A Message from Jamey Wolff,
Program Director
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Dear Parents,
We are pleased to be offering you our first biweekly parent newsletter as an additional resource. Six months ago, who could ever have predicted that schools across the Country would close and all teaching would be conducted by long distance learning?
Like you, this has been a challenging time for our team of educators we continue to work remotely with you and your child. We are learning how to make this new vehicle of instruction work better and better. We would like to offer additional help to you to do the same whenever possible.
As you know from the letter we sent you on Monday,
Center for Spectrum Services will continue remotely this summer.
We know many of you were hoping we would reopen for summer school, but it was simply not possible to provide a safe, thoughtful reentry to in person school programming in less than a month. If you have questions or concerns about our summer session or about the fall, please address them to
reopening@centerforspectrumservices.org
,
and one of our program administrators will respond to you.
Since remote education will be continuing, we would like to encourage those of you who have the available technology and not yet started 1:1 Zoom sessions with your child’s teacher and/or therapists, to give it a try. Even if your child will not sit for the entire ½ hour, we can still spend the session time observing and/or just working with you. You can also make short videos to send us of your child at home. We will be reaching out to you shortly to find out how to make the learning plans and Zoom sessions work better for your family.
What challenges we are all facing during this self-isolation period! Many of you are also working remotely, supporting other siblings with their online education, may have lost jobs, and/or have family members with the virus.
Add to these challenges, teaching your autistic child and the stress created may feel overwhelming. For this reason, we have created a series of home teaching modules and are increasing the frequency of our parent support groups in both Ellenville and Kingston.
We are offering them at different times of the day and week, in hopes that one may be more convenient for you. These Zoom gatherings provide a chance to share what is working and isn’t working with other parents, to feel more connected.
This newsletter will also feature an Ask the Experts blog. Members of our faculty will be offering suggestions for making this home instructional period as valuable as possible. There are some real opportunities here, amidst all the challenges, for generalizing skills in the home environment and creating closer collaboration between home and school.
We will also be offering regular updates on reopening the Kingston and Ellenville buildings to student as the plans become available. If you have additional topics that you want discussed or anything else you would like to see in this biweekly newsletter, please contact Leah Siuta
(
Click Here
).
I just want to thank you again for the trust you have placed in Center for Spectrum Services. We may not be face to face yet, but our care for you and your child remains strong as does our optimism that we will get through this time and together share a brighter future ahead.
Jamey Wolff
Co-Founder and Program Director
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Prescriptions for Services
We are in the process of obtaining the prescriptions from your child’s pediatrician for summer and fall services. Please be sure to notify us if your physician has changed. Also note that your child may be due for a school physical. Some physicians will not write a prescription if the child is overdue for a physical.
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Join us for Parent Support/Discussion Groups through Zoom
All parents are welcomed to connect with others who are feeling similar needs and circumstances. Come to share your story, provide and receive support from others, or just listen in and feel connected. You are welcome to join groups from either site.
In Kingston:
;
Wed. 7/8 8:00 – 9:00 PM;
Thu. 7/23 10:00 – 11:00 AM;
Wed. 8/5 6:30 – 7:30 PM;
Tue. 8/18 8:00 – 9:00PM;
RSVP to Leah Siuta to be sent a link for each workshop:
Click Here
.
In Ellenville:
Tue 7/7 8:30 – 9:30 PM;
Wed 7/22 8:30 – 9:30 PM;
Mon 8/1 8:30 – 9:30 PM;
For Ellenville’s parent group, please RSVP to Elizabeth Forte:
Click Here
.
Parent Training
Video Series
Check out the first of a series on on-line trainings developed specifically for parents of children enrolled at our program. This series will guide you through some of the basic principles for teaching and supporting children with Autism:
Click Here
for the first!
Supportive Tips for Our Amazing Parents
While there are many tips we can suggest to help with your children during this time (e.g., implement daily schedules, for example), we want to start with YOU taking care of you!
Take it day by day and remember you are doing the best you can! This is hard; really, really hard! Focus on what is going right each day (even if it is just one thing). Do one nice thing for yourself a day and practice self-compassion! You are incredible--we KNOW it, and so should you!
Picking Up Your Child's Belongings at School
Your child’s belongings are safely stored at the school. However, if you would like to retrieve items such as clothing, diapers, personal items, etc., we are setting up days for you to pick these items up.
This is also for students who will not be returning to school in the fall. Please let us know ahead of time what items you are requesting so that we will be sure to have them ready for you.
For Kingston Students:
Please email this list to
Monday, June 29
th
.
These items will be available for drive by pick up on:
Thurs. July 2nd from
9–12 and from 4-6
Wed. July 15th from
9-12 and 4-6
Ellenville Students:
Ellenville will have their next pick date on:
July 8th from 12-2.
Free or Low-Cost
Webinars for Parents
Check out our list of free or low-cost webinars for parents at the bottom of this newsletter!
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Tip from the
Nurse’s Office
The COVID-19 virus enters the body through the mouth, nose, and eyes, so special care needs to be taken to avoid touching these areas.
Wearing a mask when in public is a very effective way to prevent infection, along with thorough hand-washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds (or hand sanitizer with 60% alcohol or greater).
Frequent disinfecting of common surfaces (desktops, doorknobs, faucets, etc.), is also critical in stopping the spread of this virus.
Please be careful and be safe.
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Increasing Your Child's Ability to Ask
In this video, Rebecca Robbins, Speech Pathologist and former CSS employee, gives creative ideas on how to increase your child’s ability to request.
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Join us for a Virtual Telethon to Help Fill the COVID-19 Funding Gap
Airing LIVE on Thursday, June 25, 7-8pm on
Facebook Live, Youtube Live, and IGtv
Join us Thursday June 25th from 7 to 8:30 PM to assist Spectrum Services with providing services to local children with autism during this period of remote learning during Covid-19 and to support our reopening.
Join our host, Bob Siracusano of Sawyer Motors, and his right hand man Ray Tucker! Guest performances by Joey Eppard, Tim Kapeluck, and Joe and Jasmine Veillette of the Phantoms
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Check Out These Free or Low-Cost Webinars for Parents!
Dr. Aarti Nair,
Support for Individuals with ASD – Coping with Family and Virtual Interactions During COVID-19; (1 hour, 11 minutes)
Learn skills to manage day-to-day, provides some resources for virtual social interactions, and general guidelines about coping with the lockdown for individuals with ASD and their families. The first 30 minutes is geared towards individuals with ASD in general while the second half of the presentations is geared towards more verbal, pre-teen, teenagers with HF ASD. A copy of the power-point presentation is available.
https://www.autism.org/support-for-individuals-with-asd-coping-with-family-and-virtual-interactions-during-covid-19/
Amanda Tami, LPC, BCBA –
Coronavirus Impact: Talking to Kids about Changing Schedules, Altered Plans, and Disruption (1 hour, 5 minutes)
Ongoing schedule changes and uncertainty due to the spread of the Coronavirus can present special challenges. Learn ideas for providing compassionate support to individuals on the autism spectrum who are experiencing disruptions and anxiety related to the virus and its impact.
https://www.autism.org/coronavirus/
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70 Kukuk Lane, Kingston NY 12401 - 4 Yankee Place, Ellenville, NY 12428
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