ECI picnic 'means a lot' to families (28 June 2006)

By JOE RUIZ
jruiz@sastandardtimes.com or 659-8262

A purple bubble wand, a wading pool full of soapy water and a beach ball were all Santos Ramirez III needed for a good time.

The 2-year-old was one of about 20 children, at least seven of whom were playing with the bubbles, at the Early Childhood Intervention picnic at Karen Stribling Unidad Park on Tuesday evening.

''It means a lot,'' Santos' mom, Elisa Ramirez, said. ''I'm sure there are a lot of families in similar cases.''

Santos weighed two pounds at birth, which was two months earlier than expected.

ECI serves Santos and 308 other children and their families in 11 counties from San Angelo to Del Rio.

The statewide program, which has about 36 employees in the region, is designed to assist families of children from birth to 3 years old who have disabilities or developmental delays.

Staff goes to the families' homes to provide services, assistance and advice.

Tuesday's picnic was a chance for families to bring their children to the park for a few hours of fun and food, said Glyniss McDaniel, special project assistant for ECI.

''A lot of times our families don't have opportunities to get out with their kids because of having children with disabilities,'' McDaniel said.

''So we wanted to sponsor an event where the staff could be here to help.''

McDaniel said this was the first picnic of its sort in about 10 years, but they have a Christmas party yearly.

The ECI program provides speech therapy, physical therapy, nutrition information and other services, as well as a help fund for families that might have an extra bill to pay.

None of that was on the mind of Santos, though. He was content to kick a beach ball with his grandfather, Santos Ramirez, around the park.

The families in the program, and especially her own, have been helped time and again by ECI, said Santos' mom.

''If I have questions, they're always answering them,'' Ramirez said.

''You can see these kids and how much they've grown and developed.''