ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Aaliyah Frens is a 4-year-old with a happy dance that could lift anyone’s spirit. 

“Yeah, Aaliyah is very big on music. So, it’s her favorite,” her mother, Hayley McCoy explained. 

What You Need To Know

  • Hayley McCoy's 4-year-old daughter, Aaliyah, loves everything music

  • McCoy got her daughter testing for autism because she hadn't started speaking yet by age 3

  • She has had a difficult time finding a day care to support her non-verbal daughters needs

  • Kharma Care LLC is an inclusive child care facility that recently opened in the Rochester area
  • Founder, director and owner Dominique Martin knew the community needed this space after raising her 18-year-old daughter, Kharma, with chromosome deletion

Therefore, it’s her favorite too. McCoy said she knows all of her daughter’s favorite songs like the back of her hand. Music is Frens’ way of communicating. 

“She’s trying to sing along to it,” McCoy smiled. 

Her daughter has been non-verbal. 

“That was one of the main concerns on why I got her tested for autism because of her not being able to communicate verbally,” she said. 

As a full-time working mother, finding child care that will embrace her daughter’s needs has always been a challenge. 

“I remember her first week at a non-autistic day care, she was supposed to be there for five days. She only went twice and they sent her home early each time,” McCoy recalled. 

Then she found Kharma Care.

“Finding Kharma Care is also a relief because they know what they’re doing,” McCoy explained regarding the new inclusive child care facility opening in the Rochester area. “Aaliyah has a big transition blockage, so sometimes it’s hard for her to walk into even a separate room, like just that transition. And her first day at Kharma Care, she ran inside like she instantly felt just like ready to be there.”

“We are an inclusive center, which means that we care for children of all abilities. The purpose of doing that is the integration and just allowing, you know, our children with different abilities, without different abilities to know that we’re all the same,” said Dominique Martin, founder, director and owner of Kharma Care LLC. 

Martin named the facility after her 18-year-old daughter, Kharma, who was born with a chromosomal deletion syndrome. That’s how she knew what the community was missing: a space for everyone’s children’s special needs. 

“Just for my own children, and being at other centers, I know that there is a huge need. There are many centers that do have children with different abilities, but they cannot have ... at the capacity that we are accepting children, they don’t have the resources to do so,” Martin explained.

The facility serves children of all ages. Martin said she has a space for everyone and McCoy couldn’t agree more. Her daughter finally has a new favorite spot for her happy dance: the trampoline in the facility’s sensory room. 

“I think if you listen hard enough, you can hear Aaliyah. I think every kid has a voice, whether it’s verbal or not. And she’ll definitely tell you what she needs when she needs it,” McCoy said.