Meet Heaven Spencer | Special Education Instructor & Registered Behavior Tech

We had the good fortune of connecting with Heaven Spencer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Heaven, what’s the most important thing you’ve done for your children?
My son was different from the time he was born. While I did not understand this when he was first born, I learned that the signs he exhibited -while they seemed advanced for his age- were signs of an underlying problem. When Darrian was born in late 2009, he immediately started pushing up on his arms. The nurse said she had never seen anything like that before. As a first-time mom at 24, I thought my baby was just advanced. Five days later, he rolled over at the pediatrician’s office for the first time.

As he progressed, I realized he had a definite aversion to certain textures, tummy time, and high-pitched noises. He became an extremely picky eater and would often have fits of vomiting around large groups of people. He babbled at an early age and began to talk at just a few months. Though he made eye contact and was affectionate as a baby, he got so he wouldn’t allow us to hold and kiss him in his toddler years. He also reverted to only saying dad-dad. My husband and I did not understand what was happening.

We spoke with his pediatrician when he was around 18 months, and she recommended that he begin speech therapy. Very quickly that also lead to us taking him to occupational therapy. They suggested that we have his hearing checked. When that came back normal, they recommended that he be tested for autism. Just before his third birthday, we received the diagnosis.

From there, we started ABA 40 hours a week, increased his speech therapy to 3 hours a week, occupational therapy to 3 times a week, and physical therapy to correct how he walked and help with balance. Working around his treatments was intensive and required a large portion of our weekly schedule.

It was a sacrifice for our family because we were not wealthy. This required my husband to become a stay-at-home dad. When I came home from work, I would start working with him. We would sit on his floor and do play therapy. I found creative ways to work with him to teach colors and numbers.

By four, he had begun to talk again. Over the next few years, he caught up with his peers and advanced in math and reading. I give credit to the decisions we made to start therapies early. Everyone says early intervention is the key to helping kids with autism develop and lead “normal” lives. At 13, now most people do not realize the struggles that he underwent in his early life. I am so proud of him and the bright, handsome young man he has become.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I am the owner/director of Open Seas Learning Academy. We are a small private tutoring business in St. Lucie County. We work primarily with kids with special needs and behavioral concerns. We also do a summer program and camp days whenever the kids are out of school. We know parents still need to work and try to offer a safe place for kids to be, where they can still learn and have fun.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Obviously, we would have to start with a visit to my program. I love to show off our center and the way we work. I would also make sure we went to the beach, especially at night. Visit some of my favorite restaurants: Sean Ryan, Kinfolk Chicken and Waffles, and Green Marlin.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Our pediatrician at Treasure Coast Community Health, Dr. Khawaja.

Website: OpenSeasLA.org

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