On the top of development

GREEN BAY – Aspiro Inc. was awarded a contract this month to administer the “Birth to Three” program for Brown County, for early intervention.

This arrangement, finalized through an RFP process last fall, puts administration under the responsibility of Aspiro.

“It’s an expansion of our partnership. We’re excited about it, the program serves over 800 children and families,” explained Aspiro President Ryan Ruzziconi

Aspiro was founded in 1957 by a group of 67 parents of disabled children.
They offer various services, from the Birth to Three program to group-supported employment to recreation and respite care.

“We not only serve the children, but the families too,” Ruzziconi added.

Capriana and Josh Hadel, parents of Theodore Hadel, use the programs Aspiro offers.

Josh works in the paper industry, based out of an office in Appleton.

Capriana works in clinical outreach for another company in Appleton.

They have three children — the oldest is four years old, Tehodore is almost three and their youngest is just seven months old.

“We’ve been very on top of their development and very active in their lives,” Capriana said.

Being the first grandchildren on both sides of the family, Capriana says they’ve received much support from there.

When Josh and Capriana noticed that Theodore, or Teddy, wasn’t meeting the same milestones as his older brother, they kept their eyes on him.

At his 12-month checkup, he hadn’t been meeting any of the milestones, and that’s when they were referred to the Birth to Three program with Aspiro.

By the time he was 13 months, he started with Aspiro.

“This is brand new to us,” Capriana said. “This is not something we anticipated as parents.”

Aspiro has created a sense of community for them, and it “helps with the difficulty of this.”

“Aspiro is family,” Josh said.

He described that Teddy, who is normally, as Josh puts it, “a bit standoffish,” always is excited to see the staff of Aspiro, running up to give them a hug.

The Hadels can tell that he feels he belongs there.

“The Birth to Three program ensures that eligible families have access to a comprehensive team of early intervention specialists, including special educators, service coordinators, occupational therapists, physical therapists and speech-language pathologists,” an Aspiro release stated.

For more information, visit www.aspiroinc.org/birthtothree or call (920) 593-4391.