Our new school

After years of throwing ideas around, we finally decided to put a school together. As I have watched the evolution of diagnosis and disorders, there seem to be fewer educational options for parents and children. This is so contrary to our times - we are technologically far more advanced then we have ever been; we have the latest and greatest research and more information available then any other time in history - yet our educational system is failing our children. Even as I write this it sounds so harsh. I don't mean to be disrespectful towards the wonderful teachers our there. I am not sure if we have more children with issues, we are expecting more out of our children or maybe there are other reasons for this.
Our lifestyles have changed, our attitudes and expectations have changed. The fundamental development of our brains have not really changed. They have definitely evolved - we attend to more, we multi task and our children are exposed to many more options then ever before. We believe we are providing them with sensory rich experiences. I am seriously questioning that though. I have three beautiful boys - 13,11 and 7. They are smart, sassy and BOYS! They don't stop moving, they fight, they are untidy and eat me out of house and home. I have also run them through some of the programs that we offer at Children's Therapy Works. As I watch these boys grow and change, there is one thing that I can say for certain - they need more outside play, less time in front of the PS3 or XBOX and I would love to see them use more of their imaginations outside.

Back to the school - because of the above reasons, excess stimulation (or focusing issues); need for more movement (translated into Hyperactivity and poor attention) and yucky handwriting (dysgraphia), we opened Let's Learn Academy. An integrated, neurologically based educational program that focuses on a child's abilities not disabilities. Our goal is to create a safe environment that allows exploration using interactive learning and exploration.
We have incorporated White board technology through Promethean, programs such as Interactive Metronome and Fast ForWord that are well researched and data driven and numerous other programs that ensure neurological change.

We have a small group of children and wonderful parents who believe in what we are doing. That is what we need to ensure success. Please lend your thoughts to how we can grow and improve so that we can have the most positive impact on the future - our most precious resource is our children.

Therapeutic horseback riding

Andy and I spend our Saturdays at the barn with a group of fantastic volunteers doing therapeutic horse back riding. This adds a 6th day to our work week, but it is well worth it! Most of the time by the time we get to Friday afternoon, I am done. The thought of working another day just feels tough. But then I get to the barn and see the smiling faces of all our kids and their parents, leaping out of the car to come and ride. All these kids participate in therapies during the week, but none of the therapies compare to what they experience every Saturday at Shelland Place Farm. Every Saturday we have some kind of tiny miracle occuring.... This past Saturday, we had a couple. The first one was a little guy who struggles at school and home with ADHD and dyslexia. I am told that he has mood swings and tends to have a hard time emotionally; except on Saturdays. He jumped out of the car and ran to me with a picture in his hand. He had gone home the week before and drawn a picture of Jedi ( the horse he rides) on one side and Lenny (the giant Warmblood who is a gentle giant) on the other side. The mini miracle was that he had drawn himself with a HUGE grin and his hands in the air in a victorious show. He was so excited about this picture and how the horses made him feel. No medication made him feel like this -yet his Saturdays are his time to shine where there is no pressure to read or write, nothing to have to respond to, except the complete and absolute acceptance that a huge, majestic animal called a horse gives a seven year old who is struggling to find himself in the academic world. It is times like this that I know we have to keep doing therapeutic riding, because these Saturdays change lives.

Autism Awareness

Last week there were noticeably many spots on NBC news about ADHD/ADD , Autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities. I always find it interesting watching these spots as the reporters turn to the medical doctors for information regarding these diagnosis'. Of course that's where we all look as parents. But I have to say that I am always disappointed to see nothing on the therapies that are most effective for our kids. Occupational, speech and physical therapists are highly under rated in our media. In fact therapists are the professionals who understand the inner workings of many diagnosis' , not just the symptoms. I would love to see the media focus on therapists. We dedicate our lives to making changes in other peoples' lives, not with quick fixes but with ongoing training and education to find one more thing that can make life better for our clients. There is so much technology out there and yet the area in which we need the most education is not being highlighted!

Speak out about your therapists - they are special people in your families lives!

As many of our clients already know, we focus our therapy on using evidenced-based, neurological programs during intensive therapy that make changes efficiently and effectively. This means that our clients come often for "boot camp" to do programs such as Interactive Metronome, The Sensory Learning Program and or therapies 3-4 times a week for short periods of time. This sounds like alot and it is. The parents work hard, the kids work hard and so do the therapists. But it is days like yesterday that make it all worth it.

We have a young man who was first tested in December of 2009, just 3 months ago. His scores were very low in areas of Visual perception, motor planning ... everything related to mild Autism Spectrum Disorders. He has wonderful parents who have devoted their time and efforts to making learning easier for him and the payoff is showing!

We re tested him last week using another test so as to maintain validity and he has shown an improvement of ONE FULL standard deviation in visual perceptual skills! And it is showing in everything he does. The teacher has made comments at school like " he is more organized, getting his tools together before going to lunch , whereas before everything was haphazard". His handwriting is improving and he has commented that it is easier (we have not worked on any handwriting!).

I can go on and on, there are improvements daily both from mom, the teacher and the child. Whenever I doubt myself or the process, I just need one little guy like this to remind me that what we do here is nothing short of amazing. That the team of therapists participating in this process are wonderful and the parents who hand their children over to us are trusting that this is the right thing to do. But when I put my head down at night, my thoughts are mostly about my little people who sacrifice their afternoons to come play with us, whose lives we are influencing and who I hope will look back one day and say " gee I can't remember what that crazy lady's name was , she had a funny accent and made me do silly things, but we had alot of fun together and even though I spent alot of time at therapy, look where I am today!".

This is when I cry happy tears because we became therapists in order to change lives and that is what we do during intensive therapy programs. For that, I am grateful!