Weekly Update - January 6, 2023

Welcome back! We hope all our families enjoyed a lovely break and we know your kids are energized and ready to learn. We wish you all the very best in 2023. Please check in with your BCBA this month about your goals for your child this year - let us know if you're anticipating beginning school in the fall or hoping for your child to attend a summer camp this year. It may seem like it's far away, but it can take time to reach big goals, so it's better to have those conversations sooner.

Just a friendly reminder that children will go outside when the temperature feels at least 20° or above. In Burton, our kids will play on the playground for 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon. In Brighton, our kids will go outside at least to walk downstairs to the motor room, and may play outside too, depending on conditions. No matter what, kids need a warm coat with a hood or a hat and mittens or gloves daily. When there is snow on the ground, we will still play outside in Burton, so please send boots and snow pants daily too. We can send all the winter gear home daily so that you can use it at school or play outside at home. Please let your BCBA know if you need any help finding winter gear that fits your child.

For 2023, instead of just sharing our background info, we are going to share some of our team's answers to a recent survey. We asked staff what they enjoy most about their jobs overall, what they like to teach the most, and what they would tell other people considering working here. We'll share answers from a new staff member each week!

This week, let's hear from Ashley, one of our RBTs in Burton.

When we asked Ashley what her favorite skill to teach is, she answered, "Social skills, because it’s fun and adorable to see them interact with friends."

Ashley said her favorite part of working for Strive as a company is that the people are so kind and compassionate.

What would Ashley tell someone who is considering working at Strive? "It’s a hard job but it is very emotionally rewarding as well."

One addition to our newsletter this year will be some definitions of terms we use most often in ABA. We know we use a lot of lingo and we want to help families understand it better. All of these terms will also be on our website in a glossary, so you can check them out anytime.

Today's term is antecedent.

An antecedent is the situation or events that come before a behavior. These can include events, people, or objects.

We often talk about an antecedent as a "trigger" for behavior - sometimes if the antecedent isn't present, the behavior won't even occur.

For example, your alarm going off in the morning might be the antecedent for you getting out of bed. Or seeing a stop sign is an antecedent for stopping at it. Or seeing a plate of cookies is an antecedent for a child picking up a cookie or if we're lucky, it's an antecedent for a child asking politely to have a cookie.

When you understand the events, people, or objects that might trigger behavior, you can help plan for those triggers and help your child be more successful. If you liked reading this info, be sure to talk to your BCBA about the RUBI parent training - this definition and examples are pulled from that training, and it's available to any caregivers of children at our centers.

We'll just keep this link right here, for your convenience. For any absences scheduled in advance, please use this form to report the dates. You may take an entire day or half day, depending on your needs.

Therapy Schedule Update Form

Here are some additional dates that the centers will be closed:

Friday, January 13th BURTON CENTER ONLY closed for crisis management training for staff

Monday, January 16th MLK Day, both centers closed

Friday, February 17th BRIGHTON CENTER ONLY closed for crisis management training for staff

If your family is planning a longer absence around one of those dates, or at another time, please let us know as soon as you are able!

Email: info@sc-centers.com
Website: www.sc-centers.com
Location: Burton and Brighton, MI
Phone: 810-344-8082