With recent updates to MiOSHA guidance, we are going to discontinue our daily health screenings for staff and families effective immediately. This means families do not need to login and answer the daily health questions. We thank you for your willingness to complete these for the past year.

We still ask that families and staff stay home with any signs of illness. This is the easiest way to keep illness from spreading in our facilities - simply don't bring it in!

For your reference, here is the information directly from our Illness Policy:

Parents are asked to exercise good judgment when canceling sessions due to illness. Children who are unlikely to benefit from sessions due to their symptoms should not attend. Parents should call as soon as possible to cancel sessions due to illness. In addition, parents are asked to keep children home under the following conditions:

-Fever exceeding 100 degrees

-Repeated episodes of diarrhea

-Instances of vomiting due to illness

-Contagious skin or eye infection

-Excessive discharge

-Congested cough

We will require that children be symptom free for 24 hours without symptom reducing medication prior to returning to therapy.

Finally, the BCBA in each building will make the final decision on whether to admit a child who appears ill on a given day and when to call parents to pick up a child who appears ill. Please bear in mind that we are trying to make the best decision for all children and staff when we request that your child miss sessions, and that an ill or overly tired child does not benefit from therapy.

Summer is in full swing, and we are planning our regular 3 month therapist switch in July. For some families, your child will be working with someone you may not have worked with before, for some, it will be a return to an old friend. Please keep in mind that switching therapists is important for your children for several reasons:

• It allows generalization of skills, to ensure that your child can respond to any teacher
• It helps to reinforce flexibility and a positive response to changes
• It gives your child a fun and different perspective, with a new person to play with

As parents, the most important thing you can do is say positive things about your child's therapist in front of him - "Look - it's Jill! You're going to have so much fun with her this morning!" or "It sounds like you had a great time with Sue this afternoon!"

We have been adding profiles of our therapists to the newsletters and to our Facebook page, in the hopes that you'll feel like you're getting to know our therapists a little better. You can also pull up those profiles and pictures to show your child who he's going to work with on a given day, or talk about what he did with her earlier that day.

Switching therapists is an important step in preparing your child for school and other settings, and we thank you for your support.

As you all know, our organization has been working through the re-accreditation process with BHCOE for several months now. BHCOE Accreditation recognizes behavioral health organizations that excel in clinical quality, staff qualifications, and consumer satisfaction and promote systems that enhance these areas. We’re excited to announce that we have earned this recognition again, with a 2 year reaccreditation!

This 2 year reaccreditation signals that we achieved over 90% of the objectives in the BHCOE's list. Each objective required verification, and we are very proud of this rating. Thank you to all our families who participated in surveys, interviews and observations.

And of course, a big shout out to our team, who work so hard every day to provide the highest quality treatment for our children and families.

It's time to bid farewell to the ocean and head to the zoo! Our kids have enjoyed all the beach and ocean themed activities this month, and now they will be learning about the animals that are found in a zoo.

We'll have zoo themed songs, art projects, and dramatic play!

Let's Go to the Zoo is an old favorite for this month!

And our favorite YouTube star Jack Hartmann has a great Animal Alphabet song for us to enjoy!

Please join us for the Autism Alliance of Michigan (AAOM) Hero Walk on Sunday, July 25th at the Detroit Zoo or virtual. This year, the Strive Center is sponsoring the walk, and we have a walk team.

To join the Strive Center Walk Team, click here.

Please feel free to share our team page with others to help in our efforts to fundraise.

For general information on the walk please visit their website here.

This year, the zoo will allow 900 walkers to access the zoo for the day. Other walkers will receive a zoo voucher to use at a different time, and the AAOM will have a virtual event organized for those walkers on July 25th as well. Number of zoo vouchers earned is dependent on fundraising amount, and details are available on the AAOM Hero Walk page.

Strive Center proudly sponsors the AAOM whenever possible, as this organization provides families affected by Autism with a wide variety of opportunities, services, and information. For more information on the AAOM, or to access any of their services or opportunities, please visit the AAOM page.

Please understand there is no obligation for any of our families to participate in this event or to donate to the AAOM.

Genella started working at the Strive Center in spring of 2021. She has previously worked for Michigan Community Services as a respite worker at Perry Center in Grand Blanc. While there she worked with both children and adults.

Genella is currently pursuing a degree at Central Michigan University in Speech Pathology with a minor in Child Development.

She enjoys going for walks, reading, playing with her dog and doing puzzles.

We'll keep listing these in the newsletter for a quick and easy spot for you to check them, and we'll send Remind messages each Thursday to help you keep up to date!

July 9th - Hat day - wear any hat you like! AND Make Your Own Edible Flag treat - ingredients are graham crackers, cool whip or frosting, strawberries, and blueberries. For any allergy or dietary concerns, reach out directly to your BCBA so they can provide the actual ingredients purchased in each building. Kids could easily skip the graham cracker and cool whip/frosting and just enjoy the berries, or you can pack your own special treat!

July 16th - School Spirit Day - wear your Strive t shirt AND Water Balloon Day! Feel free to send sandals or water shoes or whatever foot wear you'd prefer your child to get wet in, as well as extra clothes or even a bathing suit if you'd prefer they wear that to get wet.

July 23rd - Mismatch Day - stripes with polka dots, crazy colors, 2 different socks, the less it matches, the better! AND Reading Buddies Day - pick another cozy spot to read outside with a friend.

July 30th - Super Hero Day - wear a shirt with your favorite super hero on it, or go all out and dress like your favorite super hero AND Fireworks Science experiment. "Fireworks" are made by mixing oil and food coloring and dropping it into water - no flames, just fun colors! Kids won't need to touch the oil or food coloring directly, but please reach out to your BCBA if there are any allergy concerns here.

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