By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune manging editor
The New Perceptions “Our Children Achieve” luncheon at the Drees Pavilion this week provided an opportunity to share information about the Northern Kentucky nonprofit and recognize two program participants.
New Perceptions is an organization dedicated to enriching lives of those with intellectual/developmental disabilities and other barriers.
Executive Director Shawn Carroll addresses those in attendance at the New Perceptions “Our Children Achieve ” luncheon at Drees Pavilion in Devou Park Wednesday (photos by Mark Hansel).
It provides the children and adults in its programs with services to help them reach their maximum potential.
Executive Director Shawn Carroll said the goal is to change the narrative on what folks with disabilities can do.
“The Department of Labor, in October, said that individuals with disabilities now make up 20 percent of the workforce,” Carroll said. “It means that individuals with disabilities come to work, like to be at work, enjoy having a purpose and, the new one today, they pass drug tests.”
New Perceptions provides services to children with developmental disabilities from birth to age three. In addition, 249 children participate annually in physical, occupational, and/or speech therapy and the Bridging the Gap summer program to prepare them for success in school.
More than 500 adults with developmental disabilities over the age of 18 are served annually through its on-site Work Center, Supported Employment, and Learning Center programs.
“New Perceptions has more than 400 individuals working in the community in Northern Kentucky,” Carroll said.
Carroll reconnized Kroger and St. Elizabeth Healthcare for their efforts to partner with New Perceptions, but said the organization receives generous support throughout the region.
“There are numerous companies that have been very welcoming to what we do here at New Perceptions and we’re very grateful,” Carroll said.
Brittany Walther tries to keep her daughter Vivian from taking the microphone at Wednesday’s New Perceptions “Our Children Achieve” luncheon.
New Perceptions also serves 260 children a year, with occupational therapy, speech therapy and other services.
“This is one of the things about our brand at New Perceptions that nobody has known about for a long, long time,” Carroll said. “We send our licensed physical, therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists to your home to deliver that service. It’s what we call a boutique service in the health care industry.”
At this year’s “Our Children Achieve, Luncheon,” New Perceptions recognized Vivian Walther, Cody Shively, and their families, for the progress they have made.
Walther, ak.a. Viv, Miss Viv and Vivey Bear, didn’t meet some of her developmental milestones by the age of nine months. She could not sit up and had trouble holding her head up.
She was referred to First Steps, which then contacted New Perceptions.
While it was determined Vivian was meeting her growth chart curve, her parents, Brittany and Brook Walther, were told she would require motivation and expertise to progress.
During physical therapy, food and the piano were recognized as motivators, and became tools that helped her reach milestones.
Our Children Achieve honorees with family, friends and supporters at the New Perceptions luncheon
She was introduced to speech therapy last year and took her first steps just before her second birthday in September. She can’t formulate many words, but now understands commands and gestures.
Through the efforts of therapists and her family, which includes two brothers and involved grandparents, Vivian continues to progress. Her journey was outlined in a video shown to those in attendance at the luncheon.
“We thank New Perceptions for inviting us and sharing ‘Little Miss Viv’s’ journey through all of this,’” Brittany Walther said. “It’s progress, and they’re little steps, but every step is in the right direction.”
On January 17, 2007, Cody Shively was 12 years old when he was in a Grant County school bus wreck that changed his life forever.
The driver of the bus, in which 17 students were injured, had illegal drugs in her system at the time of the crash. She was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
The first days after the accident were tough on Shively’s parents Steve and Tammy. They had to face the possibility that their son, who had been so energetic and athletic before the crash, might not even survive.
Shawn Carroll presents Cody Shively with a Cincinnati Reds jacket at Wednesday’s luncheon. Shively had a bright athletic future before a school bus crash changed his life forever in 2007, at age 12. The crash altered his career path but not his ambition. He has worked as a laboratory supply specialist at St. Elizabeth for the last five years.
Shively went through an extensive rehabilitation process that included having part of his skull removed for six months, while he healed. He gradually improved, but knew his life would never be the same.
Despite his injuries, Shively returned to school and overcame his challenges to attend college, but found it was not a fit for him.
He began speaking publicly about his journey and encouraged people to focus on opportunities, rather than obstacles, in order to lead a productive life.
While returning from a speaking engagement at Notre Dame, Shively found out he had been offered a job at St. Elizabeth, where he had begun to volunteer. He has worked as a laboratory supply specialist at St. Elizabeth for more than five years, and is a respected member of the hospital team.
“He’s a shining light of what can be accomplished when one has the support needed for inclusion in society,” Carroll said. “He reminds us that individuals with challenges can achieve their maximum potential with the right tools and support.”
As has been a motto since recovering from the injuries sustained in the crash, Shively took the podium to talk about what he has accomplished, rather than what was taken from him.
“Each and every day, I’m very happy and very blessed that I go to work,” Shively said. “I definitely do believe that God was watching out for me that day and I believe in the power of prayer.”
He recalled the day he got offered the job at St. Elizabeth as he returned from Notre Dame and his mother asking, “Who gets a job, without getting an application?”
Shively said, “Well, this guy.”
He said he feels like a part of a family at St. Elizabeth and knows it would not have been possible without the support of his family and New Perceptions.
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Cody Shively and Vivian Walther were recognized at the New Perceptions “Our Children Achieve” luncheon at Drees Pavilion, for the progress they have made in overcoming their individual challenges.
Carroll became emotional as he talked about the personal stories of those served by New Perceptions, which have taught him that life can change in a moment’s notice.
Vivian Walther tweaks the nose of the stuffed bear given to her by New Perceptions at Wednesday’s luncheon.
“Luckily with Vivian, we got in on the front end,” he said. “With Cody, everything was hunky dory, then one day it wasn’t. Most folks in this room seem to know how blessed, lucky and fortunate we are to have what we have going on.”
New Perceptions was founded by a group of concerned parents in 1952 who wanted services for their special needs children that were scarce in the community. The organization began as Riverside School in the basement of the First Presbyterian Church in Covington.
It has gone through many changes over time to adapt to the changing needs of those it serves and become the organization it is today. For more information on New Perceptions and its programs, or to become a supporter, click here.
Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com
