The annual conference

Greetings from the annual conference. Nicole, Courtney and I spent our first day at the annual conference hearing an update from Dr. Gutstein, a great presentation from two of our colleagues and presenting two sessions.

We have also had fun meeting up with some of our old pals and meeting some new ones. We miss Michelle being here with us this year, but know she'll be back with us next year.

We were able to enjoy a nice dinner and a do a little retail therapy this evening as well.

Of course our great minds are hard at work on new product and program ideas as well (which tends to happen when you get a few of us alone in a room together for longer periods of time). Keep checking the website for the launch of some of these new items.

We are enjoying our time, but will be glad to be home in a few days.

Talk to you soon,
Erin

Adventures in the Great Outdoors

Here are some pictures from the Great Outdoors week from Summer CAMPS...

And our time outside...

Down on the Farm

Here are some pictures from our Summer CAMPS week from Down on the Farm...

The older boys also added a rope net to our outdoor adventure course...

My Office Assistants

I had the privilege of having 2 great office assistants one morning. It was excellent. The made some copies for me that I needed to get done so I could get some other things done at my desk. They really enjoyed doing this for me and they did a great job. I think I'll have to have them come back again some more when I have more work that they can help me with.

Collaborate and Create Success

Over the past several weeks, a small group of teenagers and young adults have been working on a collaborative project here at Horizons as part of our summer program. As a group, the teens worked together to solve a problem we have been faced with recently as to where we should keep extra supplies and yard tools when they are not in use, as well as how to keep them secure. With support, the group decided to build a shed in an optimal location. After 3 weeks of hard work, planning, and constructing, the shed project is complete. Thank you to all of those who participated in our first session of Collaborate and Create!

Courtney

Co-regulation

Isn't it amazing how sometimes patterns just emerge? This has happened to me a lot lately over the past few weeks. I have spent time during many of my consultations the past few weeks really thinking about regulatory patterns/co-regulation.

Sometimes I think we get so wrapped up in the process of being or really focused on one particular objective that we forget about the patterns or co-regulation that is so important to the underlying success of the relationship that is being built. Or for those who are just starting out the co-regulation is so important. I just love it when I am sitting down with a set of parents and they say to me, "you know I think I just need to take some time to just be with my child or I need to think about building the trust and strengthening the relationship." Ah, it's about the being together and just taking a walk or swinging on the swing or tickling or snuggling. It doesn't have to be about any one thing just the rhythm of being can be enough to establish the co-regulation.

I have spent considerable time thinking about the families with whom I work and how this co-regulation happens or needs to happen. I think it is such an amazing and critical piece in developing a truly solid relationship.

This might be the moment where you take a step back and think about co-regulation and how that is happening for you these days. Maybe it is time to just pause, grab your child's hand and just go for a walk.

Talk to you soon,
Erin

CAMPS--Fun on the Farm

Whoa!!! Yee-Ha!! The farm was in full gear last week at Horizons during our CAMPS programs. All of our campers had fun learning about all kinds of different animals. We even had 2 animal friends who joined us for the day! Everyone especially enjoyed Bear, a large chocolate lab dog. He did all kinds of fun tricks for our campers and he really liked participating in the outdoor sensory course. As part of our CAMPS program, we integrate many different sensory, oral, fine, and gross motor experiences into our daily activities. Seeing, touching, and playing with the animals was a terrific way to experience life on the farm as well as to receive different forms of sensory input. I can't wait to see what is in store for us this week as we adventure into the great outdoors!

Courtney

Strengthening Relationships

I have had the pleasure of spending the past 3 days with one of my out of town families. It has been such fun working with them and seeing all of the progress that has been made over the past six months. I really enjoy taking a moment to pause to do an RDA as it gives everyone involved a chance to stop and reflect.

With this particular family I saw some really amazing things during this assessment period. I really felt like the guided participation relationship is strongly cemented at this point. Parents commented that their son is now wants to be with them more and more and will even tell them that he misses them. He stayed engaged with them throughout the entire first portion of the assessment and was easily guided. What I watched was a true collaboration between parent and child. This doesn’t mean that we still don’t have work to do and that he isn’t still in need of scaffolding and guidance from his parents, but he is also ready to begin taking on more responsibility for the co-regulation.

I saw a true strength in the bond that these parents and their son now have and I think the future is just a bit brighter for them at this point. For any of you who are interested in strengthening your bond and haven’t looked into RDI® yet I encourage you to do so. You can check out our website for more information at www.horizonsdrc.com. Let us help you find this relationship with your child.

Talk to you soon,
Erin

Sibshop

We held our 2nd Sibshop on Saturday, June 28. We had a great day as we were able to spend some of the time outdoors and do some activities. We had a lot of new kids attend this session and it was great to be able to get to know these kids. Here are some pictures from our day!

Stand Up!

Triangle Tag

Balloon Duo

Water Balloon Toss

Being Goofy

Under the Big Top

Under the Big Top was our theme for Summer CAMPS last week - what a fun time the kids had! At the end of the week they put on a show. The shed that the older kids started building last week is almost complete. Here are some more great pictures...

Under the Big Top

Outside

The Shed

Time to Rejuvenate

Taking time to rejuvenate is extremely important for all of us. I just recently returned from 10 days in beautiful Hawaii. I didn't take my cell phone or laptop on vacation with me (something I haven't done in a long time) and it was wondeful. I really had the opportunity to just get away from it all and relax.

I found myself a few times during that ten days actually losing track of what day it was. I did my best to not think about work, but to just enjoy the moment and make some great memories. The islands were beautiful and it wasn't hard to do.

I was able to come back to work relaxed and rejuvenated (except for the jet lag of course). Ready to begin again.

I hope that all of you find a little time this summer to take a break. Whether it is a night in a hotel or a two week vacation everyone needs time to recharge.

Talk to you soon,
Erin