Ben's Story
- Author: Ben B
Each year, Allied Services provides over 15,000 pediatric speech therapy appointments. Speech and language therapy helps children with communication challenges, assisting the child in producing sounds correctly, forming sentences, and expressing themselves more effectively.
For Ben, age 11, and his family, speech therapy has been a positive experience and has only helped to strengthen their relationships.
Mom, Jan, sought help for Ben after being introduced to Allied Services through her love for running. She ran the TCS New York City Marathon as part of Ryan’s Run – now Team Allied Services and You – and fell in love with the organization and its mission.
“I immediately realized how genuine, kind, loving, and accepting the people at Allied Services were.”
Despite living an hour away from the Wilkes-Barre pediatric center, she didn’t hesitate to seek a speech therapy referral for Ben. Ben, 11, has a significant articulation-phonological disorder, making it difficult for him to express his thoughts and ideas clearly and to make himself understood. Since starting speech therapy in the fall of 2022, Ben has made great progress.
“When I first met Ben, he struggled to communicate outside of his immediate family, a problem affecting his self-esteem,” says Susan Balint, M.S., CCC/SLP.
“Ben is making steady progress in speech therapy. His verbal speech is improving. I think I’m most proud of Ben because he works hard even when it’s outside of his comfort zone. Let’s face it, that’s difficult for most people. Ben’s motivation is commendable, and it is so rewarding to see Ben improve his ability to communicate more effectively. I’m hopeful that his continued success in speech therapy will further build his confidence when speaking with others in all environments. It will be an honor and privilege to cheer him on along the way.”
For mom, Jan, the progress and improvements are evident. The proof is his deepening relationship with his grandfather, who has often struggled to understand Ben’s speech.
“I feel that improvement the most when I see Ben and my Dad communicating now,” says Jan. “My Dad always had the hardest time understanding him, and now they can have conversations. So, Papi and his grandson can talk together without that stumbling block.”
Sustaining Pediatric Services - with YOUR help.
Each year, Allied Services provides:
- 29,784 pediatric therapy appointments.
- 8,524 hours of treatment to children on Medical Assistance.
- Services for 1,200 children in the Wyoming Valley.
Each year, the Pediatric Program in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre provides life-changing care to children, many of whom are underinsured or uninsured. Sustaining costly services and ensuring access to care for children in our area has become increasingly challenging due in part to escalating healthcare expenses and restrictive reimbursement rates. The extraordinary annual expenses incurred by the program place these vital pediatric services at risk in the future.
