We have been so grateful to spend the last 6 weeks with Shelby Watson, our fabulous Australian intern! Shelby was so eager to learn how to teach nonspeaking individuals to Spell to Communicate (S2C) that she packed up her bags, hopped a plane and embraced American life and clinical skills as a participant in our…
When I first started working at Growing Kids, I worked with students who were brand new to Spelling to Communicate, as well as some who started with Elizabeth beforehand. Over that time, skills began to build, goals were being met, and fluency was increasing. For the students and for myself, as well! Doing a regular,…
Today we welcome guest blogger, Michele Kukler, one of our ACTS (Accessing Community Through Spelling) professional practitioners and teacher extraordinare of the Connections School of Atlanta. Michele and the incredibly dedicated teachers and staff at Connections are leaders in education as they include nonspeaking students along side speaking peers inside and outside the classroom through…
GKTC’s Tribe has kicked off the fall schedule with an exchange between The University of Virginia students and Tribe members. The University of Virginia students are taking the undergrad psychology course, The Science and Lived Experience of Autism along with the young adults of Growing Kids Therapy Center’s “Tribe”. Â Last year, the Tribe completed the…
Hi everyone! Â My name is Karen Dorula and I’m an occupational therapist at GKTC. Â Elizabeth has challenged us all to jump onto the blog. Â I’m very excited to be able to share all of the wonderful chess that has been happening here! I started teaching chess in January 2016 after one of my letterboard clients,…
Huan Vuong started advocating for communication and education rights for himself and other nonspeaking individuals as soon as he got on the letterboards. This was his second year presenting at the TASH conference. Due to Huan’s strong advocacy, his school system has recently responded to his requests to meet his communication needs and will provide…
I wanted to finish off 2016 with one of our favorite moments of the year. Prepare for some guaranteed happiness as you witness what happened when one of our clients was given the opportunity to conduct his school choir. Evan is one feisty, adorable guy who never fails to make me laugh during our sessions together….
This holiday, our families from New Zealand decided to have holiday lesson swap. Each of the ten families contributed one holiday themed lesson and walked away with TEN LESSONS! Since I am no fool, I jumped right on this swap. All of the lessons have been fantastic but I have particularly enjoyed the lesson about…
Last month we were delighted to participate in the Institute of Communication and Inclusion held in Columbia, Maryland. We presented to a great audience of people who are dedicated to serving nonspeaking and minimally speaking individuals. We got to collaborate with so many progressive thinkers and meet some of our inclusion super heroes, Cheryl Jorgeson…
I AM BENJAMIN MCGANN. TODAY MY FRIENDS AND I ARE TAKING OVER THE BLOG TO TALK ABOUT THE PLAY (Dispatches from the Roller Coaster) Â WE WROTE WITH STUDENTS FROM STONE BRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL. Matthew: THE PLAY FOCUSES ON A GROUP OF NON-SPEAKING AUTISTICS THROUGH THEIR DIAGNOSIS AND LIFE IN GENERAL. Huan: YOU WILL FINALLY UNDERSTAND…
April has been established as Autism Awareness Month. Â Like many, we at Growing Kids Therapy Center, feel that a better practice is Autism Acceptance Month. Â To celebrate Autism Acceptance month, I will be featuring the voices of our clients who Spell to Communicate. These are the only autism experts I consult these days! Â Their words…
