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You guys are great! In the almost 11 years that you have been seeing Austin, he has made amazing progress. I also want to thank you for your kindness, thoughtfulness and generosity to all the families that have kids with special needs.

As a registered nurse, I have interacted with many therapists, not just the ones who see Austin. I can definitely say without hesitation, that you guys are the absolute best.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Sincerely,
Richard B

My 22 month old daughter, Gabriella, has hemiplegic cerebral palsy due to a stroke. She did not walk for some time, and we wanted to try something new to encourage her interest in therapy. Gabriella’s aquatic therapist, Beth, has been wonderful in making Gabriella feel comfortable in the water, while still providing challenges for her total body. Gabriella has been with Angelfish therapy for almost 4 months, and her balance and stability has improved, and she is walking independently now! Gabriella still has a lot of work ahead of her, but we appreciate everything Beth does for Gabriella, the advice she gives me, and the care and respect she shows the whole family (Gabriella’s older brother Russ is often at therapy session, and Beth always makes sure Russ has a special toy to play with as well). We are very happy we heard about angelfish therapy!!”

Gabriella’s Mom, Andrea

My daugher, Alida, has been doing individual aquatic therapy sessions with Ailene for 1 1/2 years since she became paralyzed from the hips down due to Transverse Myelitis. Alida enjoys every single session, even if some of the activities are challenging. She has a smile on her face all the way through. Afterwards, I notice that her leg muscles are much more relaxed and she’s in a good mood. I think her sessions with Ailene is one of the few ways she can engage her whole body, which is good for her body as well as her spirits.”

Yours,
Pamela D

Living in a society that celebrates athletic and intellectual excellence, and as parents of three typical children – then, welcoming a newborn with down syndrome – we had no idea what to expect or what to celebrate. Meeting Cindy Freedman and Ailene Tisser, when our son Ethan began Angelfish Aquatic Therapy at 4 months, set his life and our life onto a completely different trajectory. At a very early age – and all thanks to Cindy and Ailene, we amped up our expectations and outlook … and today are the proud parents of one of the most engaging, outgoing and highly able 4th graders.

“If we could go back in time and share today’s successes and achievements with the “high risk doctors” and various “experts” who were predominantly discouraging – I’d want them to meet with and get to know these two incredible women. Many “experts” do a huge disservice to new parents of children with special needs. I fear that discouragement from experts can set the stage for future low expectations and achievement.

“I am confident of Cindy and Ailene’s intellect, their knowledge, their training, their abilities. But in the world of special needs – or in any area of life where you have big hurdles, what you need less of is a special pedigree and more of an innate attitude of “I believe in you”, “you can do it” and “I will help you succeed.”

“Cindy and Ailene believed in my son, Angelfish Therapy is at the core foundation of a life filled with success and achievement and a celebration of a life of hurdles. Hurdles that are overcome, one day at a time!

“With love, appreciation and gratitude larger than ever imagined!”

Julia & Ed H

I am the mother of Osmyn “Oz” Atwood, who took a small class with you in Spring 2010 at the Westport, CT YMCA. The lovely and talented Justine Bedocs (we miss her!) gave me your name and suggested your program for Oz. You can use anything I say about Angelfish and I am happy to say something more specific if you want me to.

“My son suffers from processing issues, has atypical hearing and an extremely difficult time following directions. In spite of his physical strength, agility and coordination, I had watched him fail at every activity he tried. He resisted his Angelfish classes but…he came out of himself when in the water with Cindy Freedman. He enjoyed the other children in the class and began taking social risks and forming bonds he had stopped bothering to make. He took an interest in Austin (I think that was his name?) whose class came after his, and demonstrated the empathy and curiosity that existed within him before his learning issues delivered such punishment to his self-esteem. My son is now a confident swimmer who jumps off the high-dive for fun, swims laps with me and has fun with other kids in the water. (As an aside, he is reading above grade level and he’ll probably be on the swim team next year. Socially, he has come back to life. He is often still a royal pain, but I’m sure he’d say the same about me).

“Because swimming is wonderful exercise, is non-competitive, and does not require following directions (particularly those hollered across a field in an abundance of visual commotion and background noise), it is a FANTASTIC thing for kids with auditory and language processing issues. I have witnessed the success it delivers.

“Cindy read my guy like a book (and I might say, more correctly than a $500. an hour Park Avenue pediatric psychiatrist), and guided me wonderfully. I profited greatly from Cindy’s knowledge, which was one of the most important stepping stones in identifying my sons issues, reviving his self-confidence and giving us a great family activity.

“I am thinking about the sleep-away camp for Oz and his brother this summer so please keep me on your email list!”

My best,
Audrey P

Cindy and Ailene – My boys are so lucky to have this intervention. We have seen progress for both Neil and Tyler in many areas.

It is beautiful to see how Beth and Elsa can understand the needs of my boys on a particular day, within a minute of time in the pool together. At each session they are intuitive and focused instructors.

I am so impressed with the format of this program and the response of my boys. They are not always easy to please or quick to progress. They are happy, learning, socializing and gaining strength, endurance and confidence at each session.

Thank you for the undoubtedly comprehensive training that your staff must be receiving and for the professional and compassionate women that are part of the Angelfish team working in Lexington.

Gratefully,
Maura

My twin sons Jason and Jacob have had more than a positive experience by receiving aquatic therapy through Angelfish Therapy for over the past three years. Jason and Jacob love and benefit so much by being in the water. Aqua Therapy has helped to improve the boys respiratory, joint and muscle function. They also have more confidence because of the safe environment that has been created by having such a skillfull and caring team of therapists like Aileen and Cindy. We can only express our gratitude to them and can not help but feel like they are part of our family- they have been sent by the Angels to help us take care of our little Angels.”

Thank you Angelfish,
Melissa, Chris, Jason & Jacob

As a therapist for over 30 years, I have had many students who have participated in the Angelfish Program with remarkable results. Not only does their coordination for walking improve, but, the coordination for controlled breathing for speech production increases as well. Attention to tasks and endurance for active participation in longer therapy sessions increases the more that they stay with the Angelfish therapists. I highly recommend Angelfish to the parents of my patients and thoroughly enjoy working with Ailene and Cindy whenever I have the opportunity!”

Patricia, E. Joy, M.A., CCC/SLP, C-NDT
Pediatrics, Speech/Language Pathologist – Oral Motor/Oral-Feeding Therapist

I can’t begin to thank you, Gina, Javier and everyone else for all the fun, teaching and loving care you’ve showed Andrew over the last year and a half; not to mention your willingness to permit Jack to participate on the mornings my wife had to work.

He is making great strides at school and has been mainstreamed into a regular Kindergarten class, with additional support services. The more we expose him to, the more he tries; the more he tries, the more he achieves; the more he achieves, the more he believes he can succeed.

Our journey is far from over, but I wanted you to know Angelfish has been an inspiration to us. Should you ever have an interested parent who wants to talk to a current or prior parent about the experience, please feel free to give them my name.”

Scott

Aquatic Therapy is actually the first therapy that has been fun for my son. He looks forward to it and actually gets his exercise in without even knowing it.

He is very resistant about doing his exercise on land because it is so difficult for him. Through the aquatic therapy program he has even learned how to swim. This is an activity that he can participate in just like everyone else. It is the only sport he can do independently.

The instructors are wonderful.

The therapy is very individualized to your child’s specific needs.

They are very knowledgeable about your child’s therapy needs.

We love the aquatic therapy program and feel it is the best thing we ever did for our child.”

J.G.

Aquatic Therapy is a great compliment to land based therapy. There are many things our daughter has learned in the pool first which she couldn’t do on land, such as jumping , hopping, and stair climbing.

The therapists do a lot of stretching and twisting which is difficult for my daughter to participate in on land because it is so uncomfortable. She doesn’t mind doing this in the water. Our daughter’s self- confidence in the water has grown exponentially.

She went from crying during the whole session initially to now almost swimming by herself and being so proud of it. Of course none of this would be possible without such fabulous therapists.

Their ability to motivate children, their deep caring and understanding is unsurpassed. The best thing for my daughter has been finding such wonderful therapists to work with her.”

A.W.