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Collaborative Corner Panelists (L to R): Nikki Waitt, Amy Moncion, Dr. Karen Hans, Jessica Barisano, Alyssa Bloxam, Aubrey Kohler, Susan Robins, Leslie Haynes, Erica Clark, Blaire Harter
Jessica Barisano Founder of Collaborative Corner for Exceptional Children Words by Amy Nielsen | Photos by Jessica Friend Pictured: Jessica Barisano (left) and Alyssa Bloxam (right)
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essica Barisano is the founder and president of Collaborative Corner for Exceptional Children, a nonprofit organization that provides support to the special needs community. As passionate as she is about her work at Collaborative Corner, Jessica never anticipated her life would have taken this completely unexpected yet rewarding turn. What led to Collaborative Corner is both a heartbreaking and heartwarming story filled with loss and love, and ultimately the unwavering determination of a mother to dedicate her life to ensuring no parent had to go through what she did. Jessica, a competitive swimmer who grew up in the Florida panhandle, said, “My parents instilled the values of hard work and responsibility in my sister and me from an early age.” Those values led her to begin working in the hospitality industry at the age of 14, and she quickly fell in love with the diversity she found within it. She went on to graduate from the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida in 2006 and began her career in Los Angeles. There she met her husband, Jonathan, who is also in the hospitality industry. Eventually, a job opportunity brought the couple back to Florida, where they planned to start what they hoped would be a large family.
At that time, Jessica was pregnant with her first son, Trent. Her pregnancy was considered high risk due to a rare genetic disorder. Holoprosencephaly, which took her brother’s life shortly after his birth, impacts the brain’s ability to develop into two hemispheres properly. To Jessica and Jonathan’s relief, Trent and their second son, Jake, were not affected. Sadly, the couple later lost two sons in utero: one due to unknown causes and one due to holoprosencephaly. Despite their loss, Jessica and Jonathan still longed to grow their family. The couple pursued in vitro fertilization, but Jessica wasn’t a good candidate for the procedure. Next, they explored adoption, which also ended with disappointing results. Amid that grief, the family also had growing concerns about their oldest son, Trent. They noticed he wasn’t hitting certain developmental milestones within the normal range. He was also much smaller than his same-age peers. Doctor after doctor either dismissed the family’s concerns or labeled him “failure to thrive,” which meant he wasn’t growing as expected. However, no one could explain why. This uncertainty set Jessica on a journey for answers. Those answers were difficult to find; that is, until she met Dr. Stacey McConkey, a complex care pediatrician.
28 PLAYGROUND Aug / Sep 2020
