Weekly Update December 13, 2024

We will have a pajama day next Friday, December 21st! That will be our last day before a two week holiday break, so we'll wear our jammies and have holiday party fun!

There is no need for parents to send in anything for the holiday parties; we will have everything necessary for the activities and fun. Children will be exchanging gently used books at our party that day, so your child will come home with a book to read with you. Strive provides all the books, so you don't have to find one.

We sent home a reminder, but just wanted to add it here as well.

At this time of year parents may feel they would like to thank the people who spend so much time with their children. While this may be a common and acceptable thing to do in several other settings, due to our professional ethics (The Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts and RBTs), we are unable to accept gifts from our families and we wanted to make sure you know that. As we strive to perform to a high standard of practice, we feel it is important to preserve this code, and we prefer that families do NOT provide gifts to our staff at all.

If you feel like you would like to give an extra special thank you to any of our staff, please know that we would love to hear your feedback on our annual parent surveys, be thrilled to receive a handwritten thank you note, or absolutely treasure a picture your child colors for us. Outside of those things, we cannot accept gifts. It is also important that your child’s name or picture NOT be included on anything our staff might take home, for privacy purposes.

Just a friendly reminder that it is chilly outside. We take the children outside two times daily for recess on our playgrounds, and it is time to start sending warm coats and gloves. When it snows, we will go outside too, so please plan to send boots and snow pants. If a child does not have warm enough gear, we will keep the child indoors, but the others will go outside. We believe that getting outside and getting fresh air daily is good for all of us, so we really want all the children to be able to participate.

We remain indoors when the temperature feels like 20° or below.

Anne and Don Haley live in Genesee County and have 5 kids, one of whom has autism, so they can relate first hand to loving and supporting a child on the spectrum. Anne has served as the Executive Director of Garrett's Place (formerly the Autism Support and Resource Center) since 2015. They offer social, recreational and lifeskills programs to those on the spectrum. Don is the 3rd generation owner of Italia Gardens restaurants, which was the first Italian restaurant in Flint in 1931. In their free time they enjoy cooking, high school sports, spending time with extended family and traveling. Anne and Don are thrilled to carry on the excellence Strive has offered and are proud of the team who works so hard to provide relief and create possibilities for the children and their families.

Many parents may not be aware of our social media, and we'd love for you to follow us! We share tips and tricks for families, staff birthdays and work anniversaries, and other info.

Follow us here on Facebook or Instagram

2025 Calendars are available now! There is a slight difference in the 2 buildings, so be sure to click on the calendar for the building your child attends.

Thrive Therapy Center will begin providing Occupational Therapy (OT) services in our Burton location soon! The therapist has been hired, and will spend the next few weeks training and preparing to provide services in Burton.

Thrive's Occupational Therapist has begun providing evaluations for children so that they may begin OT services. If you are interested in OT services for your child, you can call Thrive at (810) 412-4183 and be sure to let them know that you are interested in services here at Strive. You can also complete their Contact Us form here, again being sure to note that the location you prefer is Strive.

Thrive is continuing to look for a speech therapist to service Burton as well, so if you know of a good therapist, tell them to apply here to work with us!

Thank you for your patience - we are so excited to begin seeing OT services for our children again!

With the holidays fast approaching, here are a few tips that we hope will de-stress the season a bit for you!

· Prepare! Help your child understand when different things are going to take place – use a calendar to count down days until a big visit, or use a visual schedule for the special day – we’re happy to help you design something.

· Decorate! Some children find decorations disruptive. Be sure to engage your child in decorating as much as possible, and be clear about the rules for decorations – if you have some that can’t be touched, tell your child clearly and consistently. We can provide visual supports to indicate things that can’t be touched. We will decorate at the center (as we always do!) but everything here can be touched and enjoyed by the children. We will help practice with your child if you need him to learn to keep his hands off.

· Take a break! Teach your child to ask for a break when things get overwhelming, and make sure that at any get together, there’s a quiet, calm place for your child to go. At home, it can simply be his bedroom, if you’re visiting family, ask ahead if there’s a bedroom or small space that can be kept quiet for your child. Let other family members know that when he’s in this space, he should be left alone, and family should try to keep noise to a minimum. If your child can’t yet ask for a break, gently direct him to this space when he appears overwhelmed.

· Travel with his favorites! If you’re traveling, make sure you bring favorite toys, comfort objects, and foods. A little familiarity can go a long way to ease stress.

· Share pictures of the family! Prepare a photo album of all the relatives that you expect to see over the holidays – send it in to therapy, and we’ll be happy to show your child the pictures, and remind him who he’ll be seeing. If you email the pictures to your BCBA, we can print them and keep them here – just let us know what your child calls each person.

· Prepare your family members! If you’ll be seeing people you don’t see often, let them know what your child responds well to, and what he doesn’t like. Let them know what questions he’s likely to answer, and what he struggles with. Let them know what games and toys he likes, so the kids can all play together.

· Let us know what we can do to help! Tell us what you’ve struggled with in holidays past, and we’ll be happy to help you make a plan for this year, or teach skills that will help. We can work on opening presents, taking turns, and vocabulary related to the holidays your family celebrates.

· Relax and enjoy! Don’t over-schedule your family this year – sometimes just a small get together with a few family members is the best for everyone. Use this time to reflect on all the changes in your child and your family over this past year. Give yourself a giant pat on the back for bringing your child to therapy and committing to his progress.

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 upcoming dates that the centers will be closed:

Monday, December 23rd - Friday, January 3rd - BOTH CENTERS CLOSED for Holiday Break
Monday, January 20th - CLOSED for MLK, Jr Day

Monday, February 17th - BRIGHTON ONLY CLOSED for Professional Development Day

Friday, March 21st - BOTH CENTERS CLOSED for Professional Development Day

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