Presents a free workshop for teachers and parents of children, teens, and young adults.
Light refreshments will be served.
Note: You are invited to bring a friend or two. Please no children to this event.
Seating is very limited, so RSVP now!
Intensive therapeutic daytime summer camp program designed for children and teens between the ages of 7 and 13 who are “mainstreamed” and may have “special needs”.
Develop those skills needed for a lifetime of happiness and productivity in a safe and exciting “camp” setting.
Group size is limited to 12 campers and is facilitated by Dr. Eric Nach and his team of Certified Special Education Teachers and Counselors.
*Each potential camper must be interviewed by Dr. Nach prior to admission to ensure proper placement.
Please note: 2 snacks a day are included in the price, lunch must be provided by the camper. On days that we go into the community, we will provide a limited lunch and snacks.
Support For Students Growth CenterThe topic for the February workshop will be “How to Crush the FSA, Tips and Tricks for Parents”. Dr. Nach will be the presenter of the workshop and will available to answer questions.
and “post-transition programs” (ages 16-adult)
Using positive reinforcement often works best when trying to modify the behavior of children and teens. Instead of taking away what your child values, try providing them with the opportunity to earn time with their preferred activity.
Light refreshments will be served.
Seating is very limited, so RSVP now!
The holiday season can be stressful for our children, teens, and young adults with special needs. Traveling and visiting relatives and friends may interrupt their day-to-day routines and all the excitement can be overwhelming to those kids with “sensory” issues.
Follow some of these user friendly strategies to prevent holiday “blowouts” to help keep your kids feeling “grounded” and create happier memories this holiday season:
Too many events or activities grouped too closely together can overstimulate our child. Pick and choose which activities to participate in and don’t overload the schedule. Include private playtime or an outing to a child-friendly restaurant with a friend, to provide some one-on-one fun for our child. Also, spending some alone time in a quiet corner of the house or taking a short walk can be healthy proactive actions to head off a tantrum in our child.
Suggestion: If you’re planning to spend several days visiting a friend or relative, you may want to consider staying at a motel instead of sleeping over. This will give your child built-in breathing space. Explaining to family why you’re not taking them up with an offer to stay with them can help minimize hurt feelings.
Acknowledging and rewarding our child’s good behavior reminds him of his strengths and increases his confidence that he can manage whatever the holiday throws at him. Our child may become the hit of the party if they read a book of riddles to family members. They may want to do magic tricks or offer some other special interest to family and friends. Reminding a child of his past successes will set him up to succeed this year.
Parents need to be realistic. We know our children struggle with being our of their routine and many of the events associated with the holidays. Acknowledge each little victory and do not “throw the baby out with the bath water”. Accept that there will be some challenging moments, however, do not get stuck on them, move past them. Each success builds upon each other, do not negate the successes by focusing on the negatives.
Suggestion: Do Not Let A Bad Moment Ruin The Entire Day or Holiday
We know that many of our children struggle with sensory issues. Holiday lights, music, and smells can quite easily lead to meltdowns and tantrums. Understand that these sensory issues are very real and can change the physiology of our children for the moment. These sensory rich items can be physically painful.
Suggestion: Try not to under estimate the severity of sensory input and irritation. Little things like; earplugs, sunglasses, and nose plugs can be useful. Allow our child to voice when a sensory rich environment is impacting them. Parents that are extra observant of how our children are impacted by sensory stimulus can act proactively and not overreact.
Build happy memories by including our child to help cook the holiday meal, create and put up decorations, greet family or friends, deliver snacks or drinks, or wrap packages. Such activities strengthen the bond between our child, families, friends, siblings, and peers.
As all of our children are unique individuals, the suggestions made here should be adjusted to best fit your specific situation.
Several ways for parents to help their children with “special needs” enjoy holiday festivities without flare-ups and melt-downs.
The holiday season can be stressful for our children, teens, and young adults with ADHD, Autism, Asperger’s, and other special needs. Traveling and visiting relatives and friends may interrupt their day-to-day routines, and all the excitement can be overwhelming to those kids with “sensory” issues.
Follow some of these user friendly strategies to prevent holiday “blowouts” to help keep your kids feeling “grounded” and create happier memories this holiday season:
During the holidays, routine and structure maybe greatly disrupted: Having to tolerate traveling for long periods of time by car, train, or plane; sitting politely at the dinner table for extended periods; a disruption to their eating and sleep schedule. Planning for these disruptions in routine is helpful for our children, siblings, and parents.
Include our child in creating a schedule of how the days will be spent, taking as many factors into account — parties, decorating, visiting relatives, preparing holiday treats, travel time, other people’s pets — and set up a schedule, building flexibility into it in case our child needs downtime, including some alone time.
Sketch out each phase of the holidays, including all “free” time when our child may be expected to play with other children or relatives. Now, given what you know about your son or daughter, note the activities that may be a problem for him or her.Make adjustments to the schedule if necessary, and discuss with our child the following coping strategies that may be found most acceptable.
Suggestion: If your son or daughter is on medication, talk with your prescribing doctor about possible modifications to their medication protocol during the holiday season to account for heightened anxiety, irritability, or other issues. Modifying medication may improve our child’s enjoyment of the season during this high-energy and stressful period.
Providing our child some tools for self-monitoring their emotional fluctuations can prevent an overreaction from becoming a temper tantrum. By becoming aware when they start to get anxious or frustrated or overly excited they can use techniques such as yoga, breathing exercises, taking a walk, or talking with an understanding sibling or family member, can help a child who is lit-up by a highly charged atmosphere. Also, give our child some verbal cues to keep them in a positive state of mind.
SSuggestions: When facing a crowd at a friend’s or relative’s house or the task of sitting politely at the table, whisper to him or her, “I know you can do this”, promise a valued reward for success, and do not be confrontational should they show signs of stress.
Some of our children need to practice self-monitoring and calming down at home before the holiday festivities begin. Rehearsing the “stop, relax, think” technique with a child, by modeling or role-playing a scenario that has given them trouble in the past are excellent strategies. You can teach our child to “stop and think, before reacting” or ask for help at the onset of uneasiness.
Suggestion:To minimize conflicts with siblings, peers, and others encourage our child to bring along a game or toy. Whenever possible, “buddy-up” our child with an tolerant, accepted peer or sibling.
As all of our children are unique individuals, the suggestions made here should be adjusted to best fit your specific situation.
Light refreshments will be served.
Note: You are invited to bring a friend or two, please no children to this event.
Seating is very limited, SO RSVP now!
