Welcome to “On the Horizon”

Issue 81:  Happy Birthday to You! How to Celebrate Your Child’s Special Day Appropriately

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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Helpful Ideas

A Note from Nicole: 3 Day Trip to Houston

Idea of the Week:  Silverware Drawer

Feature Article: Happy Birthday to You! How to Celebrate Your Child’s Special Day Appropriately

The Horizons Team Recommends: Raising Minds®; Horizons Workshops

Upcoming Events: CORE Approach Parent Teleseminar; West Michigan Sensory Awareness Event

Hi Everyone!

I just returned from a 3-day trip to Houston with Erin, Michelle, and Courtney.  We enjoyed a few days attending the annual CORE Approach conference, reconnecting with colleagues, and doing some shopping and eating.  It was great to get away with the girls for a few days and, rest assured, we came up with lots of new ideas that we will be putting into action over the next couple of months.  The power of the “collective mind” is an amazing thing!

A couple of reminders this week:  Our first workshop of the school year is focused on assessment and will be happening later this month.  Get the details on this and other workshops at www.HorizonsDRCWorkshops.com. Also, Erin has added lots of great content to the Raising Minds site over the past couple of weeks.  Join everyone else who has become a member of this innovative community and take advantage of videos, audio programs, Q&A’s, research articles, and much more.

Wishing you a wonderful week!

Looking to the horizon,

Silverware Drawer

After a while the silverware drawer can look a little crazy.  Spend some time taking everything out of the drawer and cleaning the drawer itself.  Then go through what you took out of the drawer and decide if everything really needs to go back in the drawer or not.  When you have figured out what you are going to put back in the drawer, make sure you put everything back in an organized way so that you have a nice, clean, organized silverware drawer.

Happy Birthday to You! How to Celebrate Your Child’s Special Day Appropriately

By: Courtney Kowalczyk, M.Ed.

Over the past few months, a few of my clients have asked “how should we celebrate our child’s birthday, taking into consideration his or her special needs.”  This is an important question on many levels, since we all want to celebrate special occasions with family; however, this can sometimes be too much for many of our children with special needs.  Here are a few ideas and strategies to use so that you can celebrate your child’s birthday without making the event too overwhelming for the child and yourself!

• Limit the guest list!  All too often, we find ourselves inviting to birthday parties family members whom we generally don’t see very often.  Even though it may be uncomfortable for you not to invite them, think about how overwhelmed your child may feel if there are several people around whom he or she may not know.  If you feel the need to invite all of your family and friends, then split the party up into a couple of different occasions.  By limiting the number of guests, you can help to reduce the anxiety and fear of uncertainty that your child may be facing.
• Keep it simple!  When we begin to plan a child’s birthday, it is easy for us to get carried away with the games, food, treat bags, gifts, and many other things that go into having a birthday party.  All of these things are wonderful; but for children who have a difficult time processing information effectively, these elements of a birthday party can be overwhelming.  By simplifying things and keeping the party elements to a minimum, you can help to reduce your child’s anxiety and allow him or her to enjoy the party more thoroughly.

Continued…

Discover a Source of Information
and Support for Parents Just Like You!

Imagine for a moment what your life would be like if you knew how to
identify and address the biggest obstacles facing your child. I’m
talking about the core issues that create difficulties for your child,
for you, for your family, and for anyone else involved in your child’s
life. What would it be like if you could help your child learn to:

• Attend to the right things at the right time
• Thoughtfully communicate—not just talk in memorized or mechanical ways
• Be genuinely interested in the emotions, ideas, and actions of others
• Take responsibility for actions
• Flexibly adapt to change
• Understand the intentions of others
• Come up with creative ideas and solutions
• Have meaningful conversations
• Develop curiosity about other people, events, and things in the environment
• Be self-aware—know who s/he is as a person and how s/he is being perceived by others

The information available at Raising Minds® will help you understand exactly what deficit areas require treatment and how to accomplish that, while lowering your stress in the process.

Now, just imagine the peace you will bring to yourself and your
family, not to mention the results you’ll create for your child, when
you have 24/7 access to the information, resources, and motivation you
need to understand your child’s needs and powerfully impact his/her
development.

HorizonsDRCWorkshops.com

You Have Questions.
We Have Answers.

Join us for learning experiences designed to provide you with the information, tools, and motivation you need to make a meaningful difference in the lives of individuals with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Horizons
Workshop Opportunities

• Evaluating for Autism: The Nuts and Bolts of Quality School-Based Autism Spectrum Disorder Evaluations

• Autism in the Classroom: Simple & Effective Strategies to Learn Today and Use Tomorrow

• Day of Change: A Groundbreaking Workshop for Parents of Children with Autism and Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders

• Extreme Makeover: Autism Education Edition

For more information, click here

Please join us!

• CORE Approach Parent Teleseminar: Using Food for Oral Motor Therapy – Erin Roon guest speaker
  (Horizons Families Only)
  Thursday, October 15, 2009 from 11-12pm EST
• Horizons Family Fun Event:
  (Horizons Families Only)
  Klackle Orchard in Greenville, MI – apples, pumpkins, hayrides, and more!
  Saturday, October 17, 2009 from 9:30am – 12:00pm
• West Michigan Sensory Awareness Event:
  Open to everyone!
  Showing of the movie “Autistic-Like” for family and community members interested in increasing their awareness about Sensory Processing Disorder and the need for careful diagnosis of children with developmental challenges.
  Saturday, October 24, 2009 10am EST at Horizons – call 616-698-0306 or email betsy@horizonsdrc.com for tickets
• Workshop – Evaluating for Autism:The
  Nuts and Bolts of Quality School-Based Autism Spectrum Disorder Evaluations
  Thursday, October 29, 2009
• CORE Approach Parent Teleseminar: Q&A with Michelle & Courtney
  (Horizons Families Only)
  Monday, November 2, 2009 from 1:30-2:30pm EST
• Sibshop – Horizons Sibling Network
  Open to everyone!
  Saturday, November 7, 2009, 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM EST
• Horizons Parent Education Day
  (Horizons Families Only)
  Topic: Remediation-Friendly Treatments for Feeding Problems and Sensory Processing Disorders  Saturday, November 14, 2009 from 10am-4pm
• Workshop – Autism in the Classroom: Simple &
  Effective Strategies to Learn Today and Use Tomorrow 
  Friday, November 20, 2009
• Workshop – Day of Change: A
  Groundbreaking Workshop for Parents of Children with Autism and Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  Saturday, November 21, 2009
• Workshop – Evaluating for Autism: The
  Nuts and Bolts of Quality School-Based Autism Spectrum Disorder Evaluations
  Thursday, Feburary 11, 2009
• Workshop – Autism in the Classroom: Simple &
  Effective Strategies to Learn Today and Use Tomorrow 
  Friday, March 12, 2009
• Workshop – Day of Change: A
  Groundbreaking Workshop for Parents of Children with Autism and Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  Saturday, March 13, 2009
• Extreme Makeover: Autism Education Edition
  August 4-6, 2010