Thank you for your patience with us as we all adjusted to our new policies and procedures! At this point, with about 7 weeks of therapy under our belts, we definitely have all the kinks worked out of our cleaning procedures. We have gotten so efficient with our cleaning in fact, that we would like to offer additional Friday therapy time for our full day children, who have been attending half days on Friday.

Effective July 31, all full day children may attend therapy until 2:30 pm. This will provide 3 additional hours of therapy for the children, but they will still leave just one hour early to allow a little extra time for our therapists to clean and rotate toys. Please remember to arrive at 2:20 in order to get a full report from your therapist.Therapists will need to get back inside and start cleaning by 2:30, so they can't chat about the day unless you arrive those few minutes early.

Please let your BCBA know if you do NOT plan to take advantage of the extra hours; we can certainly work with you since we're making another adjustment to schedules.

Thank you for your continued patience as we work to increase therapy hours in the safest way possible.

Some of our kids still had out of season winter clothes at the center. We've weeded everything out, and you may have received a bag of winter clothes sent home this week.

If you did, please be sure that you send at least 2 FULL changes of clothes that are appropriate for summer. This includes SOCKS! 2 shirts, 2 shorts, at least 2 pair of underwear, and 2 pairs of socks.

Please remember that when we send clothing home in a plastic bag because it is soiled, we need a replacement item the next day. We always try to protect your child's clothes, but some messes are unavoidable. Thanks for your help!

Our theme for July is Zoo Animals! We are playing with lots of toy animals, reading books about zoo animals, watching live zoo cams during snack, and enjoying songs, crafts, and activities with animals every day!

Here's a fun Yoga video that we've been using in the centers this month, with a jungle theme:

Cosmic Kids Yoga Jungle

When we do the yoga video, we have a small group of kids together, but still physically distant, sitting on the floor within their own movement square. We play the video on a big screen, or use a projector to put it on the wall, and then we pause the video periodically to slow it down, and make sure the kids have the chance to do each movement. You'll see that it is a longer activity overall, so we don't typically make it through the whole video (we do about 15 minutes) and sometimes it moves too fast, so pausing it is a good idea. It's a fun way to get up and moving, and the kids love the animal theme. Feel free to try it at home!

We just want to take a minute to assure parents that although we are working to keep 6 feet of physical distance between the children, they are still together. All of our children work on social skills, as impaired social interaction is one of the core deficits of Autism. Although we may not be able to encourage hugs and high fives between kids right now, here are some ways we're making sure they are still together and able to work on those skills:

• Group lessons throughout the day (circle time, math, and literacy) are still conducted together
• Imitation of peers which was targeted through Playtime Partners is now targeted within the circle time lesson, instead of at a separate time
• Children are able to turn their tables toward each other or move to another area for snack and lunch time, so they eat together, with enough distance between
• A number of different movement activities have been added to the schedule (like yoga mentioned above!) and those are all done together but 6 feet apart

We know that parents worry that with these new parameters, our children might lose ground on their social skills - but we're on top of it! Please ask your BCBA if you have any questions or concerns about your child's individual social skills.

The Autism Alliance of Michigan's Hero Walk is typically held at the Detroit Zoo, but this year it's going virtual. Please join our team if you are able!

The virtual AAOM Hero Walk will be on July 26th. The AAOM provided a great deal of support and information for ABA providers and parents throughout the COVID-19 shutdown. They really provide tremendous support for families all year long, including free training opportunities like the virtual one we hosted on Tuesday, June 23rd. Please consider joining our team and fundraising for this organization if you're able.

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