Today, we’d like to share a story about Elijah—one of the most curious, funny, and loving boys, according to mom and dad. At two years old, he has a spunky personality that touches everyone around him. 

“One of the best things about Eli is how much he loves. He shows empathy for his family and friends and is always there to share hugs and kisses. Not only does he love hard, but he plays hard. He is always engaging with the world around him. He loves to run and jump, play with cars, read books, play hide and seek, and so much more. 

You can watch Eli engage with everything in his environment and see how he is taking it all in and absorbing as much information as he can. He is such a special boy.”

However, engaging with the world around him hasn’t always been easy for Elijah. When he was around 12-18 months old, mom and dad started to notice Elijah was struggling to communicate. He had so much to say, but couldn’t find a way to say it the way he wanted to.  A close family member, Elijah’s “Nonnie,” happens to be a speech language pathologist and kept a close eye on his development. 

Elijah was eventually diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia of Speech. Children with the diagnosis of apraxia of speech generally have a good understanding of language and know what they want to say. However, they have difficulty learning and executing movements with their mouth, tongue, or jaw necessary for speech. 

Mom says, “His most significant challenge has been his desire to communicate. He has always had so much to say, and before speech, there was essentially zero effective communication.”

It was made apparent early on that speech therapy was imperative for Elijah’s development. However, as many of our families know, therapy can be incredibly costly. 

Mom and dad stated, “Therapy is so costly! We know others who have chosen not to do therapy because of the cost and it is heart breaking! When Eli first started speech therapy, he was doing private therapy two times a week. It is a hefty investment and has been a part of our budget for three years now.”

However, they never gave up hope. They knew how important it was for Elijah to be able to communicate the way he wanted to. 

To Elijah and his family, “Hope is knowing that there is going to be improvement and knowing that there is progress to be made. Without this therapy, Elijah will not make improvements with his speech and language which can cause problems with reading, writing, and spelling in the future. It is critical that he receives therapy.”

Elijah has made amazing progress in therapy. According to mom, his biggest wins started with the ability to form vowel sounds—this is a huge challenge for those with the diagnosis of apraxia of speech. Elijah continued working on consonants, then onto full words, and now, he is working on blending it all together.

However, his biggest win has been far more profound: Independence.

Mom says, “I used to be Elijah’s most familiar listener and would have to repeat what he said to others for them to understand him. So in my opinion, the very biggest win is that he no longer needs me to repeat his communication, and even unfamiliar listeners understand him now!”

All of this was made possible with the help from a Family Hope Foundation therapy scholarship. 

Because they received financial assistance through a therapy scholarship, Elijah’s parents were able to take a breather. It gave them the opportunity to focus on other medical bills from Elijah’s brother’s birth. It gave them time to pause, evaluate, and move forward, knowing Elijah was still receiving the therapy he needed in order to grow. 

Mom states that their family has now been able to continue affording therapy after the Family Hope Foundation therapy scholarship. Because they could pause, they were able to take that time to prepare finances for therapy in the future. 

Elijah and his family’s story has now come full-circle. With the help of a therapy scholarship in the past, the Burkhardt’s are now in a position to give back to other Family Hope Foundation families. They have become committed donors, hoping to give other families the same relief they once received. 

Because out of everyone, our families know how important it is. 

When asked about their hopes for Elijah’s future, mom said, “Our hope is that Elijah can continue to do whatever it is he sets his heart and mind to. As most young boys do, Eli hopes to be a construction worker one day and build houses and dig with an excavator! We know that he has big dreams, and we want all of them to come to fruition.”