ProAct’s Red Wing Day Training and Habilitation program has made a well grounded connection with the Clement family and their son, Jacob Montoya, 23. As a young adult, he needed training in social skills, and had a hard time adapting to change, said his mother, Bernice.
Jacob has a cognitive disability, a very rare form of epilepsy. When he was first injured, a physician told her to put Jacob in a hospital and visit him on weekends as his quality of life “wouldn’t be much.”
Bernice wouldn’t accept it, and instead sought help for him from early childhood programs and speech therapy.
She and her husband, Kevin, learned that ProAct has a comprehensive program. “I had thought at first, this was a place for him to work, learn a skill,” she said. “I realized later on, they’re helping him to create a life.”
The mother was recently brought to tears of joy when she listened to her son interact with a new friend on the phone as if neither person has a disability. And Jacob left his mother shocked when he started reading sentences, a skill he learned through a class at ProAct.