-through,” said Service Coordinator, Tina Stout.

Tina said Laura appreciated other members of the early intervention team for their work; evaluator Dawn Byrd DS/LSW and PSP Andrea Adkins SLP. “Laura recognized that it is a team effort to assist families in Early Intervention,” she said.

Laura said they started working with DCBDD’s Early Intervention team around August of 2023. By March of 2024, she said everything began to click for Jackson and he has become an excellent communicator.

“He’s (now) trying to tell stories. He’s hogging conversations because he’s always wanting to talk and say how he’s feeling and what’s going on,” she said.

While Jackson is still a toddler and prone to occasional temper tantrums, she said the behavioral issues she was seeing in him before he started services are no longer happening.

Both Laura and Jackson’s older brother, Ben, agreed that the EI services have benefitted the entire family and significantly improved the dynamic in the house.

“The frustration level with not knowing what he wanted made things just kind of stressful,” she said.

Ben said that it was incredibly frustrating to hear his younger brother cry for seemingly no reason and not be able to help him at all.

“I’d just be trying to lay down or play a game or something and he would start crying,” he said.

She said the connection among the family has significantly improved because they can all help.

“We can tackle things as a family unit as opposed to playing a guessing game,” she said.

Tina said working with Jackson and Laura was enjoyable and rewarding.

“Jack and Laura are delightful. It is always rewarding to know and see the progress a child has made due to our Early Intervention team,” she said.