Weekly Update - December 16, 2022

Thank you all for sharing your children with us all year long! We wish you all a relaxing holiday break, and we look forward to seeing all the new things your children learn in 2023!

Remember, therapy resumes on Monday, January 2nd. If your family will be out of town or unavailable that day, please let us know ASAP using our Therapy Schedule Update Form.

The Tree of Possibilities is more than just a logo at Strive Center! We celebrate all the little victories - for every new skill a child learns, we give him a leaf or an apple sticker to put on his very own Tree of Possibilities poster. We keep one poster here at the center, next to his table, and one goes home, so families can celebrate all the little victories too. In November, our learners acquired 90 new skills! That brings our total for 2022 to 1,612 new skills! We can’t wait to see what 2023 brings!

Just a friendly reminder that children will go outside when the temperature feels at least 20° or above. In Burton, our kids will play on the playground for 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon. In Brighton, our kids will go outside at least to walk downstairs to the motor room, and may play outside too, depending on conditions. No matter what, kids need a warm coat with a hood or a hat and mittens or gloves daily. When there is snow on the ground, we will still play outside in Burton, so please send boots and snow pants daily too. We can send all the winter gear home daily so that you can use it at school or play outside at home. Please let your BCBA know if you need any help finding winter gear that fits your child.

With the holidays fast approaching, here are a few tips that we hope will de-stress the season a bit for you!

• Prepare! Help your child understand when different things are going to take place – use a calendar to count down days until a big visit, or use a visual schedule for the special day – we’re happy to help you design something.
• Decorate! Some children find decorations disruptive. Be sure to engage your child in decorating as much as possible, and be clear about the rules for decorations – if you have some that can’t be touched, tell your child clearly and consistently. We can provide visual supports to indicate things that can’t be touched. We will decorate at the center (as we always do!) but almost everything here can be touched and enjoyed by the children. We will help practice with your child if you need him to learn to keep his hands off.
• Take a break! Teach your child to ask for a break when things get overwhelming, and make sure that at any get together, there’s a quiet, calm place for your child to go. At home, it can simply be his bedroom, if you’re visiting family, ask ahead if there’s a bedroom or small space that can be kept quiet for your child. Let other family members know that when he’s in this space, he should be left alone, and family should try to keep noise to a minimum. If your child can’t yet ask for a break, gently direct him to this space when he appears overwhelmed.
• Travel with his favorites! If you’re traveling, make sure you bring favorite toys, comfort objects, and foods. A little familiarity can go a long way to ease stress.
• Share pictures of the family! Prepare a photo album of all the relatives that you expect to see over the holidays – send it in to therapy, and we’ll be happy to show your child the pictures, and remind him who he’ll be seeing. If you email the pictures to your BCBA, we can print them and keep them here – just let us know what your child calls each person.
• Prepare your family members! If you’ll be seeing people you don’t see often, let them know what your child responds well to, and what he doesn’t like. Let them know what questions he’s likely to answer, and what he struggles with. Let them know what games and toys he likes, so the kids can all play together.
• Let us know what we can do to help! Tell us what you’ve struggled with in holidays past, and we’ll be happy to help you make a plan for this year, or teach skills that will help. We can work on opening presents, taking turns, and vocabulary related to the holidays your family celebrates.
• Relax and enjoy! Don’t over-schedule your family this year – sometimes just a small get together with a few family members is the best for everyone. Use this time to reflect on all the changes in your child and your family over this past year. Give yourself a giant pat on the back for bringing your child to therapy and committing to his progress.

Anne and Don Haley live in Genesee County and have 5 kids, one of whom has autism, so they can relate first hand to loving and supporting a child on the spectrum. Anne has served as the Executive Director of the Autism Support and Resource Center since 2015. They offer social, recreational and life skills programs to those on the spectrum. Don is the 3rd generation owner of Italia Gardens restaurants, which was the first Italian restaurant in Flint in 1931. In their free time they enjoy cooking, high school sports, spending time with extended family and traveling. Anne and Don are thrilled to carry on the excellence Strive has offered and are proud of the team who works so hard to provide relief and create possibilities for the children and their families.

We'll just keep this link right here, for your convenience. For any absences scheduled in advance, please use this form to report the dates. You may take an entire day or half day, depending on your needs.

Therapy Schedule Update Form

Here are some additional dates that the centers will be closed:

Monday, December 19th - Friday, December 30th - Holiday break

*Therapy resumes on January 2, 2023

Friday, January 13th BURTON CENTER ONLY closed for crisis management training for staff

Monday, January 16th MLK Day, both centers closed

Friday, February 17th BRIGHTON CENTER ONLY closed for crisis management training for staff

If your family is planning a longer absence around one of those dates, or at another time, please let us know as soon as you are able!

Email: info@sc-centers.com
Website: www.sc-centers.com
Location: Burton and Brighton, MI
Phone: 810-344-8082