Reporter ISSAQUAH | SAMMAMISH
Friday, April 27, 2012
www.issaquahreporter.com
Big time scams
Issaquah’s Joshua Santes, who was diagnosed with autism, peeks out a play castle at the Kindering Center in Bellevue. The center is celebrating its 50th year. Below, Morey wetherald is one of the Kindering founders.
Two elderly couples lose thousands BY CELESTE GRACEY CGRACEY@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
CELESTE GRACEY, Issaquah & Sammamish Reporter
HITTING THEIR STRIDE
Kindering has been helping special needs children improve for 50 years BY CELESTE GRACEY CGRACEY@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
J
oshua Santes dives into the playpen like a cannonball, and a splash of feathers spin around his feet. With a toss, his teacher triples the flurry, and an odd new texture surrounds the boy. Seeing Joshua’s smile undone by curiosity, the teacher pinches a feather and tickles the 3-year-old’s cheek. For a child in Joshua’s position, it’s a push.
Joshua has autism, which often comes with an aversion to unusual textures. They’re as irritating as fingernails on a chalkboard. His first day at the Kindering Center, he wouldn’t go near the sensory pen. A wad of dough lay in the center of its four padded walls, which look like propped up tumbling mats. The boy couldn’t handle even being near the sticky substance. It’s almost two years since his first day and Joshua giggles and brushes the feathers away. He now knows that new textures can be fun. For his mother, Issaquah’s Liz Cornejo, it’s a
“Early intervention is so critical that we will not have a wait list.” – Director Mimi Siegel testament to early intervention. Her oldest son also has autism, but he wasn’t diagnosed until he was too old for Kindering’s program, which is birth to 3. Sitting on a sofa in Kindering’s family room, she thinks of the years lost — had she only known the signs, had she only known there was help, had she only known there was Kindering. The Bellevue organization has been providing innovative therapy for babies and their families for 50 years. It’s the largest such facility in the Northwest, serving about 1,600 children with special needs. It’s also known for its innovation.
Before early intervention, physicians often told parents they shouldn’t take their children home, that they belonged in an institution. That changed for the Eastside, when six families decided that their children could learn and took it upon themselves to teach them.
Finding the button Denny Wetherald was only 1-year-old when a “guru” at Virginia Mason diagnosed him with “partial retardation.” He was a bright boy waiting for the right button to be pushed, the doctor told his father, Morey. SEE KINDERING, 8
The voice on the telephone was upset and rambling. The man told of a vacation, a car accident in Mexico and a friend who was in a scrape with police. The grandparents were concerned. They agreed to wire $2,400 to help fix the problem. The man sounded relieved. However, the phone calls didn’t stop there. The caller had more problems and needed more cash. Within 30 minutes of wiring the money, the Sammamish couple knew better. They had been scammed. “He fooled both of us,” the grandfather said. The victim asked not to be named. The couple had twisted their love for their grandchildren into weakness, and now he wouldn’t leave them alone. The phone calls that came later were received coolly. Even when they stopped answering, the phone calls continued. It was the second “grandson” scam in Sammamish in a week, said King County Sheriff ’s Sgt. Jessica Sullivan. The first SEE SCAM, 7
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