Laura Lindstone can鈥檛 help but smile when she talks about her nine year old son, Lucas. 

鈥淗e has the most precious smile, I know I'm kinda biased, but he does. He's just, full of life and full of joy even through all his challenges,鈥� said Lindstone.

Lucas and his family are this year鈥檚 ambassador family for the annual Children鈥檚 Telethon 鈥� not only the face on the poster but showcasing the association鈥檚 work and its importance to local families.

Lucas has been diagnosed with intellectual disability at a severe level. He is nonverbal, he has global developmental delay, restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea and focal epilepsy.

Despite all these conditions. Lucas perseveres and the support he has received from the Comox Valley Child Development Association has helped him navigate the world.

Lindstone speaks highly of the work that the CVCDA does, and why she felt that her family should be this year鈥檚 ambassador family.

鈥淭he Comox Valley Child Development Association did so much for us with Lucas and helped us navigate that process of when he was diagnosed with special needs and helped us get a Talker Tablet for him and provide all the therapies. They'd even come to the house. It was just amazing, and I met so many nice people there, and it's just a way to give back. And I love helping other families too, there's so many families going through the same thing or slightly different that need the support, need the help.鈥�

Since 1974, CVCDA has served children, youth and adults with diverse abilities and their families, with 17 programs operating under the CVCDA umbrella along with a number of community partnerships and support groups.

Lindstone relates how despite all of Lucas鈥檚 struggles, he is very unique and his happiness shines through. With all the different doctors appointments and special requirements he has, Lindstone does everything she can for Lucas. 

Lucas was diagnosed from an early age as his ability to make eye contact was very late to develop. He didn鈥檛 start crawling until he was about a year and a half, he was behind in the typical developmental marks that children go through. 

鈥淗e wasn't really trying to talk. He does say, 'mama, dada' and then 'bruh' for brother and so he does have some alphabet letters and pronounce some sounds.鈥�

Due to Lucas鈥檚 non-verbal status, getting him a diagnosis for much needed education assistants at school was difficult. 

鈥淚t was a really tough situation to get him diagnosed, because he was nonverbal. They didn't want to do an assessment on him because he's nonverbal, but in order for him to get help at school. I needed a diagnosis so that he could have one to one coverage. He's also a very fast runner and has no stranger awareness, no danger awareness. So in order for me to get that support for him in place for school, I needed a diagnosis, but they didn't want to give me a diagnosis or do an assessment, because he was not verbal. We were going in circles for a while, so finally when he was like four and a half is when I got the diagnosis.鈥� 

The CVCDA has provided Lindstone and Lucas with other supports, such as access to a Talker Tablet. It鈥檚 a program through an Apple iPad, called the LAMP Program or the Touch Chat program. 

鈥淚t's basically a communication program where they can communicate with you. There's different buttons with words on it and the picture associated, so he can say, thank you, he can say help. He can say go. There's another section where he can tell stories so you can make a story up and he can push a button.鈥�

Another area where CVCDA has helped Lucas is with specialized equipment for sitting and transportation needs. 

鈥淭hey also helped me get actually one of his chairs because he likes to slide out of chairs. When he's eating he doesn't really sit still, so they helped access a chair. They also helped access funding for a stroller for him as well.鈥� 

Lucas also benefited from speech therapy that CVCDA was able to help the family access as well as help the move forward after Lucas aged out of the services. 

鈥淭here was a speech therapist that came, an occupational therapist, a physiotherapist, and then also moving forward after the early years are done. They help guide you and show you where to go for other resources. They basically help you with finding the resources.鈥� 

Lindstone believes that Lucas will love his role as the ambassador. 

鈥淚 have a feeling my son will be very excited. He loves people.鈥�

The 49th Annual Children鈥檚 Telethon is a free event for the whole family to experience a live Shaw Spotlight TV broadcast, enjoy live performances, raffles, special guests, kids activities and be part of the fundraising spirit of the Comox Valley.

It takes place on Sunday, Nov. 3, from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Sid Williams Theatre in Courtenay.