As told by Andrea’s mom, Irene:
Andrea has been attending High Hopes since she started pre-school. Andrea could not speak when she started attending; she only signed basic sign language. High Hopes instructors and Andrea’s teachers in the Lyme-Old Lyme School System set a goal of strengthening her core body system to enable her to speak more clearly. The first week after she attended High Hopes, her sister Elise asked her if she was excited to see and ride the horses. Andrea said the word “whoa,” and both her sister and I cried with joy. Andrea also brought word cards to class and they were practiced while attending her riding lesson. Andrea arrives early for her lessons and brings her school work to study. She has even enlisted some of the college students at High Hopes to listen as she practices her reading. Andrea has strengthened her friendships with her peers, specifically Peter, a boy the same age who has Down’s Syndrome. Peter and Andrea have been attending High Hopes together, and will finally join each other in the same middle school next year at Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School.
Andrea’s family cannot say enough about the program that she participates in or the other benefits of therapeutic horse riding.