COVID-19 Update – Sadly, the CHASA 2020 Family Retreat has been canceled. Traditionally, registration fees are nonrefundable; however, the pandemic is an unusual circumstance and CHASA has refunded each family’s registration fee. As always, the health and safety of your children, […]
Shane Loves to Ride Bikes
Our son Shane was born early, at 31 weeks, for reasons unknown. He was born with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia and had a very successful laparoscopic repair at 5 days old. Shane spent 6 weeks in the NICU and during one of […]
My Personal Best
My name is Trent Clayton and I like to run! I like to run because it feels exhilarating, I love feeling the wind in my face, and the best part is pushing myself to do something I wasn’t sure I could […]
Soccer and Hemiplegia – Shea’s Story
The one-armed goalkeeper “So what was the coolest thing about Paralympic National Soccer Camp?” This was the first question that I asked my 13 year old son Shea, upon his return from the United States Men’s Paralympic National Team Training […]
Meet Cole
Cole was born at 35 weeks due to preeclampsia. He was sent to the NICU (Neonatal intensive care unit) at the hospital due to breathing issues and had several difficulties while he was there. What we thought were withdrawls from narcotic […]
Speech Apraxia and How Sign Language Changed Our World
Our son has been diagnosed with Speech Apraxia for about a year now. It has once again changed our lives – in a different way. For those who don’t know what speech apraxia is, Speech Apraxia is a motor speech disorder. […]
Pediatric Stroke Awareness Montage
Our Baby Had a Stroke This picture was taken less than two months after Christopher (in photo – far left) had his MRI which revealed that he had suffered a stroke in utero. The neurologist called us after hours and […]
Meet Chris – Loves Wrestling
Chris is a pediatric stroke survivor and very involved in the wrestling team at his elementary school. In one tournament, he wrestled four times, won two and lost two, and come in 4th out of 8 athletes in the competition. […]
Emily’s Story – Pediatric Stroke Awareness Month
My husband and I always had children in our plans – it was just something we never had to discuss and knew we wanted. After being married for 3 years we decided to start trying. I was blessed with a […]
Pediatric Stroke – Dad’s Perspective
My wife gave birth to our son in an emergency c-section after she didn’t feel the baby moving the last day. We were right at the due date so he was full term. The doctors kept him in the NICU […]
CHASA Retreat Videos
Learn more about the CHASA Family Retreat A big thanks to Jennifer Haley, a pediatric stroke survivor, for creating these videos! CHASA Family Retreat -A look back at past retreats CHASA Family Retreat – Alabama 2011 CHASA Family Retreat […]
New Friends
Two Girls with Hemiplegia Meet at the Brookfield Zoo CHASA Pediatric Stroke Awareness Tree at the Brookfield Zoo December 2012
A Sister and a Brother and Disability – Film by Jennifer Siegel
As the parent of a child who has a disability, I don’t know that words can describe the feelings that overwhelmed me as I watched this beautiful film created by Jennifer Siegel. Jennifer produced this short film for the Cinema […]
Holly Escapes from Her Constraint Therapy Cast
My daughter, Holly, is a sweet 5-year old girl with a number of diagnoses – Left-Sided Hemiplegia, Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy, PDD-NOS, Developmental Delays, Behavior and Sensory Issues. One day each month, we go to St. Louis Children’s Hospital for all […]
Baby Steps: Infant with Hemiplegia after Strokes Tackles Walking
By Joy Roberts At 28 weeks of pregnancy, my baby girl, Lily (nicknamed Lily Pad) had several strokes in the linings of her brain called Intraventricular Hemorrhages (IVH). Approximately five blood clots resulted because of the bleeding which resulted in loss of […]
