The Baker Family

Written by Mollard Consulting

Jen and Tom Baker are physicians who traveled the world to provide emergency medical care. They didn’t plan to have kids, but while working in Alaska found out they were expecting twin boys. While pregnant, their biggest disagreement was whether the boys would be basketball players or wrestlers. But when Jack and Ben were born 20 weeks premature, the conversation quickly shifted. “In a second all of the things we were concerned about changed. We had to reset our expectations. Our new focus became, ‘Are we providing our kids the best life we can?’” shares Tom.

When the boys were born, they both spent three months in the NICU, and Jack had nine brain surgeries before the time he was six months old.

Due to complications from Jack’s neurosurgery and because Alaska didn’t have the level of medical support they needed, the Bakers packed their bags and moved to Ohio. 

At the time, the Baker family didn’t realize their journey was just beginning. Shortly after they moved, Ben was diagnosed with autism. Two years later, Jack who had a diagnosis of cerebral palsy, was also diagnosed with autism.

“I think when you first get that diagnosis the word overwhelming isn’t a big enough word. The autism diagnosis was the hardest for us because we weathered so much and thought we were over the hump,” shares Jen.

As physicians, Jen and Tom had a basic but minimal understanding of autism. As ER doctors, they were trained in triage-ing immediate medical needs. But with the autism diagnosis, everything flipped. They were back to being students — trying to understand and educate themselves on neuro-developmental conditions. In their research, they learned that Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), a method of therapy used to improve or change behaviors, is the gold standard for teaching children with autism. With this new knowledge, they quickly began enrolling the boys in therapies.

Between occupational therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy, and feeding therapy, they were driving all over town to get to the next appointment at the expense of their home life.

Jen and Tom felt like they weren’t as successful as they wanted to be with the therapies and, after a year, it broke them down.

“We lost a lot of our hope and drive. It was a low moment for us,” says Jen. 

And then everything changed. When the boys were three years old, an in-home consultant recommended the Bakers to Bridgeway Academy. “The approach and positivity of Bridgeway, and to find people who are enthusiastic that we could pass the torch to, was big for us,” shares Jen. And, with Bridgeway Academy’s unique model to provide educational and therapy services under one roof, the logistical stress of time spent traveling between therapies was eliminated. “We started to feel like a normal family because we were all able to be home for dinner time,” says Tom. 

Although Jack and Ben are twins and both diagnosed with autism, they each have different needs and benefit differently from Bridgeway Academy’s programs and services. For Ben, he has a tendency to fly under the radar. “He’s a kid where he makes you think he’s got it and then six months in you realize he didn’t get step one and you have to go back,” explains Jen.

Bridgeway Academy’s small classes and low student to teacher ratios provide Ben with the individualized attention he needs to learn. It was through this model that Ann Shipley, the Board Certified Behavior Analysts program director, determined Ben has stimulus over selectivity.

“Everything in his environment is equally important when he is learning. He can’t narrow things down, so the sounds, the lighting, all of it is important to him,” says Jen.

When Ben was in kindergarten, Ann realized he already knew how to read, even though he had not verbalized any words.

“She is able to set things up in a way to help him understand the question, so he knows what you are asking,” explains Jen. Ann has worked with Jen and Tom to help them understand Ben’s learning style. And, because of Bridgeway Academy’s collaborative structure, she has also educated his teachers about how he needs things presented to him. “Ben doesn’t have a behavior plan. He doesn’t act out and I think it’s a credit to them figuring out his learning style at an early stage,” says Jen. “I can’t say enough good things about Bridgeway and Ann in particular. This was not in any of the ABA books we bought. She is an autism wizard!”

When Jack started at Bridgeway Academy, his biggest challenge was that he couldn’t walk. “Bridgeway said they would take him on a trial basis, and we were very happy about it, but also nervous that they would say they couldn’t take him,” shares Jen.

At the primary school, there isn’t a way to get anywhere in the building without using stairs.

Erin Nealy, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, brought a wagon from her house for the teachers to pull him in. Once they got the wagon to the bottom of the stairs, they would then carry him up.

“After a year one of the teachers fell while carrying him when a class came by. Of course, she was all bruised up and Jack had nothing on him because she took it all on herself,” says Jen. 

At that point Jack began working with Whitney Williams, the physical therapy department supervisor, who established a plan to best support Jack and created rules on how to help him up the stairs. Whitney discovered that Jack loves physical challenges, which prompted him to take controlled steps with the support of a walker.

She systematically helped him develop the skills needed to not only walk, but navigate obstacles, and run. Now, as long as he has one handrail, he can go upstairs on his own.

“When Jack was two, we were looking at him spending his life in a wheelchair. Now, Whitney shows me his goals and every year he masters most of them,” says Jen.

Jack and Ben are wrapping up their fourth-grade year at Bridgeway Academy’s secondary school. Teachers and therapists like Ann Shipley and Whitney Williams have played an integral role in Jack and Ben’s development, but because the boys are at the secondary school, their interaction is limited.

“They’ve been with therapists they’ve gotten to know, but then there was a transition to the secondary school with a new therapist,” explains Tom. “While it’s adversely affected some of the continuity for our kids, Bridgeway has done everything they can to mitigate that. The staff at Bridgeway do so much with the resources they have, and it’s been very impressive how they’ve adapted and overcome.”

For kids like Jack, the handicapped accessibility of the new campus will provide the same learning opportunities to students of all physical abilities. “The lack of handicapped accessibility at the primary school is huge because Jack almost wasn’t able to go there. If Jack were in a wheelchair, he couldn’t have gone there. What a difference in his life that would have been,” shares Tom. 

All things considered, as ten-year-old boys, Jack and Ben like going to school. They see their teachers as friends and are happy to be among their peers. “Since the boys started Bridgeway at such a young age, this is the only world they have been in. Our kids have not known bullying and have never known anything besides they’re awesome because everyone at Bridgeway thinks they’re awesome,” shares Jen.

“They’re our crazy monkeys and two of the happiest kids I know,” says Jen. Jack enjoys the comforts of his room while at home and likes to be outside at school. Ben enjoys new things and seizes the opportunity to run, jump, and play. “They are amazingly happy. They blow you away with how happy they are. They have a different way of looking at things. You think about how frustrating it is for us to watch and how frustrating it must be for them to live but they don’t seem to be affected by that.”

The Bakers don’t like to think about a world without Bridgeway Academy.

“We’ve been lucky,” says Tom. “Other options weren’t going to work for us.” While there are other centers that might incorporate ABA into what they do, it’s what Bridgeway Academy was built around. “We have been so impressed with Bridgeway’s ability to figure out creative ways to help our boys learn and navigate their world,” says Jen.

“The teachers at Bridgeway have an amazing capacity for our kids. It’s a gift.”

As a family, Bridgeway Academy has brought them closer together and given them hope. “Our boys are a constant dose of perspective. I think we would have fought about wrestling and basketball more than we ever fight about what our boys actually go through — there’s just such a perspective that none of that matters,” says Jen.

“We were not expecting to have the future they have, but to see them run around and be able to be independent is the biggest thing.”

“As a parent all you really want is their happiness and their independence, so it’s meant everything to us.”