ODESSA, Texas — Stone Creek is only 4-years-old.
He's only been a patient at PBRC for not even a year yet. But if you could see how far he's come in just a few months, you'd be surprised.
Just ask his therapists.
"The speech therapist would tell me that she's like 'I can't stop him from talking, I have to let him go because he's talking up a storm,' and I'm like I'm not seeing it. She's like 'He's really not talking with you?' and I'm like 'Really' and he comes in today and he's like... he doesn't stop," said John Trotman, an occupational therapist with the Permian Basin Rehab Center.
That's because Stone, who's on the spectrum, wasn't talking much when he first walked in here. Unlike most children, who start verbal communication between 12 and 18 months, Stone took a little longer. His parents first took notice.
"He couldn't tell me why questions, like where he went, what he did, why you do something. I noticed he was struggling with that. He was a delayed talker, he didn't start talking until after he was 2-years-old. Whenever that happened, Covid hit and we were just at home so we were trying to do therapy through Facetime and I was having to work with him on those things so it made things hard," said Annie Creek, Stone's mother.
Stone is one of the many children who grew up in the middle of a global pandemic, which also added to the delay in his speech, social and occupational skills.
"A lot of our younger kids during the pandemic never got out of the house, or left their mom. They spent 24 hours a day seven days a week with their mom. They would come in here and have separation anxiety and never leave their mom. Their social skills were very low. They didn't have the skills to interact with other people other than their parents," said Trotman.
But after being at PBRC for a few months, believe it or not, Stone graduated speech therapy very quickly. Now, he's working in occupational therapy, where he can work on his visual and motor skills.
"His skill level isn't the same as someone his age. We're addressing but whenever he was cutting the paper, I had to keep putting his other hand to hold the paper. He has a difficult time when one hand is doing something, the other hand is doing another activity," Trotman said.
So why does this all matter? That's because small tasks like cutting paper will help Stone perform better in the classroom.
"He has a few issues at school in groups. He works good one-on-one and I'm hoping more occupational therapy does will help with that. He struggles sometimes just maybe a sensory overload of things," said Annie.
"We want him to be age equivalent with skills at school, so he can progress with other children and learn their curriculum, that's the ultimate goal," said Trotman.
One of the best ways to channel that progress is introducing Stone through different activities where he's playing.
"That's how they explore, learn, exchange ideas...because a kid will tell you they don't want to play with this or that. Even if they don't talk to you, so that's a way in," Trotman said.
"As a parent you don't know how they're going to react to things or how long it'll take so it was a relief for me to see things pick things up and go with it. It gives you hope..." Annie said.
This is why families like Stone's continue coming to PBRC. The one-on-one work that Stone has with his therapists not only builds on his goals and skill level, it also gives him the chance to make a new friend.
"Watching them be close now I love it, it helps me tooo. I used to walk him to the door and I don't anymore. He's so happy. When we talk about John, he's like I get to go see John, they're best friends," said Annie.
But if there's one lesson we can all learn from this little guy, no matter how you were born, or whether you grew up in the midst of COVID, nothing can stop him. After all, he proves that no stone is left unturned.
"It's kind of like a light at the end of the tunnel. Once you get here, it brings you so much peace. I feel so much better knowing that he's here and we're working on things that he was struggling with and getting the help with he needs," said Annie.
Stone is one of the many people who benefit from the services of the Permian Basin Rehab Center. If you would like to help with their mission, you can tune into the PBRC telethon.
The telethon will air on April 15-16 on NewsWest 9. You can catch it on television, on our website or phone app, on Roku or Fire Stick via 9+ or on our YouTube page.