“Without language, one cannot talk to people and understand them; one cannot share their hopes and aspirations, grasp their history, appreciate their poetry, or savor their songs.” Nelson Mandela
Inherent to the purpose of language is its primary function to share things with another human being. Language is a social event. That said, it is not restricted to one-on-one speech therapy sessions, but rather it grows when modeled, used, and expected across all settings and with as many people as we wish to share our thoughts with. Our kids here at CTC have various language challenges. Encouraging them to access language, whether through speech, a voice out-put language app on an iPad, typing, or a combination of all these supports, is the mission of the speech department and the school. We invite families to touch and use devices as some of our children do. The children who are functionally non-verbal are testament to what amazing ideas exist in a human being. They have taught us, as a whole, to make the conversation fair by using the device as they would. This forces the speaking partner to slow down, this honors their way of accessing language, this levels the playing field which reduces anxiety and improves spontaneous speech production. The families who actively take part in sharing conversational moments with their children see the most gains, as the kids want most of all to share their ideas with their family. Eighty percent of predictive outcomes for all human beings becoming successful in life (with or without disability) are family support. Celebrate the Children is the child’s extended family and so we look to support them throughout the day and we wish to collaborate with families on how to extend that into the home. Problem solving natural, fun interactions with the child, which is layered with language validates their relationships with the family and empowers them to try what they have learned at school with their most important persons. Group discussions, family discussions, and one-on-one discussions with our children build the language competence so that we can share the hopes and savor the songs of our most amazing children. -Speech Therapists, Related Services Department, Celebrate the Children
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As the warmer weather arises and students and staff can see the end of the current school year getting closer, it is always fun to reflect on all that has been accomplished this year. So many students in my classes just took off with their academics and exceeded all expectations. Students always rise to the challenge. The future is bright as we look to all we can accomplish during the 2016-2017 school year. The warmer weather also brings excitement to the school with all of our fun activities here at CTC. The kids' smiles are evident when they talk about the prom, special Olympics, talent show and of course, the spring concert! -Kelly Reilly, Teacher, Celebrate the Children
Life skills are the strategies, techniques and approaches all people use to survive and succeed in our everyday lives. Some of us obtain life skills without even thinking about it. Many of us learn them from our parents and loved ones, others observe other people going through their daily routines as a model, and some learn from the process of trial and error. For many students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), life skills might not come as easily. Students with ASD might simply struggle to figure them out, or never have the opportunity to practice them because everything is done for them. By teaching life skills in the classroom and modeling the appropriate techniques, we can help these children and young adults become more independent and set them on a path for success in their future.
The following are steps for teaching life skills in the classroom: Step 1: Create a social story for the students that include images of and instructions of the activity or location they will be going. To learn more about social stories, visit Touch Autism's website. Step 2: In a play session, model the activity that you will be doing. For example, if you are going to the barber, set up a barbershop in your dramatic play area for students to play freely with the tools. Allow time for peer modeling and role-play scenarios. Step 3: Pull back and let students begin to learn from their mistakes (trial and error). Allow for independence. Step 4: You are ready to put your skills to the test. This is a great time to go out into the community and practice. At CTC, we have the opportunity to work on these skills frequently throughout the day in Community-Based Instruction (CBI), Floortime, and weekly life skills classes. I have seen some great successes with my students after following these steps, and allowing them the opportunities to become more independent. -Samantha Losurdo, Teacher, Celebrate the Children Teaching for me is all about the fun! Think about the classes you remember - you remember them because you had fun. In my opinion, the best lessons are when students don’t even realize that they are learning because they are having such an enjoyable experience. Almost any topic can be taught in a fun way. For example, say you wanted to name all the planets; you can make them a survey in a game of Family Feud. If you want to teach probability, you can set up a class tricky tray where students are asked what the chances are of winning an item is based on how many colored tickets they put in the bag. Doing activities with friends or as part of a team makes learning more enjoyable and the different strengths of each student can be showcased. When students are having fun, their self esteem is affected. They feel better about themselves and are more likely to tackle a task and be successful. - Lisa Silva, Teacher, Celebrate the Children
![]() Have you ever felt so exhausted that you didn't know how you were going to make it through the day? It appears that more and more students are arriving to school these days feeling the exact same way. What's the culprit? The underlying cause is too much screen time. The amount of sleep children and adolescents are getting these days has decreased significantly. Recent studies have shown that extensive exposure to screen time such as television, electronic devices and mobile phones is having a negative impact on sleep. The end result is a growing culture of sleep deprived children addicted to technology. When students over stimulate their systems with electronics, it prevents them from getting the sufficient sleep required for their age group. In turn, it impacts their ability to successfully attend to class, perform at work or stay awake the following day. Screen time can be addictive. When used in excess, the brains ability to decompress becomes compromised and is unable to enter a state of calm for sleep. Since I have witnessed the negative effects that excessive screen time has on students in the classroom, I'd like to share some helpful tips for parents fighting the electronics battle. To begin, in order to ensure your child gets sufficient sleep, screen time must be limited, especially during the evening hours. Boundaries need to be set and a No Technology Zone established. For example, the table should be reserved for eating only and technology turned off at least one hour before bedtime. Parental controls can be installed to ensure your child is viewing age appropriate content on television and the internet. In addition, empower yourself to exercise your right to obtain their passwords to monitor their social media activity. Be sure to establish a set amount of time for screen time and adhere to it without wavering. Most importantly, restrict the use of electronics in the bedroom at night and try to encourage other activities as alternatives (as audio books, puzzles etc.). Lastly, consistency is a key factor in winning the battle over screen time. Once ground rules are established and routinely enforced on a daily basis, your children will eventually be able to fall back into a healthier sleep pattern. They will no longer suffer from the adverse effects of Too Much Screen Time. (Debbie Castelluccio, Teacher, Celebrate the Children) Students from Celebrate the Children School visited St. Francis Assisted Living Home to teach and assist the residents in using iPads and the Osmo Gaming System. The Osmo system is a way to turn an iPad into an interactive learning activity. Each student, paired with 1-2 elderly residents, was so patient and kind in explaining how the technology works. The students enjoyed themselves so much; they asked to return the following week! Happy New Year! This is a time for reflecting over the past year, setting New Year resolutions, and making changes for an even better year in 2016. I was thinking about what I would like to improve on this year and thought it was worth sharing with everyone. It’s all about family time!Despite all of our crazy schedules, my resolution is to improve the quality and quantity of our family time by making sure that we eat dinner all together at least twice a week. This really gives us a chance to catch up on what’s happening with each other in school, at work, and socially. During dinner, there will be no television or cellphones so that we can have quality conversation with no distractions.Another plan is to go out to different cultural restaurants twice a month as a family. This will give us an opportunity to experience different foods and places together. We will also be having “family game night” once a month to be able to laugh, bond, and have fun together without going out and spending money.
These are just a few ideas to try if you are looking to improve the quality of your family time. Have fun! Jackie Giganti This holiday season, I can’t help but reflect on the past year. There are no words to describe it, so I only wish to pass on the positive mantras that have helped me, and my hope is that they can help you, too.
1. Presence, not presents. I am giving the gift of trips this holiday season with family members to my children. They will be spending time with their aunts and uncles and grandparents and cousins and visiting museums and zoos and baseball games and other fun events that will create memories. 2. Make time for your family. Life is short, spend time with your family and friends as much as you can. Make memories. 3. Don’t sweat the little stuff. 4. Cherish your children. Maybe they don’t speak. Maybe they can’t communicate as well as you would like. Maybe they don’t make progress as fast as you would like. But your children are special. Make them laugh. Sing the same song over and over and over and over just because it makes them smile. 5. Sing loud. 6. Try and see something positive in everything, even if it’s hard. 7. Wear crazy pants. 8. Wear red lipstick. 9. Say what you mean. Mean what you say. 10. Do your best. When you fall asleep at night, know that you worked as hard as you could and helped make the world a little brighter. 11. Read books. 12. Make the best possible decisions with the information you have. And don’t be upset if new information at a later date makes you change your mind. Be flexible and understand that life is dynamic. 13. Eat healthy….most of the time. 14. Get outside and enjoy nature. Go for a walk. Hike a mountain. Ride a bike. 15. Most of all do what makes you happy. Sometimes the questions are complicated but the answers are simple - Dr. Suess The Holidays
In never fails, this time of the year I feel myself starting to wig out. There is so much to do and so little time. As you know there are gifts to be bought, cards to be mailed, presents to be wrapped, parties to attend, cookies to be made, decorations to be put out, dinners to host and the list goes on and on so it seems. I just have to remind myself to do what I tell my students to do when they may feel a little over-whelmed………Take deep breathes, move around, get some big squeezes, go for a walk, swing, jump, listen to music and so on…I just step back and think about how our children must feel during the holiday season. There are a lot of changes going on in their houses with friends and family coming over to visit. Siblings are coming home from college. There are different smells in the house with holiday foods being made. Parents are busy preparing for people to come over to celebrate. I can also imagine with all the excitement going on, that our children are staying up late past their bed times. Although these changes may be fun and exciting to some, it is a very different schedule than what our children are used to. With so much going on during this time of year, it is important to remind yourself of how our children are experiencing the holidays. Take time, be patient, and enjoy this time with your family and friends! What a great time of year for shopping, traveling and visiting with friends! It’s also a time for increased stress, decreased sleep and GERMS, GERMS, GERMS!
Here are a few tips for staying healthy during the holiday season: At school we always remind our students to wash their hands. Use warm water and lots of soap. Our kids sometimes like to sing Happy Birthday to keep time. Keep antibacterial sanitizer handy for emergencies. Try and maintain a healthy sleep schedule. Avoid exercise and screen time right before bed. Remind your family to cover their coughs and sneezes with a tissue or their elbow. If you are not feeling well it is important to stay home. Viruses will spread quickly through crowds. Make To Do Lists to decrease stress. Stress will affect your immune system. Take time for yourself. Relax and enjoy a favorite hobby or time with friends. Talk to your physician about a flu shot. It’s good to have the conversation to discuss pros and cons. Here’s to a happy and healthy holiday season! Nurse Mary |
AuthorsContributions to this blog are made by Celebrate the Children's highly talented, interdisciplinary team and wonderful families. Archives
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