Erica went to school 5 days a week for approximately 6.5 hours a day at Ridge School in Baltimore County, MD. Ridge School is a special needs school for children with very severe disabilities.

She used 5 different pieces of equipment for approximately 20 minutes each. The wedge to help her with extension; the prone stander for weight bearing; the side lyer for more extension; the gait trainer to do more weight-bearing and walking and the advancement chair for learning to support her upper body

Erica was happy almost all of the time.

There was music in school. Erica liked the drums best. She participated in a “gym class” and went on numerous outings in the community including cultural events. In April 1999 her class went to see the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Erica really liked music. She even tried to sing along with her daddy’s barbershop chorus.

We were blessed with a great educational team. We never had to fight for Erica’s educational needs, her team is happy to provide all they could for her. One IEP meeting was so well prepared for that Michelle did not have anything to add.

The teachers, aides, principal, nurses, and therapists seemed like a natural extension of our family -we guess this was part of Erica’s magic.

1999-2000 School Year

The magic continued after our move to Pennsylvania.  She loved the elevator that lifted her and her wheelchair on and off the bus.

Erica donated over 75 lbs. of aluminum can tops for recycling. This picture shows about half of what we turned in!