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Welcome to “On the Horizon”
Issue 159: Building Competence through Guided Participation
On the Horizon is an award winning weekly ezine for parents of children with developmental disabilities who want simple, effective strategies to reduce stress, support their child’s development, and improve quality of life for the whole family.
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 A Note from Nicole: Summer CAMPS
Idea of the Week: Slip ‘N Slide
Feature Article: Building Competence through Guided Participation
The Horizons Team Recommends: Learning as We Grow
Upcoming Events: Workshops/Conferences
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Hi Everyone,
I’m enjoying time with my family this week as we are vacationing in Washington DC. We’re visiting the monuments, museums, and the huge escalators at the metro stations (which some of my kids love and some of them hate). Visiting family is also on the agenda, and I’m always amazed at how much my nieces and nephews grow between visits!
Our summer camps have been in full swing, and we’ve got some great photos posted on our website and Facebook. If you aren’t yet fans of our on Facebook you can “like” us here and check out all the photos of our summer fun!
Michelle’s featured article this week is about guided participation. This is such a critical concept for all parents and teachers to understand, especially in relation to kids with neurodevelopmental disorders. When we are effective as guides to our children they gain a sense of competence and resort to their coping mechanisms less and less. When you’re done reading the article post a comment to let us know what you think about the guided participation process with your child.I hope your week is wonderful!
Make it a great week!
Looking to the horizon,
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Slip ‘N Slide
Set up your Slip ‘N Slide in the backyard. This is a fun way to stay cool during those hot summer days. Try and find as many ways you can go down the Slip ‘N Slide. If you do not have a Slip ‘N Slide a tarp with soapy water on it works just as well.
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 Building Competence through Guided Participation
By: Michelle VanderHeide, BSW
I’ll never forget my first job. I started working at a very small restaurant, about 20 tables, with only one other waitress. The first day on the job I was handed an apron, a pad of paper, and a pen; and told to get to work. I was given no guidance on how to wait tables. The restaurant became immediately busy, and I just started taking orders. Miraculously, I got the drinks out to the right tables; but by the time the food orders were up, I had no idea where to go with the orders. I started walking up to my tables and asking; “Did you order the shrimp basket?” “Please tell me that you ordered the shrimp basket!” “Somebody from this table must have ordered the shrimp basket!!!” As you can imagine, my stress increased as the restaurant got busier and I still had no idea where to bring the food! I failed at my job that day, and was feeing completely incompetent as a waitress; especially when my boss told me how disappointed he was in me!
Developing competence is critical for wanting to reenter situations we have encountered in the past. If that day had gone differently, and my boss had guided me through the process of waiting tables, I would have felt competent as a waitress and returned with excitement to work the next day. Instead, I was stressed and anxious and really did not want to go back! Fortunately, I was resilient and returned to work despite my instinct never to go back. The second day went much better, as the night was slower and another waitress demonstrated some essential concepts to simplifying the process.
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Learning as
we Grow
You’ve Been
Asking For It – The Resource for Applying Principles of Remediation in
School Settings is Finally Here!
This long-awaited book is written for parents and
professionals who want to be more effective in their work with students
who have neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism.
You will learn how to:
- Identify the core features of neurodevelopmental disorders
that create communication, learning, and relationship challenges for
your students
- Shift from a mindset of working around deficits
(compensation) to correcting the root issues that create obstacles for
your students (remediation)
- Modify your communication to promote your students’
communication and thinking abilities
- Identify the unique strengths and obstacles of each student
in order to determine appropriate placement and programming
- Achieve meaningful outcomes for students that allow them to
reach their greatest potential
For more
information, click here
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Please join us!
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On the Horizon
is a weekly ezine for parents of children with developmental disabilities who want simple, effective strategies to reduce stress, support their child¹s development, and improve quality of life for the whole family.
Our mailing address is:
Horizons Developmental Remediation Center
3120 68th Street SE
Caledonia, MI 49316
Our telephone:
(616) 698-0306
Our email address:
info@horizonsdrc.com
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