Trellis ABA

Trellis provides ABA therapy to help children with autism.

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Mother’s Day 2015

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This Sunday we join many families around the nation to celebrate the cherished role mothers play in our society. The impact mothers and other nurturing caregivers have on the growth and development of an individual is immeasurable. Mother’s Day is set aside as the one time of year when we pause to acknowledge how special moms are to us.

Today, we pay tribute to every mom and caregiver who advocates tirelessly for those affected by autism. Trellis recognizes your dedication and says thanks to the moms who fight every day for the care, services and supports for their children on the spectrum. We are in awe of your resilience and courage and stand with you in providing nothing less than the absolute best for your children. We celebrate you, Mom, as you break down barriers every single day and demonstrate that individuals on the spectrum are capable of excellence. We know that it takes additional resources to positively impact the quality of life of every individual on the spectrum and we honor those individuals that are caregivers and participants in the daily challenges and successes of life.

When you plan your celebrations for the weekend, remember to show your appreciation to every mom you encounter and know that we appreciate you! Happy Mother’s Day!

Podcast: Tips from Temple Grandin

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Arguably the most famous person in the autism community, Dr. Grandin has been advocating for individuals with autism for more than 30 years.

In 2010, Grandin delivered the TED talk “The world needs all kinds of minds.” Grandin’s own experience with autism has informed her numerous books on the subject including My Life in Pictures which was adapted for the award-winning HBO film.

Podcast from All Autism Talk, sponsored in part by Trellis Services

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Born on August 29, 1947, in Boston, Massachusetts, Temple Grandin was diagnosed with autism as a child and went on to pursue work in psychology and animal science. She has become a leading advocate for autistic communities and has also written books and provided consultation on the humane treatment of animals.

Grandin has been recognized by the academic community and the general public for her work. In 2009, she was named a fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. She is the recipient of several honorary degrees, and has been featured on a range of television and radio programs.

In 2010, HBO released an Emmy Award winning film on Grandin’s life which continues to strike a chord with audiences. Temple’s willingness to honestly share her challenges as well as share her passionate perspective with depth and resonance has made her a very popular (and busy) speaker and presenter.

 

April is also Occupational Therapy month and it’s not over yet!

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Spring is upon us! A time of year when kids are excited to get outside and play. However for some kids, playing outside is difficult and it shouldn’t be. If your child has difficulty with any of the following activities, he or she may benefit from occupational therapy services to make these activities FUN again!

Does your child have difficulty with any of the following activities?

  • Riding a bike or tricycle?
  • Pumping a swing?
  • Sitting on a swing without falling off?
  • Riding a scooter?
  • Propelling riding toys?
  • Playing on playground equipment?
  • Catching?
  • Throwing?
  • Running?
  • Jumping?
  • Skipping?
  • Sitting in the grass because he/she doesn’t like the way it feels on his/her legs?
  • Having sunscreen applied because he/she doesn’t like the way it feels?

Or does he or she have trouble with getting ready to go outside and play?

  • Getting dressed?
  • Putting shoes on?
  • Putting socks on?
  • Tying shoes?
  • Attaching Velcro on shoes?
  • Brushing teeth?
  • Combing hair?

If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, your child may benefit from an occupational therapy evaluation.

A child with delayed development may not demonstrate skills that are typical of the child’s age. He or she may have difficulty achieving increased independence and ease with feeding, dressing (such as putting a shirt on or tolerating the feeling of pants against their legs), gross motor activities (such as playing on a playground, catching, and jumping), fine motor activities (such as managing zippers, and buttons), visual motor activities (such as completing puzzles, copying from the board), and developing problem-solving and coping strategies.

Occupational therapists who work with children are knowledgeable about all stages of development and the appropriate milestones in a child’s physical, cognitive, and behavioral development.

What can an occupational therapist do?

Evaluate the child’s level of performance in critical developmental areas

Observe the child clinically and determine how to utilize therapeutic activities in order to facilitate development,  skill acquisition and generalization

  • Develop a plan of treatment independently or in coordination with other health care professionals who are treating the child
  •  Recommend adaptive equipment to facilitate the development of age-appropriate skills

What can parents and families do?

  • Stay educated about and involved in the child’s treatment plan.\
  • Follow up with the treating occupational therapist and health professionals to encourage further development and track progress.

– See more at The American Occupational Therapy Association Inc.

In Maryland, habilitation services like occupational therapy are covered by the autism mandate. Habilitative services are therapeutic services that are provided to children with a genetic or congenital condition to enhance the child’s ability to function. Habilitative Services include, but are not limited to, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Behavioral Health treatment, including Applied Behavioral Analysis (effective March 17, 2014).  Visit Pathfinders for Autism for more information and additional resources.

If you have questions about the clinical services offered at Trellis, contact Caitlin Sprouse, MS, OTR/L, Clinical Services Coordinator for more information.

A Look Inside Trellis

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Trellis is a unique agency that uses progressive educational and behavioral models to help teach children that learning can be a fun, playful and interactive experience. Learn more about our organization and the passion of our staff by watching the following short video or read about our services.

Podcast: Coaches Power Forward with Pat Skerry

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Listen to the following podcast from All Autism Talk featuring Towson basketball coach and 2015 Bull Roast keynote speaker Pat Skerry.

All Autism Talk is sponsored in part by Trellis Services.

This year, a total of 238 teams (15 women’s), as many as 150 officials and lots of broadcasters showed up to support Autism Awareness Weekend in college basketball. Throughout the weekend, coaches, officials and broadcasters raised autism awareness by donning the blue Autism Speaks puzzle piece pin during college basketball games. In all, more than 3,000 coaches, staff, administrators, and officials were wearing pins and spreading the word.

Spearheaded by NCAA basketball coaches Pat Skerry and Tom Herrion, the program provides coaches, their teams, schools and fans with opportunities to raise awareness, fundraise and advocate for the needs of people affected by autism.

Pat Skerry has completely revitalized the Towson men’s basketball program and brought the Tigers back into the national spotlight. Skerry, who took over a program that had endured 15 straight losing seasons, wasted little time in righting the ship.

Skerry, a 21-year coaching veteran, has succeeded in changing the culture of the Towson men’s basketball program. During his first semester as head coach, his players posted the highest GPA for a Towson men’s basketball team in over a decade.

A native of Medford, Mass., Skerry played collegiately at Tufts from 1989-92 where he was a two-time team captain and garnered All-New England honors. As a point guard, he recorded a school-record 650 assists during his career – a mark that still ranks as the 17th best in NCAA Division III history. His 198 assists in 1990-91 is a Tufts single-season record. He also is fifth on the school’s career steals list with 95.

Pat and his wife, Kristen, have two sons, Ryan and Owen.

Creating Successful Play Dates for Kids with Autism

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Play dates are a great way to help your child practice social skills, play skills, and communication skills with peers in a safe and structured setting. Preparing for a play date and having it go as planned can be difficult for many families with a child with autism. Here are some tips for a successful play date.

Thoughtfully select a peer
Choose a child who is close to your child’s age and displays age appropriate communication, social, and play skills. The peer should be able to play cooperatively and be flexible. It helps to have a peer who enjoys giving lots of help and suggestions to their friends. Your child’s school, neighbors, or members of your religious congregation may be able to connect you a good match.

Plan the activities head of time
Choose activities which both children will enjoy. They should be structured, organized and should require some level of cooperation. Make the play date fun and special.

Pre-teach the activities to your child
Prepare your child for the play date by practicing the planned activities in advance. Try role playing with your child, taking the role of their peer.

Know what you want your child to learn during play dates
Having clear goals will increase the likelihood that specific skills will be learned during play dates. Rather than simply hoping that something is learned, you can set an intention. Have two or three specific goals (e.g. taking turns, asking questions, responding to questions, changing play activities appropriately), and take notes on how your child did on each goal.

Keep it short
You may want to stick to 30 minutes for first few play dates. The 30 minutes can be further broken down into several 10-15 minute activities. Make sure transitions between activities are short and smooth.

Facilitate the play and provide reinforcement
Encourage cooperative play and guide the children to interact with each other. Provide frequent treats and praise as reinforcement for positive interactions.

Consider activities where the children need to work together, problem solve, and share the same materials. Treasure hunts are great activities – hide toys and treats around the house and give the children a map to the treasures. Art projects are also fun with friends – make a collage, paint a poster or mural. Yard games to try are Freeze Tag, Hide and Seek, Red light Green Light. Have fun!

3rd Annual Bull Roast

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In addition to creating opportunities for promoting awareness of autism in April; it’s a great month to join us for our 3rd Annual Bull Roast to raise funds for an organization that has been providing resources to the community for 15 years.

Pathfinders for Autism is the State’s largest autism organization dedicated to helping individuals, parents and professionals find resources, supports and training while working to increase the awareness of autism spectrum disorders and advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and their families.

The event will be held on Saturday, April 11, 2015 7:00pm-12:00am at the Valley Mansion by Martin’s in Cockeysville, MD. Tickets for the event are $50 per person. Over 350 guests had a great time last year enjoying the great food, live music, open bar, silent auction, money wheel, 50/50 raffle and photo booth. This year we hope even more attendees join the festivities.

Buy Tickets Now

“We started the Bull Roast as a fundraiser for Pathfinders for Autism because we believe in the services that they provide for the families in our community. Parents need to have a resource that they can depend on to know to access the simple things that many of us take for granted; haircuts, sensory friendly medical professionals, workshops and events for families. Pathfinders is not only a resource for families, they are vocal advocates for individuals with autism and provide trainings for first responders and other professionals across the state. Our event has raised over $20,000 in just 2 years and we are looking forward to increasing the amount we are able to donate in year three.” said Diana Campitelli, Trellis Services Associate Executive Director.

Similar to other non-profits, Pathfinders is supported by grants and independent fundraisers. Over 70% of the operational budget for the organization is funded through the non-restricted funds generated by events. Jennifer Hobbs, Pathfinders for Autism Fund Development Associate had this to say about the event, “The Bull Roast sponsored by Trellis is one of our largest independent fundraisers – so it is a HUGE part of enabling us to offer free resources and services to individuals with autism and their loved ones.”

When asked about the purpose of the event, Suzanne M. Heid, Trellis Services Associate Executive Director exclaimed, “Pathfinders does amazing work in our community and their contributions are invaluable. We are willing to give 100% of our efforts to anything that benefits them!”

Consider raising awareness tor autism in April by supporting our event for a worthy cause. Still need your ticket? Click this link to purchase now!

7 Tips for Snow Day Fun

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While no one can argue with the fun of traditional activities, such as building snowmen or snow angels, keeping your kiddo occupied throughout an entire snow day while confined to your house might require a few more tricks up your sleeve. Consider the unique opportunities the snow can provide for you and your kiddo to explore different language concepts, social skills, academic tasks, and leisure activities. Think about bringing what winter has to offer indoors, where it is warm, for a unique way to learn and play together. To get started, grab a few safe bowls (think plastic Tupperware), some pots, a muffin tin, and a few spoons of different sizes. Fill one bowl with cold water and another with hot water. Throw a big beach towel on the floor and grab some of that white, powdery stuff! Here are seven tips for snow day fun.
  1. Let your child explore, figure out what they like about the activity, and add to what they find fun. If they’re watching you and waiting for what you will do next, you’ve got it right!
  2. In the beginning, don’t demand your child’s attention. Show them some fun ways to play with the snow and “kitchen stuff” and talk about what is happening. “Wow, you smashed the snow!” “Did you see it melt in the hot water?” “You got more snow!” “Stir, stir, stir, good job stirring!”
  3. Language Concepts: Once you’ve got the activity going, use the snow to start talking about fun, related language concepts like hot/cold, wet/dry, and melting/frozen.
  4. Social Skills: Take turns using the spoons, stirring, and playing. Encourage and model social skills by commenting about the activity and what you or your child enjoy. “Watch it melt!” “Wow, that is cold!” “I like playing in the snow!”
  5. Academic Tasks: Discuss weather, precipitation, seasons, and states of matter (solid, liquid, gas). Use your muffin tin and practice counting as you fill each cup.
  6. Leisure Skills: Feel free to step away from the activity and let your child dig in on their own. Sustaining a play activity and incorporating newly learned play skills modeled by an adult play a crucial role in learning.
  7. Be sure to set boundaries about where the snow must stay. We suggest prompting all snow activity back to the area of the beach towel.
Most importantly, have fun and enjoy this new experience!

Autism 2015: 365 days to make progress

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Autism is in the news, social media, and even old fashioned print more than ever. The increasing awareness is great. The influx of research and funding options is even better! The heartwarming stories are nice, the success stories are inspiring. Still, misinformation and slanted headlines annoyingly abound. Such is this strange, complicated, passionate and ultimately very special autism community. We’re glad to be a part of it, and will do our best to honor and respect the many contributing voices. As a community we are making progress in many ways and continue to have optimism that together and individually we can make great strides. But we have no doubt, the most important person to each and every parent, day-in and day-out is your child with autism.

So what will this year’s 365 days mean for you? We suggest this simple but powerful idea: Progress. When your past the notion that there may be a quick fix and come to terms that the pursuit of cure won’t help you with today’s challenges, progress is the name of the game. Forget quantum leaps, each milestone met will offer its own reward. Know there will be set backs and rough patches, and keep moving forward.

BE PRESENT: There are lots of amazing therapists, doctors and teachers in the world. These are brilliant folks that have advice about child development and parenting. But you are the one that is with your child every day and for real progress to take place, you gotta be in the game. And don’t forget to take time to just BE with your child, to appreciate all the beautiful, unique ways he expresses himself and what he enjoys.

BE CONSISTENT: What is the 12 step motto…”the more you work it, the more it works”? Working consistently with your child’s team to implement strategies and teach him…even when it is hard or inconvenient, propels the process.

BE A FRIEND/SPOUSE/PERSON: You can’t focus on autism 24 hours a day. You just can’t. Make time for yourself, your friends and your family. When you do, life just makes more sense, has more balance and you will likely have more stamina for the work ahead.

BE GRATEFUL: Count those blessings, celebrate the wins and enjoy every single bit of progress. This is the real juice of life that makes it all worth it. No one else will feel the joy quite the way you will. It’s awesome.

Of course we will keep reading the headlines, keeping up to date is valuable and research is exciting. In 2015 we will continue to be moved, enlightened and sometimes annoyed by it all. Stick to the plan that works for you and your family and know that come December 31, 2015 you will be able to look at another year passed and call it good.

The Power of Siblings

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One of the Merriam-Webster definitions of siblings is “one of two or more things related by a common tie or characteristic.”

But what if one of those siblings is a child with autism?

The relationship between children with autism and typically developing siblings is a varied, interesting and special one – much like all sibling relationships. And while that doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges or issues that might arise –sibling relationships can be one of the most valuable interventions.

Most children naturally develop – learning language and behavior from those around them. Unfortunately, the imitation skills for children with autism are often not there. They need interaction to accomplish these milestones. Having a sibling who already has these skills is one of the biggest and best teaching opportunities.

Playing, talking, mimicking siblings – older or younger – can help children with autism develop language and behavior that will help them in school and in life.
In fact, peer modeling and peer interaction is one way Trellis helps children learn and build the skills they need for success through its school and various therapeutic programs. Children with autism that have typical siblings often can build this into their everyday lives.

Children without autism can sometimes act as parents, as nurturers and as teachers. This unique bond is one of the reasons Trellis invites typically developing siblings into school and programs for “play dates.” It helps foster the relationship and can benefit both children.

There is no doubt that having a child with autism can put extreme demands on a family. And every family and every sibling relationship is different. While there are many scenarios that can play out between children with special needs and their typically developing siblings, we think the first step to ensuring your children can make the most of this special bond is ensuring siblings understand why his/her sibling might act differently. This obviously depends on the age of the child, but chances are most children already sense something is different and love and accept their sibling regardless.

Trellis also encourages including siblings in family meetings and other discussions. Not only does this help ensure no child feels left out, but you might gain some insights from the unique perspective of your children.

There are many aspects of the sibling relationship to explore beyond this. In addition to your Trellis staff, some resources to foster interaction between your children include:
• Pathfinders for Autism Sibshops
• Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital Sibshops