The Change We Want to See: A Model Therapeutic Education Program for Young Children with Disabilities

By Caitlyn Sanders and Callan Wells 

GEEARS’ Senior Health Policy Manager, Callan Wells, and our Research Manager, Caitlyn Sanders, have been traveling to inclusive child care programs around Georgia to learn about these programs’ unique needs and various recipes for success. In their visits, they gather data and stories to inform their advocacy on behalf of families whose young children have disabilities. But in 2024, Caitlyn and Callan had an opportunity to directly show legislators a day-in-the-life at Apparo Academy, a remarkable program in Augusta. Here, they share their account of their site visit.  

“I never in my life had a panic attack until I was up at night, worrying about how I was going to take care of my child with special needs.”  

As anyone at GEEARS can tell you, we are easy criers. But we assure you, when the father of a young student told us this at Apparo Academy, an incredible early intervention and therapeutic education program in Augusta, virtually everyone in the room teared up.  

Critically, that group in Apparo’s conference room included lawmakers who have the power to spread the word through the Georgia General Assembly about the needs of our state’s youngest children with disabilities. They were Georgia Representative Mark Newton, Rep. Gary Richardson, Rep. Brian Prince, and Sen. Harold Jones, as well as staffers from US Congressman Rick Allen’s office and Rep. Allen’s wife, Robin Allen. 

The father’s story of his panic attack was one of many. More than one attendee related that their spouse (usually the mom) had to leave the workforce because managing their child’s needs was practically a full-time job. Another noted that his family had to buy their baby a $75 can of specialized formula every four days—without falling behind on mortgage and car payments. Yet another declared he would never have been able to afford his child’s $15,000 wheelchair if Medicaid hadn’t covered it.  

“And I make a good living,” he added. An unspoken question hung over his statement: What about the families who are living with both a child’s disability and poverty? What about the ones whose insurance plan, if they have one, reject that wheelchair claim?  

This is why Apparo’s unique and extremely successful model is such a godsend for the program’s families, as well as the typically developing children who also attend and make up 40% of the student body. One father in our discussion said he and his wife had turned down job opportunities in other cities so they could stay in Augusta and at Apparo. All those in attendance said the impact the program is making in their children’s lives is what brought them to this emotional meeting with legislators. They felt compelled to pay their good fortune forward by advocating, not just for their own school and families, but for families all over Georgia whose children have disabilities.   

We toured the facility before sitting down to talk to these parents and learned so much. . .  

• Because Apparo’s students with disabilities require both therapeutic services and high-quality care and education, the school has integrated these two elements. When we peeked into classrooms, it was often hard to tell which of the early childhood professionals were teachers, and which were therapists executing interventions. The beauty of such integration is the easy exchange of information and skills that regularly occurs between the therapists and teachers.  

• For therapies that don’t happen in the classroom, there is an on-site clinic, which means families don’t have to commute to appointments and their kids miss less class time.  

• Executive Director Jennifer Jones told us that Apparo’s methods are so effective that 60% of their students with disabilities no longer need therapeutic services after they “graduate” to the K-12 setting. And because of the services and preparation families receive at the program, their transition to school is more seamless. In fact, Apparo reports that 90% of single moms with children in the program have been able to return to work. 

• Apparo operates with a financial structure that is accessible for families, offering tuition assistance for those who need it. The center also depends heavily upon insurance claims and philanthropic donations for equipment, specialized staff, and all the other essentials that will give its ever-changing population of students what they need.  

• Apparo is a priceless resource for its families, who exchange experiences, techniques, equipment, and information with each other, learn from staff and fellow parents how to navigate complicated healthcare, educational, and insurance systems, and support each other through the stress and emotional toll caused by their children’s circumstances. (It was lost on nobody at this meeting that the divorce rates among couples whose kids have disabilities are higher than average.)  

After seeing what they’d seen—and hearing what they’d heard—the lawmakers on our tour brimmed with questions. Their most important question—more of a request, really—was, Send us a list of recommendations.  

Among the recommendations we shared are. . .  

• Consider grants for child care programs to provide inclusive programming, including therapy and nursing services. 

• Simplify the application process for Medicaid programs that support children with disabilities, which, in Georgia, is called Katie Beckett Medicaid. 

• Meaningfully fund Georgia’s Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS) Program, which provides scholarships that help some working families with low incomes afford childcare.   

• Ensure equity across early childhood and K-12 special education policies and funding. 

 To see the innovation and expertise at a center like Apparo is to immediately become an ally in the movement to create similar programs for young children with disabilities all over Georgia. We’re excited to have formed exciting new relationships with these legislators—and they with Apparo Academy. We hope we’ll report more news about our progress soon!