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Rocking Horse Rehab
A Pediatric Rehab and Family Wellness Center
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Read on to find out what's happening at Rocking Horse Rehab!
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NJ Family
Favorite Kids' Docs 2016
Congratulations to our RHR
therapists
who have been voted
NJ's Favorite Kids' Docs 2016!
Sheri Marino, MA, CCC-SLP
Kathy Lutz, LCSW, CADC
Michelle Geise, OTR/L
Jennifer Vill, MA, CCC-SLP
Fiana Bezpalko, MS, CCC-SLP
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Message of the Month:
Rocking Horse in the News!
By Carey Masson
This month, Rocking Horse Rehab was honored to be featured in Inside Jersey magazine. The article features hippotherapy centers in New Jersey, including us!
The article features photos of some of our staff and interns, including Sheri, Brittney, Nicolette, and Kathy. Also included are some of our clients from 1st Cerebral Palsy of Belleville! There are multiple photos of our wonderful pony, Tetley, as well. The entire article is linked below.
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Horse of the Month
Pogo
Pogo is a 10-year-old quarter horse cross who is about 16.2 hands. This makes Pogo the tallest horse we use!! He has a very goofy personality, and always makes the staff and clients laugh during a session! Pogo has a great heart and works hard to keep his riders safe. The best thing about Pogo is that he does not care if you flop around on him; you could probably take a nap on Pogo and he wouldn't notice!
Pogo is used primarily for our equine facilitated mental health sessions. He is a great horse and loves working with us! We love working with him as well.
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Staff Member of the Month
DJ
Dorian "DJ" Johnston is founder and owner of the Jam Cats children's music program. His educational background includes studies at Morris County College and The Collective School of Music in Manhattan where his focus was on performance in classical, jazz band, and Latin music. His professional background spans over thirteen years of international touring with the rhythm and dance show The Rhythmics, as well as playing with numerous other top 40 wedding/cover bands throughout the New York City metropolitan area. He is also a private music instructor with his students and their families. DJ's years of stage experience combined with his passion for music and love for children fosters a very special connection between him and the children that he works with.
For more information on The Jam Cats music program, take a look at their website:
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Hero of the Month
The Kid's Wish Network
The Kid's Wish Network chose Tyler as the Hero of the Month in March 2014!
Tyler is a gentle soul who came to Rocking Horse Rehab because he struggled with anxiety. At age 7, his worries were many. Tyler did not want to go to school or play outside of his house, because of being bullied.
Tyler's work with Small Fry helped him practice his calming strategies while teaching Small Fry to play soccer. This fun activity helped to boost Tyler's self-confidence and his ability to problem solve. When he started riding Que, our enormous, gentle horse, his confidence continued to grow. Imagine being able to ride on a 1200 pound horse, negotiating turns and trotting around the arena over poles and jumps! It's a powerful way to practice assertiveness skills.
Through hard work and determination, Tyler is now doing great in school and his social life is improving as evidenced by requests from peers for play dates! He has come to terms with his worries and is in the process of taking charge of his life. Tyler is more flexible, willing to try new things, and assert himself when he needs to do so.
In the eyes of his parents and all of us here at Rocking Horse Rehab, both two-legged and four-legged, Tyler is a hero. We are so glad the Kid's Wish Network agrees!
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Volunteer of the Month
Joe
Joe is our mental health intern for the fall 2016 semester. Joe attends Montclair State University where he majors in family and child studies. Joe has been with Rocking Horse Rehab for about a month and he has already developed confidence and is very comfortable participating in sessions, both mounted and unmounted.
Over the past few summers, Joe has been the assistant coordinator at CancerCare in Ridgewood, NJ, where he has coordinated and organized therapeutic grief activities, memorial services, and the annual CancerCare walk/run of hope. Through this he helped to run the Healing Hearts bereavement camp located at Malibu Dude Ranch in Milford, PA.
In addition to assisting our social worker, Kathy Lutz, Joe has been a helping hand with our other therapists as well. We are so lucky to have someone with as much experience as Joe, and look forward to continuing his experience through our programs!
To become a volunteer, email:
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We are hiring!
Rocking Horse Rehab is looking for staff to join our team! We are currently searching for speech, occupational, and physical therapists to take on some hours. For more information contact
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Grant Money Available!
RHR is a recipient of a generous grant from the Italian Welfare League, an organization which assists children of Italian descent who are ill or have suffered an emotional trauma. Since 2001, they have raised and distributed over $1,500,000 to hundreds of children and organizations which provide services to children. Their grant helps us to provide services for children of Italian descent who otherwise would not be able to afford our services.
Their recipients have many different diagnoses, such as brain injuries, autism, cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome. For more information on how to receive a grant for our services, please email us at:
carey@rockinghorserehab.com
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Check out our partner: The Autism Think Tank
The Autism Think Tank, NJ
is designed to provide a multidisciplinary team approach to the identification and treatment of the complicated medical comorbidities of autism. The Autism Think Tank is comprised of leading
experts in autism from renowned teaching hospitals including Harvard/Massachusetts General Hospital and UCLA.
At the Autism Think Tank, the medical experts collaborate from around the U.S. in a video conference with local physicians and families to develop a cohesive plan of care for individuals with medically complex cases of autism. Medically stabilizing a child facilitates greater outcomes in behavioral, therapeutic and educational interventions. The Autism Think Tank has a global reach as we are serving families internationally with the use of telemedicine.
Like them on Facebook!
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University Partners
Thank you to the following universities and colleges for providing us with wonderful student interns. We are honored to help influence their futures in the health professions as fieldwork educators.
County College of Morris
Delaware University
Eastwick College
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Felician College
Kean University
Montclair State University
New Jersey City University
New York University
Philadelphia University
Queens College
Rutgers Univeristy
Salus University
Seton Hall University
St. Catherine's Univeristy
Tauro College
University of Scranton
William Paterson University
To complete an internship at RHR, email:
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School field trips and individual treatment times available!
Rocking Horse Rehab is open
Monday-Friday 10am-6pm
and Sundays from 9am-5pm.
We have immediate openings for speech therapy on Sunday and Thursday
afternoons and occupational therapy on Monday afternoons.
SCHOOLS: TO BOOK A SUMMER FIELD TRIP, CALL US NOW!
To request a client registration packet, email:
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Mission Statement
Rocking Horse Rehab is a pediatric rehabilitation and family wellness center located within the Essex Equestrian Center in West Orange, NJ. Our mission is to enhance the quality of life of individuals with special needs and their families by offering innovative opportunities for clinical, educational and social development. Our philosophy is to treat the "whole child" using equine assisted therapies with the expertise of our highly specialized staff.
Visit us on the web!
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About our Founder
Sheri A. Marino, MA, CCC-SLP
Sheri founded Rocking Horse Rehab in September 2001. She is a pediatric speech-language pathologist who specializes in autism spectrum disorders. Sheri oversees program development and daily operations for RHR with the support of a dedicated, professional staff. She is the Executive Director of The Autism Think Tank, NJ, a non-profit, medical videoconferencing team for individuals with medically complex autism. Sheri
works directly with the Autism Think Tank families and physicians and
manages all fundraising, marketing and family events. In addition, Sheri is a consultant to the Focus For Health Foundation which is dedicated to promoting advocacy, education and research to combat chronic health issues around the world.
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Rocking Horse Rehab is a proud member of
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12-22 Woodland Ave. West Orange, NJ 07052
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