Parent Perspective: Having two daughters in Balance’s Adult Day Program.

Camryn, who has autism, was captured on camera enjoying the swings during a group outing to the Blue Lotus Center in West Bend, Wisconsin as part of Balance's Adult Day Program.

During an art therapy class at Balance's Adult Day Program in Grafton, Wisconsin, Chloe, who has Autism, was seen working on an art project.

Early in 2022 Dani Rossa learned about Balance from a friend and quickly set up a tour and a meet and greet.

Dani’s two daughters Camryn and Chloe both have Autism but needed different types of programs because of their ages. Both girls were able to join Balance in June of 2022.

In order to give the girls a break from each other they are usually placed in separate groups, with Camryn in a group downstairs and Chloe in a group upstairs. 

"Generally they have to do everything together and this was a good way to give them a break. To give them an opportunity to be individuals," said Dani. 

After a few weeks, both girls have started to adapt to new routines and new things. For instance, it took Camryn three days to be ok with riding in the vans that Balance uses for daily group outings. Riding in the vans might seem like a simple task for other people but the change in routine can be exceptionally hard for individuals with autism. Riding in the vans was an obstacle that Dani says hadn’t even crossed her mind but made those three days feel like an eternity and made her question whether she had made the right choice in sending her daughters to Balance.

But once over the initial hurdles, Dani could see that the girls were enjoying their time at Balance. 

Camryn looks up photos of Balance a lot on the internet and that is a sure sign she likes something, said Dani. She will also ask at night if she gets to go to Balance the next day. 

With Chloe it is a bit more difficult to tell if she is liking something but Dani says Chloe doesn’t drag her feet when getting ready to go to Balance in the morning and that is a good sign. Chloe often put the brakes on when getting ready for school each day, a sign that she did not like school.

More than anything Dani is happy to see her daughters in an environment where they are surrounded by unique individuals. Dani said that going to school every day seemed to dim the sparkle in her daughters but that hasn’t been the case at Balance. As a mom Dani had tried to get the girls to fit in at school so they wouldn’t be bullied. Balance is different though, Dani said, everyone here just comes as they are, and it is a beautiful thing to see people being embraced daily for their quarks instead of bullied because of them.

After only three weeks Dani had started recommending Balance to other moms. 

According to Dani, she initially had a negative reaction to the term 'Adult Day Program' used to refer to Balance's Adult Services. She had visualized something more sterile and institutional. Dani believes that if one of her mom friends had not recommended Balance, she would not have looked into it further.

Dani hopes that in the future Balance could further separate itself from other organizations in a positive way by simply changing people’s view of what an “Adult Day Program” can be.

Tags: intellectual and developmental disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, Grafton, Wisconsin, Ozaukee County, IDD, community-based adult program, day services for adults with special needs