Zac and his friends

are "Learning to Walk"

Walking is Zac’s latest triumph. When Zac first came to Penrickton Center, he used to move about a room by scooting across the floor. With daily one-to-one encouragement from our therapists and child care workers, Zac slowly learned to crawl. Then, three years ago, with help from our occupational therapist Patty he learned to walk using a walker. Today, however, Zac has learned to take his first steps without any support or assistance – with Andrea providing lots of encouragement and finally a big, well-deserved hug. Not long ago, Zac used to be very cautious and apprehensive about the world around him. Now he loves our field trips – at the circus this year, he was able to ride a real elephant and, at the local farm, pet a goat and cow. For Zac, life is an adventure, thanks to all his friends who support Penrickton Center!
"Learning to Grow"

Left, Zac holds a tomato with Richard and Colleen, one of our child care workers, in the garden where the children help to grow vegetables and flowers.

Below right, Zac and Kathleen share a private moment together.

Zac was born with visual impairments and many medical problems that resulted in being a "failure to thrive" child.
But today Zac is thriving at Penrickton Center for Blind Children. Zac once had difficulty communication verbally and now he loves to talk to everyone, spell, sing his favorite songs and even use a computer.

Zac and Kathleen Just learning to walk independently has opened up a whole new world for Zac. He can now find toys to play with in the toy room, find his own bedroom at night, climb up and down our indoor slide, swing on the swing, ridge on a merry-go-round, and get in and out of a chair by himself. Because of Zac’s increased skills, he no longer needs a wheelchair as he once did to go places, and he now can walk out to his school bus carrying his own backpack.

Zac loves life and loves learning, and he has a bright and hopeful future, with help from all his caring friends!