Success Stories Testimonials from clients and volunteers
This is where my hope lived.
“In the early months of 2022, I began physical therapy. I soon reached a plateau and was subsequently discharged. I was filled with despair and had little hope—until my physical therapist began singing the praises of The Arc of Loudoun. I was given contact information that included his mentor, Helen Parker, the clinical director at Ability Fitness Center.
During my first visit to Ability Fitness Center, I experienced an immediate rush of hope. The energy was palpable, and the equipment was both fascinating and state-of-the-art. People like me were thriving—moving and working out! I knew right away: this is where my hope lived. My future, my dreams, my prayers had been answered.”
The Aurora School staff are well trained, competent, problem solvers.
“I quickly learned that the Aurora School staff are well trained, competent, problem-solvers. They are creative, thoughtful, and ethical with their approaches.
They are professional and respect the dignity of all their students with their unique challenges. Over the years, I have had so many interactions with the staff and they have always been positive. I walk away feeling that the staff truly care about the well-being and growth of my child.”
Ability Fitness Center feels like family. They motivate me to work hard.
“The Ability Fitness Center is a very supportive and fun community. All the therapists and people are very friendly and encourage each other. I feel comfortable there and I am happy that we all work together to get better. Ability is like family.
The most important thing about Ability Fitness Center is that it really helps me with motivation. There are days that it is hard to get up off the couch because I can’t do things like I used to. But going to Ability and being there with other people who are working hard gives me motivation to keep working to get better.”
Eileen didn't just give us information, she gave us hope.
“After [our son’s] diagnosis we spent years calling around, filling out applications, and trying to meet with various organizations… and honestly, it all started to feel like a dead end.
Then someone mentioned The Arc of Loudoun—I reached out and very soon after received an email from Eileen to meet.
That meeting turned out to be something pretty close to a miracle. Eileen spent almost four hours with us that day. We talked about everything—what our son had been through, what we’d tried, what was working, what wasn’t. She was the first person who really listened, and then she started sharing everything The Arc and the ALLY Advocacy Center had to offer—resources, connections, and ideas we hadn’t even heard or thought of before.
On Monday, she sent a follow-up email that blew me away. It had links, contact names, websites—15 different resources, easily. But more than that, she answered questions, helped us through the process, and continued offering her time and support, which admittedly is not common.
Eileen didn’t just give us information—she gave us hope, and honestly, the kind of encouragement that keeps you going when everything feels hard.”
The Arc of Loudoun and the Aurora School quickly became strong advocates for our son.
“For years, [our son] and our family faced relentless heart break and despair. Doors closed for him and our hope for progress faded. Then in 2015, an unexpected door opened. He became a student at the Aurora School. The Arc [of Loudoun], and the staff at Aurora quickly became strong advocates for him. He began to make progress and his family could take a much-needed breath.”
'S.J.' has made tremendous progress on all of his goals...
“‘S.J.’ has made tremendous progress on all of his goals, but none more noticeable than his reading. Less than two years ago, he was beginning to learn the names and sounds of letters. Today, he averages over 90% accuracy reading stories of 350 words or more! Soon, he will advance to a 2nd grade reading level! Now, he enjoys reading and has read nearly 100 books outside of school with his family.“
“G.G” has made huge progress on his goals.
“‘G.G’ has made huge progress on his goals. He can independently do 5 daily living skills. He can also answer “who”, “what” and “where” questions!”
The Social Skills Group at The Arc of Loudoun was very beneficial for my child.
“The Social Skills Group at The Arc of Loudoun was very beneficial for my child. It provides a safe and nurturing setting for children on the Autism Spectrum to learn manners and to improve their social skills. Mrs. Dani and her team do a great job of developing a group of kids with similar issues and work collaboratively to guide the children towards skills needed to function appropriately in school and in society while improving their self-confidence. I would definitely recommend this group to others and hope to be a part of it again in the future.“
HD has become an amazing swimmer...
“HD has become an amazing swimmer and will be on a fall swim team. Thank you because its classes like this that improved his skills to function at swim meets!“
I can’t thank you enough for your time, help and expertise.
“This is unbelievable, but the meeting today was incredibly successful!! I don’t know what changed, but they approved her for 120 minutes without much of a discussion. Maybe they were intimidated by the big binder I plopped onto the table with all of my supporting evidence that you helped me with for the case or maybe they were making up for giving me such a hard time last year. Whatever the case, she is going to get the 120 minutes of speech therapy, and even more incredible, they agreed to start the services now so she will get them through the end of the year! It was nothing short of amazing. It was the right thing for them to do and I am so relieved they granted her these minutes from the start instead of dragging this out over a series of evaluations and unpleasant meetings.
I can’t thank you enough for your time, help and expertise. It helped give me the confidence to go in there as her advocate and make a strong case for what our little girl needs. “
You are a valuable asset to have in our corner.
“We just wanted to thank you again for all of your assistance. Our son’s IEP went extremely well. They added 300 minutes/week for academics for the remainder of this year. They added 150 minutes/week for academics for next year to bring him to 600 minutes/week. They have also added 300 minutes/week for behavior.
In the areas where we were requesting benchmarks, they have also agreed to set realistic expectations/goals.
His speech therapist added additional minutes per week as well (from 15 to 30 minutes/week) for the remainder of this year and next year. They also added Social Skills Group (either through a Lunch Bunch or with Speech).
It felt good to go in prepared and come out with a good feeling as all parties were very receptive and cooperative.
You are a valuable asset to have in our corner. Thank you kindly.“