Early Intervention, A Blessing for Your Child: Dialogue with Leah Seyoum-Tesfa, RN -Founder and President, REACH Families

“When it comes to autism and other disabilities, parents can have a hard time overcoming a sense of self-shame and social stigma.  This greatly hinders parents in finding proper treatment for their children.”  Leah Seyoum-Tesfa is a Registered Nurse and Founder of REACH Families of Dallas Texas.  REACH Families supports about 80 families throughout the U.S. with autism education and guidance in English, Amharic, and Tigrinya.  The non-profit organization helps parents connect to resources, provides parent education on various topics related to raising children with special needs and empowers parents by teaching advocacy skills. Also, the organization works with the East African communities to bring autism awareness to ensure early identification and intervention for children with developmental disability. Leah’s twin boys were diagnosed with autism just before they turned 3. They will celebrate their 18^th birthday in 2016.

 Leah is of Eritrean heritage but grew up in Ethiopia.  Her family emigrated from their original nation of citizenship, Ethiopia, to Rome Italy in 1980 because of Ethiopia’s conflicts, famine, and military coups.  Leah’s family finally settled in Dallas, Texas, United States when she was sixteen years old. 

Private school in Ethiopia had provided Leah with a reference point to build English skills though she was far from proficient.  After graduating from Skyline High School, she attended Texas Women’s University where she graduated with a Bachelor’s of Nursing Degree.  Additionally, she:

• had completed a certification program and worked as a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner, Obstetrics and Gynecology
• holds a certificate for Leadership Education in Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities

She met and married neurologist, Ganana Tesfa, MD while working at Parkland Memorial Hospital.  Parkland is best known for treating President John F. Kennedy after he was shot by a sniper.

“Even as a healthcare provider, I did not have adequate information on how to care and support my boys when they were diagnosed with autism. I struggled to find resources and appropriate support outside of the school system.  Reach Families came from this desire to provide help that really wasn’t available for me.”

Several things motivated her into getting Reach Families up and running.  This was especially so for the horrible incident in which a parent took the life of their special needs child.  Leah believes that many parents show signs of clearly being mentally overwhelmed when initially given the diagnosis of autism. Caring for a child with autism can also be physically overwhelming  “I felt that lack of support for a mother to help her understand, cope with, and manage her child’s conditions may have been contributing factors in this case. In the immigrant populations, there may have been the additional weight of stigma, guilt or sense of being punished because her child may have been born with or had developed a disability.  Social pressure can reinforce a sense of harsh self-judgement as well.

“Over time, I found out that cases of autism are both under reported and under treated in the East African immigrant communities.  My perception is that parents tend to isolate themselves because of a stigma they may perceive with having a child with a disability.  So, I started going out to churches to break through those perceptions.  I encouraged families to seek help and talk about the needs of their children.  The organization continues to assist families by accompanying them to schools and social agencies to access resources and support needed for themselves as well as their children.  Our message was and still is, Come to us, we can help.  We do not see a stigma or punishment; we see a precious child and family in need.

“The organization  advocates for early intervention as well.  Educate yourself on the developmental milestones and monitor your child’s development.  If you see your child is not meeting the developmental milestones or if your mother’s intuition tells you something is wrong tell your child’s health care provider. Saying something isn’t wishing bad things on your child.  Early intervention is very important in possibly rewiring the brain, changing the developmental trajectory and improving the outcome for your child. I encourage families to continue pray to God if that is what they wish to do.  I strongly believe in prayers and that God uses people to answer our prayers. Early intervention might be the answer to your prayers and a blessing to your child. Get services as soon as possible.”