Early Steps along the path to school

ST. PETERSBURG - A program at All Children's Hospital is helping thousands of kids get the jump start they need, even before they step into a school.

It's a program where miracles happen for a special group of kids.

One of those kids is Mackenzie Duell. She was only a year old when her family found out she had cerebral palsy.

Now at the age of three, Mackenzie is doing what most girls her age love to do—play with dolls and listen to a good book.

"She's smart. She knows her phone number, knows her birthday," said Mackenzie's mom Danielle Duell.

Danielle says she has the Early Steps programs at All Children's to thank for that.

"Trying to do it all on your own it's hard. You don't know where to start," she said.

Louise Boothby-Llorente is the early steps program director.

"It could be speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy…we also have infant-toddler developmental specialists that go into the home that hook back up through consultation with the therapists in the community," Louise explains.

Danielle said the program even helped her deal with the red tape insurance companies threw her way.

"They set all that up. They helped find all the specialists we needed for her who took the insurance, and those that didn't, they helped cover therapies. If the insurance didn't cover, they did all that," Danielle said.

For Mackenzie, learning to walk was her biggest battle. Early Steps provided the equipment and therapy she needed.

"She couldn't walk in November, and she got Botox shots in her legs, and now she's walking," Danielle said.

It'll be another two years before Mackenzie leaves the nest and goes to school with other children. Her mom says that because of this kind of early intervention, she'll be ready.

"She wouldn't be where she is if it wasn't for Early Steps," Danielle said.

There are more than 3000 children in the Bay Area like Mackenzie who rely on the Early Steps Program. That could change though -- the program could soon be hit with a $9 million budget cut.