Meet Becca, Certified Child Life Specialist and former Starlight Kid

Becca loves the positive impact she can have on patients as a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS). And she would know—Becca experienced the effects of Crohn’s disease as a child, resulting in multiple surgeries and hospital stays.

“These stays were supported by incredible staff, a family that never quit advocating, and a community that never let me feel forgotten,” said Becca. “I was inspired by my own child life specialist in ways that she could never imagine. Without her, my life would look entirely different.”

Her hospitalizations were when she initially experienced Starlight programs like Starbright World, a private social network which safely connected seriously ill teens and their teenage siblings.

Now, Becca is an inspiring CCLS at Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, where she supports kids coping with the stress and uncertainty of hospitalizations.

“My favorite part is getting to see the change in the room with a patient or family I am supporting. Whether that's the kiddo who was petrified before a procedure, but now coping beautifully after preparation and with distraction, or even a child who was quiet when we first met but opens up through play,” she said.

March is Child Life Month, a celebration of all that CCLS and those in the child life profession do! We collaborate with child life specialists like Becca to support kids throughout difficult procedures and high-anxiety moments using Starlight programs.

Starlight Virtual Reality and Gaming are especially popular with the patients Becca sees.

“Kids light up at the idea of doing something they have never done before and are taken out of their hospital bed. If a child is going to radiology or surgery, they can actually experience what it feels like to be in that room before even getting in the wheelchair to go for their procedure,” she said.

We are so thankful to work with amazing child life specialists like Becca!