MOVE ''miracle'' student graduates

Blair/MOVE had a graduation party for Renata on April 24. The following day she began the next step in her education at the Claude W. Richardson Child Development Center. The word “miracle” is used for a couple of reasons. It was a miracle she didn’t die in a swimming pool drowning accident just two-and-a-half years ago.

Vargas suffered an acquired brain injury (ABI). What followed, according to her mother, April, were months of pain and tears during recovery and rehabilitation at the Children’s Hospital in Fresno. Doctors attached a baclofen pump under her skin and into her spine to inject muscle relaxing medications. Here comes the second miracle. Normally, the baclofen pump is a life time sentence. Miraculously, doctors were able to remove Renata’s four months after she started attending MOVE.

Before being enrolled at MOVE, April said Renata had problems with posturing. Her head often bending backwards towards her heels. “I was just committed to taking care of her the best I could at home,” April said. “When I found out she could go to school, it was really exciting.”

Blair/MOVE Severe Disabilities Teacher Linda Ynostroza remembers when Renata first came to school. “She couldn’t stand independently and needed support to walk,” Ynostroza said.

That was in April 1999 at the age of four. In just a year’s time, several more miracles happened. Renata learned how to walk independently, go up and down stairs, sit in a regular seat on the bus and feed herself.

“Six months ago, Renata started to become more aware,” Ynostroza said. “Now, she can do some verbalizing and is able communicate her feelings. Renata understands a lot. She recognizes some colors and letters and puts puzzles together.”

Something else really amazing took place. “Renata began wanting to help other severely disabled students in her class do what she had learned,” April said. “She started pushing them in their walkers and got mad if they wouldn’t try.”

“The mother of one classmate said if it wasn’t for Renata her daughter wouldn’t be crawling,” Ynostroza said. “She observes what Renata does, and they try things together. They’ve become best friends.”

Another miracle is that Renata in just a year’s time became the first to graduate from the MOVE program in three years. The education continues at Richardson where Special Education Classes and Services Coordinator Ann Caragher said Renata will improve her language skills, learn to write, perform other academic tasks and begin interacting with other children.

In September, Renata will be enrolled in regular school in a Special Day Class at Ronald Reagan School.

Caragher said Renata isn’t the only one who has benefitted.

“We’ve learned a lot by watching her amazing process of development,” Caragher said.