Summer is well under way here at Horizons! Our summer CAMPS programs "Blasted Off" last week with a space theme. The kids were able to complete activities wearing space suits and even built their own rocket ships! For several years now, Horizons has offered summer programming for children with disabilities from 3 years of age into early adulthood. It has been wonderful to have all of our old friends around again as well as some new faces! I am very excited to see what our "Under the Big Top" circus theme has to bring this week. Our Activity Center has been transformed into a circus arena and is awaiting circus goers. Please check out our website and blog for further summer programs information and updates.
Courtney
Monday, June 30, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Blast Off Into Summer!
What a great first week of Summer Programming we had! The kids sure did enjoy themselves. Check out what we did...
Painting our Planets
Playing Outside
Building a Shed
Friday, June 20, 2008
Summer Begins
Well, since today is officially the fist day of summer and we begin our summer programs on Monday, I thought it would be appropriate to post about the beginning of summer. Yesterday we had a meet & greet for those who will be attending our summer program and are new to our program. We were able to meet them and the kids were able to meet the staff and see where they are going to come for summer CAMPS. Everyone is so excited for CAMPS to begin. Our first day is Monday and I'll be taking lots of pictures of each week so check back each Friday to find out what the kids did each week.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Slave to the past
“Be not the slave of your own past – plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience, that shall explain and overlook the old.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
This quote was on a card I received this week and I have been pondering it for a few days now as it sits on my desk. I have been thinking about what it means to me and my life. I think what it is really saying is that we need to be willing to take risks and try new things. We should not be afraid to have new experiences. That by experiencing new things we can find a new sense of ourselves. Trying new things and finding new ways to look at the world can help us to further understand our past experiences and possibly change our outlook. Allowing yourself the chance to move beyond what you have always known provides the opportunity to find a new sense of yourself.
This has been particularly poignant for me this past month and I think that as I continue on this journey of swimming in a new sea I will find new self-respect and an advanced experience that will allow me to find a new understanding of many of my past adventures and how they led me to this new place. It is always touch to release the bonds of slavery, but once that is done a new peace can be found.
The next time I post I will talk about how I think this quote relates to RDI® and the core deficits of autism that we talk so much about. I would love to hear your interpretation of the quote or what it means to you personally or in terms of RDI®. Feel free to leave me a comment if you would like.
Talk to you soon,
Erin
This quote was on a card I received this week and I have been pondering it for a few days now as it sits on my desk. I have been thinking about what it means to me and my life. I think what it is really saying is that we need to be willing to take risks and try new things. We should not be afraid to have new experiences. That by experiencing new things we can find a new sense of ourselves. Trying new things and finding new ways to look at the world can help us to further understand our past experiences and possibly change our outlook. Allowing yourself the chance to move beyond what you have always known provides the opportunity to find a new sense of yourself.
This has been particularly poignant for me this past month and I think that as I continue on this journey of swimming in a new sea I will find new self-respect and an advanced experience that will allow me to find a new understanding of many of my past adventures and how they led me to this new place. It is always touch to release the bonds of slavery, but once that is done a new peace can be found.
The next time I post I will talk about how I think this quote relates to RDI® and the core deficits of autism that we talk so much about. I would love to hear your interpretation of the quote or what it means to you personally or in terms of RDI®. Feel free to leave me a comment if you would like.
Talk to you soon,
Erin
Thursday, June 12, 2008
What Kind of Thinker are You?
What kind of thinker are you? Do like to think about concepts from the top down or from the bottom up? We have been having a lot of discussion about this in our office lately. The majority of us like to see the big picture first and then break it down into smaller parts. What is the theme is the question we have all been asking lately.
So what stemmed this discussion of different types of thinking? Now that we as consultants are becoming more and more familiar and comfortable using the new RDIos® we have come to the conclusion that it is easier for many of us to find the themes within each stage and begin to think about each theme as a whole first. We can then take each of the individual parts (objectives) and work on those as they relate to the theme. This has been tremendously helpful to us as consultants and to many of our families alike as we have shifted to thinking in this way. I feel like I can make sense of where I am headed now instead of driving one mile at a time with no real sense of where I am headed except to the end of the road.
I’m curious about what kind of thinkers all of you are? Maybe you are one or the other or perhaps a combination of the two. I’d love to hear from some of you. I think I can become a better guide by knowing what type of thinker my apprentices are so I intend to explore this with my families over the next month as I continue to meet with them.
Talk to you soon,
Erin
So what stemmed this discussion of different types of thinking? Now that we as consultants are becoming more and more familiar and comfortable using the new RDIos® we have come to the conclusion that it is easier for many of us to find the themes within each stage and begin to think about each theme as a whole first. We can then take each of the individual parts (objectives) and work on those as they relate to the theme. This has been tremendously helpful to us as consultants and to many of our families alike as we have shifted to thinking in this way. I feel like I can make sense of where I am headed now instead of driving one mile at a time with no real sense of where I am headed except to the end of the road.
I’m curious about what kind of thinkers all of you are? Maybe you are one or the other or perhaps a combination of the two. I’d love to hear from some of you. I think I can become a better guide by knowing what type of thinker my apprentices are so I intend to explore this with my families over the next month as I continue to meet with them.
Talk to you soon,
Erin
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Why did you choose RDI?
As many of you know, we offer a weekly e-zine. If you click on this link you can scroll down to the bottom of the page and enter your e-mail address to begin receiving this wonderful free resource (also notice many other available resources), filled with even more of our wonderful insights. I know you can't get enough of us! In my upcoming articles, I plan to start writing about why you should choose RDI® as your treatment plan. While I have many reasons why you should, I'd like to hear what you think. If you are already doing RDI®, why do you think others should choose this as their family's treatment plan?
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Closure
“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.” – Douglas Noel Adams
I was looking for a quote to go along with my blog for this week and came across this one that I think says it all. Do any of us ever really end up going where we intended, but somehow end up where we were meant to be? That is what happened to me 8 years ago when a student with autism ended up on my caseload and I fell in love with a whole new population of students that I didn’t know anything about. Then Nicole came into my life and changed it even more when she introduced me to RDI®. That was it the end to my old way of thinking and the beginning of the new.
So it is at this time with great joy and sadness that I say goodbye to one part of my life. Yesterday was my last day working for the public school system. I am now a full time RDI® consultant, speech/language pathologist and feeding therapist in the private sector. I can believe how great it feels to follow my passion and know that this is where I intended to be all along it just took me a little time to find my way here.
This past week has one of closure for me. I have said goodbye to the many students, staff and parents that I have worked with over the past 13 years. It has been an amazing journey where I have learned so much and it led me to find my passion for this I will always be grateful. Although it has been sad I have also felt a sense of rightness in knowing that this is the right decision for me.
So as I close this chapter of my life and begin a new one I am looking to the Horizon and anticipating all of the great things to come in the place where I intended to be!
Talk to you soon,
Erin
I was looking for a quote to go along with my blog for this week and came across this one that I think says it all. Do any of us ever really end up going where we intended, but somehow end up where we were meant to be? That is what happened to me 8 years ago when a student with autism ended up on my caseload and I fell in love with a whole new population of students that I didn’t know anything about. Then Nicole came into my life and changed it even more when she introduced me to RDI®. That was it the end to my old way of thinking and the beginning of the new.
So it is at this time with great joy and sadness that I say goodbye to one part of my life. Yesterday was my last day working for the public school system. I am now a full time RDI® consultant, speech/language pathologist and feeding therapist in the private sector. I can believe how great it feels to follow my passion and know that this is where I intended to be all along it just took me a little time to find my way here.
This past week has one of closure for me. I have said goodbye to the many students, staff and parents that I have worked with over the past 13 years. It has been an amazing journey where I have learned so much and it led me to find my passion for this I will always be grateful. Although it has been sad I have also felt a sense of rightness in knowing that this is the right decision for me.
So as I close this chapter of my life and begin a new one I am looking to the Horizon and anticipating all of the great things to come in the place where I intended to be!
Talk to you soon,
Erin
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