On April 17th, Pediatric Therapy Associates Jan, Lora and Sara met with the preschool teaching team as well as the elementary education and special programs teachers and support staff  at the Hands On Children’s Museum to present “Tips for Teachers”.  The inservice focused on providing clinical information and practical sensory based and social thinking strategies that can be used with museum guests and education program participants who are on the Autism Spectrum.  It was a pleasure to meet with these skilled and caring teachers and staff.  We appreciate the fabulous opportunities that HOCM provides for children in our community.  A special thanks to HOCM for displaying the Autism Speaks sign and blue lights in a prominent location for the Autism Awareness campaign earlier this month.  The picture below shows us with just a few of the participanats in the inservice.

 

We are making a pledge to “Light It Up Blue” in support of World Autism Awareness Day on April 2, 2012.  In its third year, “Light It Up Blue” is a unique global initiative to help raise awareness about autism.  Iconic landmarks around the world will “Light It Up Blue” to show their support.  We are going to replace our front porch light with a blue light, wear the color blue or maybe string a strand of lights in our window.  Autism Speaks, North America’s largest autism science and advocacy organization, is launching a Light It Up Blue iPhone App to help support the campaign.  Find out more at www.lightitupblue.org

 YES!!  WE ARE GOING TO LIGHT IT UP BLUE!!

Marcie Taylor

Heather Painter

Karan Wright

Hands On Children’s Museum

Janet Shefferly & Frank Swinkey

Budd Bay Realty

Grant and Mary Johnson

Jill Daniel

Buddy Up! Horsemanship

Mindy Stanley

Sara Kemp

Terrina Gadd

Sandy Williams

Jessica Stelle

Capital Playhouse

Heidi Fredericks

Robyn Sowers

Helen and Daniel Allen

Rebecca Allen

Denise Dress

Liam and Leigh Davis

Evelyn Williams

Gretchen Maliska

Karen White

Leah White

Christopher and Lora Clements

Billie Uhri

Jessica Reever-Rush

Rachel Swinkey

 

May the magic of the holiday season touch your heart!

Our students and their sibs helped to decorate our third annual gingerbread house this week…a creative and sticky undertaking!

We wish all of you a very happy and healthy holiday season!

It is with great excitement that we wecome Lora!  She is an energetic and innovative Occupational Therapist  who is  joining Sara and Jan as another sole practitioner with Pediatric Therapy Associates.  

Lora graduated from Sage Graduate School with an MS in Occupational Therapy.  She  has specific training in sensory integration, sound based treatment approaches, feeding and oral motor difficulties and has a passion for treating children with behavioral, social and emotional challenges.  Lora specializes in helping make sense of each child’s behavioral responses and sees the goal of therapy as related to improvements in strength, coordination, self care skills, behavioral organization and play skills.

Lora is taking new patients and is able to accept most insurance plans. 

 You can contact Lora at (360) 481-6882.                              fax (360) 989-3996.

Autism is the fastest growing serious developmental disability in the U.S., affecting every 1 in 110 American children. For the third year, Lindt has partnered with Autism Speaks, the global leader in autism advocacy, to help provide hope to millions of families impacted by autism. Lindt will donate to Autism Speaks 10¢ with each purchase of a Lindt Gold Bunny, $1 with every Lindt eCard sent, and $1 with every new Lindt Facebook fan.*

http://www.lindtgoldbunny.com/

On the evenings of April 1 and 2, 2011, prominent buildings across North America and the world — including the Empire State Building in New York City and the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada — will turn their lights blue to raise awareness for autism and to commemorate World Autism Awareness Day on Saturday, April 2.

We’re aiming to light the world blue all throughout April — city by city, town by town — by taking action to raise autism awareness in our communities.

http://www.lightitupblue.org/

P.S.:  Home Depot is selling Autism Speaks blue light bulbs in honor of Autism Awareness Month

I am so pleased to report about the wonderful rejuvenating experience I had attending the National Convention for the American Speech-Language Hearing Association in Philadelphia last month.  I attended intensive courses on a variety of fascinating topics.  I learned so much,  and took home valuable information that I have already begun applying with my clients to enhance the quality of my service. 

I learned new techniques for the dynamic assessment of phonology; explored methods to more accurately measure speech intelligibility and therefore better gauge the efficacy of my treatment plan;  discovered a variety of ways to improve the social thinking skills of students with high-functioning autism;  more sensitive means for screening infants as young as 12 months old for autism along with effective remediation strategies for kids even at such a young age;  as well as information on the most current evidence-based language therapy approaches.  The list goes on!

It was so refreshing being in the thick of the newest, most cutting-edge information, and I returned full of zest and appreciation for my work, and the contribution I’m able to make to the lives of the little ones and families that I work with.

It was also exciting to be able to re-connect with old friends and classmates, professors, to meet researchers in the field, and make new friends that all can continue to enrich my skills.  I even got to visit the Liberty Bell!!

We wanted to make sure that our families knew of this fabulous, inclusive event.  Hope y’all get to go there and celebrate the joys of the Harvest and the Halloween holiday!!

–Jan & Sara

 

• WHO?  This Halloween & Fall Harvest family event will be attended by Western Washington Families who have children with autism and their friends.
• WHAT?  This event will provide a safe and fun Trick-or-Treat and Harvest Party for children affected by autism and is a fundraiser to help TACA continue to provide important services to families affected by autism at no cost.  (View photos from last year’s Harvest Party at TACA’s website).  The event will feature Gluten- and Caesein-free Trick-or-Treating!  Free fun activities (moon bounce, face painting, games, pumpkin painting, and more!)  This event will happen rain or shine – TACA activities are under cover in a barn at the farm.  Reserve your spot online in advance starting in mid-September at TACA’s website.  Don’t wait!  This event fills up fast!
• WHEN?  Sunday October 31, 2010 @ 10 am – 1:30 pm
• WHERE?  Schilter Family Farm in the Nisqually Valley (South of Dupont):  141 Nisqually Cutoff Road SE, Olympia WA  98513
• REGISTER:  at the TACA website (Talk About Curing Autism).
• ADMISSION IS FREE BUT DONATIONS ARE WELCOME.  A $5 donation per family is greatly appreciated!
• SPACE IS LIMITED… DON’T MISS OUT!!!

 

          Sara, Sherri, Rosemary and Janet

On September 25th and 26th, Sara and Janet attended the DIR/Floortime Conference in Seattle.  DIR/Floortime is the developmentally appropriate, relationship based approach to treatment that was developed by the late Stanley Greenspan, MD and Serena Wieder, PhD. 

Dr. Greenspan posed the following question:  “How does the child develop the miraculous ability to attend, to be calm and interested in the world, to desire to interact with others and to “woo”  those around them to interact with them?”   His question is answered  in the DIR/Floortime Model.

During last month’s workshop, Sherri Cawn, Speech Therapist,  and Rosemary White, Occupational Therapist,  provided background information about the Floortime Model.  Participants then had the opportunity to discuss a myriad of cases that were presented with children interacting in a variety of environments including clinic, school, home and social settings.   

The DIR Model is an effective treatment approach for children with challenges in relating and communicating, including Autism Spectrum.  It is a frame of reference that is applied by various disciplines, including Speech Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Teachers and Psychologists.  It takes into consideration developmentally ordered capacities and individual differences and includes active parent involvement.

We all know that affect is a central organizer of the mind and that it drives learning.  This course provided Sara and Janet with a working model of how to translate this idea into action using interactive techniques that can easily be used throughout the child’s day with  family members and other significant players.