
Welcome to “On the Horizon”
Issue 47: Apprenticeship
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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Remediation Through Apprenticeship
A Note from Nicole: Our New book; Do Something Daily Calendar
Idea of the Week: Valentine Card Holders
Feature Article: Apprenticeship
The Horizons Team Recommends: Do Something Daily Calendar; CORE Approach Program
Upcoming Events: CORE Approach Parent Teleseminar; Parent Chat; Sibshop


Hi Everyone!
I’m breathing a sigh of relief today after spending almost every free moment of the past couple of weeks working on edits to a new book about remediation
and education that Erin, Courtney, and I have written. Our editor is going through the final draft of the manuscript to make any last-minute changes before it goes to print. The process of writing this book has been quite a journey, but I’m thrilled with how
it turned out…and I know you all will be, too! I’ll give you more details in the next few weeks, but for now you can be among the first to know the title—Learning As We Go: Enhancing Education for Students with Autism and Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders. I can’t wait to be able to show it to you!
This week’s article is a great piece Erin wrote about apprenticeship. It is so important to understand how adults guide children in order to promote development in all areas. For some of you this information will be a good refresher, while others of you may not have thought about how important this process is. Read the article and then spend a few
moments each day thinking about how you engage your children and/or
students as apprentices under your guidance. If you want some great
ideas for engaging your apprentice in small moments throughout the
day, check out our Do Something Daily Calendar.
Have a fabulous week!
Looking to the horizon,



Valentine Card Holders
Using 1 ½ paper plates, attach them together to make a pocket for collecting all your Valentines. You can punch holes around the edges and thread ribbon or yarn through to add some decoration. Then add some more decorations (glitter, stickers, pom-poms, etc.) to the paper plates so others know where to put your Valentines.


Apprenticeship
By: Erin Roon, MA CCC-SLP
According to the
American Heritage Desk Dictionary, the word apprentice is defined as “one learning a trade under a skilled master; or a beginner.” I find both of these definitions to be relevant to the work I do each day, as well as the way I think about apprenticeship in relation to the remediation of autism spectrum disorders or related neurological disorders.
Apprenticeship in job training has been around for hundreds of years, dating back to the middle ages. The idea of apprenticeship itself has been around much longer than that, since the dawn of history. Humans have been learning from “masters” forever, and it is what allows
the human race to survive. Parents apprentice their children who
apprentice their children, and so on. This passing on of basic survival skills is not what we may traditionally think of as a master/apprentice relationship; but in reality, it is apprenticeship in its most basic and necessary form.
We tend to think of apprentices in relation to job training, or within education, or the work force. While this form of training is the backbone of most occupations, apprenticeship is used in many places, and for many purposes. If you go back to the definition at the beginning of this
article, it states that an apprentice is one who is learning a trade
under a master. When I think of this, I take the meaning of the word
“trade” loosely. Trade could mean skill, task, or concept. When thought of in this way, apprenticeship applies to almost everything we learn throughout our lives.
When was the last time you were an apprentice or a master? I often find myself in both positions. Sometimes I am even caught as a master and an apprentice of the same task. As I continue to learn, I begin passing my knowledge and discoveries on to someone else. I’m sure you have all had this experience as well. Let’s face it, there are
some things we will never completely master, but we know enough to
take on an apprentice and begin guiding him or her to a new level of
understanding.


Do Something Daily Calendar
Do you dread hearing your child complain, “I’m bored”?
Struggle to think of something fun you can do together?
Have trouble squeezing one-on-one time with her into your day?
That’s why we created the Do Something Daily Calendar. The Calendar offers a daily dose of inspiration and ideas for spending time together–whether you have 60 seconds or 60 minutes.
$19.95 (Per Calendar) Calendars are assembled by clients in our EmployAbilities program. $1.00 from every calendar will be donated to FARR.
For more information, click here.

CORE Approach Program!
Finally – Hope and Real Improvement is Possible for Individuals with Autism and Their Families!
If your child has been diagnosed on the autism spectrum, or with a related neuro-developmental condition, you simply cannot afford not to investigate the CORE Approach Program. If you are ready for a change; ready to step away from the status-quo; ready to stop doing things that aren’t getting you where you want to be; ready to really understand the core deficits creating obstacles for your child; ready to significantly impact your child and your family for the better – then you are ready for CORE Approach.
Watch the video and learn more here

Please join us!
- CORE Approach Parent Teleseminar with Nicole & Erin – Get your Questions Answered (Horizons Families Only)
Thursday January 29 2009, 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM EST
- Horizons Parent Chat: Objective Support with Michelle & Courtney
(Horizons Families Only)
Monday February 2, 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM EST
- Sibshop – Horizons Sibling Network
Open to everyone!
Saturday March 14 2009, 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM EST
- HANDLE® Intermediate Training
April 6-11, 2009 and May 4-9, 2009
- Sibshop – Horizons Sibling Network
Open to everyone!
Saturday May 16 2009, 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM EST
- Sibshop – Horizons Sibling Network
Open to everyone!
Saturday July 18 2009, 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM EST
See our Event Calendar for more details…
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