MONTE VISTA — On Wednesday, July 5, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the new Children’s Specialty Clinic of the San Luis Valley that opened at 10 Rupert St. in Monte Vista. The clinic has been open since January, but officially held their ribbon cutting on July 5 with help from the Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. Mikaila Pence is proud to open this specialty clinic to aid in helping children with special needs all over the Valley.

“The Children’s Specialty Clinic is a brand-new non-profit,” she said. “There is a group of volunteers sitting on the board to hear the Valley’s needs and work to fulfill those needs. I think one of our biggest gaps in services for our families, for our kids, is our kids with neurodiversity. Children with autism, ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and utero substance exposure. Right now, we have behavioral therapy and Applied Behavioral Analysis therapy. We also have Children’s Hospital bringing specialty clinics here. We are also partnering with the San Luis Valley Behavioral health group to bring in or to find funding to hire and specifically train a person to be an Autism Specialist, in the realm of mental health for those kids. We are also partnering with SLV AHEC to bring development within our community for behavioral therapists, medical therapy people, OT, speech, and feeding therapy. These kids deserve good care, and I feel as if they have really been abandoned with this type of care. You find this stuff available in the Metro area, but we are working to bring it all here locally.”

In addition to the therapies that Dr. Pence listed, the clinic also offers Home Health and CNA Family training to initiate locally based pediatric home health nursing services as well as offer CNA training for families of children with medical conditions.

Local mother Kelly George, spoke of how the clinic is going to help her son Riley with his autism spectrum disorder.

“This means a lot to us because Riley is currently staying in a residential facility in Colorado Springs, because we didn’t have access to ABA therapy here,” George said. “We also didn’t have access to this support. So, having this here will mean he can potentially have more support in the school system, he can be home more. We probably wouldn’t have had to look elsewhere if we had such a thing here before. One of the first recommendations we got when he was initially diagnosed was ABA Therapy, and that would have meant a trip from here where we currently live in Del Norte, all the way to Pueblo every single day. I love my job, I have bought my home here, I am raising my kids here, to pack up and move my entire family of six would have been so hard, to access those services. We just did the best we could, but now having this here will give us so much more of the help that we needed. We are now working on a way to bring Riley back home.”

Christina Welden of Monte Vista spoke about how the clinic has already benefitted her two autistic children.

“Small towns are great. My kids have been here for a year. My boys are on the more severe end of the autism spectrum, they will need total care for the rest of their lives,” Welden said. “What a difference this place has made for my kids. I have been advocating to parents, telling them all about his clinic and how wonderful it is. I cannot say enough about how great this clinic is. I try to hold random get togethers for people with children with special needs. I have told other parents to reach out to me on social media, and I try to help them with resources. I find out what people are lacking, and I try to help them as much as I can. This place is a great place for parents and children with special needs. It has helped my kids so much. I highly recommend it yes.”

Heather Hillin, manager of the Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce, said, “I am so excited that we now have this in our town, it will benefit so many kiddos here and we are proud to be a part of it all.”

The LOR Foundation also donated money to the clinic to help fund an ABA therapy outdoor safe space.

LOR Officer Ivette Atencio said she was happy to see the clinic, and feels it is a welcome addition to the town.

“Any time LOR can help the community, we are happy to help. We were proud to donate to a clinic that will help so many children that need the help here in the Valley,” Atencio said.

For more information on the Children’s Specialty Clinic of the San Luis Valley, call 719-852-3742.