Reach Children's Services - Early Intervention

We hope everyone is having a safe and happy Christmas break. If anyone has some free time, we would love if you could participate in this online study. Each parent can complete individually, and it takes roughly 10minutes to complete. Thank you 🤩

🌟 Study is now Full. Thank you for your participation and support 🌟

Are you a parent or caregiver of an autistic child aged 2–18? Your voice matters. 💙

Joeleen is conducting a study to better understand the stress experiences of parents of autistic children, and we’d love for you to take part.
✔️ 18+
✔️ Can read and understand English
✔️ Parent/caregiver of an autistic child
✔️ Live with or care for your child 3+ days per week
⏱️ The survey takes around 30 minutes.

For questions, contact:
📧 Joeleen Lynch Cleary – [email protected]
📧 Supervisor: Teresa Gomes Arrulo-Clarke –[email protected]
Thank you for helping make a difference. 💛

We know parents of autistic children have very little time to spare, so we truly appreciate any time you can give to participate in this research. 🙏

🌟 Study is now Full. Thank you for your participation and support 🌟

Are you a parent or caregiver of an autistic child aged 2–18? Your voice matters. 💙

Joeleen is conducting a study to better understand the stress experiences of parents of autistic children, and we’d love for you to take part.
✔️ 18+
✔️ Can read and understand English
✔️ Parent/caregiver of an autistic child
✔️ Live with or care for your child 3+ days per week
⏱️ The survey takes around 30 minutes.

For questions, contact:
📧 Joeleen Lynch Cleary – [email protected]
📧 Supervisor: Teresa Gomes Arrulo-Clarke –[email protected]
Thank you for helping make a difference. 💛

🙈🙉Lets play Peek-a-boo🙈🙉

Peekaboo is a classic hide-and-seek game: You cover your face and uncover it while saying, “Peek-a-boo! I see you!” Another variation is to say “peek-a-boo” when you cover your face, and “I see you” when you uncover it. Playing Peek-a-boo has so many benefits for your child alongside spending quality time with others.

Understanding why a particular behaviour is happening is necessary to prevent that behaviour from happening again. Know what alternative skill to teach them and then be able to change the consequences so it does not continue happening.

You can download a free ABC data sheet from our resources section at ⬇️
https://reachchildrens.com/product/abc-chart-narrative-form/

If you would like individualised support from our behaviour support team, email us at [email protected] and a member of our team will be in touch.

Does your child find it difficult to complete some activities, requests or skills that you know they can? Try build up their confidence by getting them to complete easier actions or requests. When completing easier tasks it reduces frustration levels, because they are having success on easy tasks, increasing the likelihood that they will try harder activities or requests. Once they are happily responding then try the more difficult task. If it doesn't work the first time, don’t worry, just try again! This helps with many activities and requests and is super helpful with transitioning.

❗HELPFUL RESOURCE INCOMING❗

Learner snapshots, sometimes called communication passports, are an excellent way for students to tell teachers and SNA’s key information about themselves. It can help new or unfamiliar staff know how best to support an individual.

A learner snapshot can help establish a successful partnership between staff and the student, positively impacting their experience at school.

We often recommend these at the beginning of the school year, particularly for secondary students who end up encountering several adults throughout the day.

Download our free template, one of the templates we use here at Reach from our website: https://reachchildrens.com/.../learner-snapshot-secondary/

When a child is distressed, it is so important that the adults around them are able to remain calm.

Remember, it's quite natural to mirror the emotions of those around you. So if you're obviously stressed, this will further distress the child. Your best chance is to model a calm state, or how to calm.

So remember 'low & slow.'

Lower your...
🔉 Volume - It may be best to say nothing, but if you do need to speak, bring the volume down. They're not going to hear or understand you because you're shouting.
🧎‍♀️ Positioning - Do not tower over them. Be aware of your own safety, but come down to their level.
🎚️ Language level - Again, silence may be best, but if they are trying to communicate with you, and you with them, keep it short and simple.

Slow down your...
🗣️ Speech - Allow time for the person to process.
📅 Agenda - Realize whatever you have planned can wait. Focus on recovery.
💓 Heart rate - Take a few deep breaths yourself. Slow down that heart rate and keep calm. And make it obvious. Who knows, they just may imitate your behavior. 👍

What is prompting?👈

Prompting is when we provide assistance to a child to maximise their success.

Prompts can be instructions, gestures, demonstrations, touches, or other things that we arrange or do to increase the likelihood that children will make correct responses.

It is a positive way of teaching and therefore encourages learning because students continually make progress.

If you would like a infographic on prompting, head to our website and get your FREE downloadable resource.

https://reachchildrens.com/product/prompting-hierarchy-infographic/

🌟 Exciting News! 🌟

We have dates for our next Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Group. This Group will focus on teaching social skills, with a focus on on self and other awareness.

These sessions begin on Monday the 23rd of September and run for 8 weeks.

If you're interested in joining our Social Skills Group and would like to receive more information and the application form, simply drop us an email or send us a direct message (DM).

Don't miss out on this valuable opportunity. Reach out to us today to secure your spot!

OT Assessment Appointments are now available.
See https://reachchildrens.com/occupational-therapy-westmeath/ for more information.

We are delighted to welcome CORU registered Occupational Therapist, Jacqueline De Boer to our team.

Jacqueline is offering OT assessment appointments on Saturdays at our centre in Tubberclair. Email [email protected] today to request an appointment or get more information.

https://reachchildrens.com/occupational-therapy-westmeath/

It's summer time and we are getting some much needed opportunities to get outside in the fresh air. Unfortunately, many families of autistic children experience concerns around their child running off. This can cause huge stress for the family, and is quite life limiting, as many find themselves avoiding taking their child out for fear of them running off. It's quite understandable, and sometimes absolutely necessary, to take these preventative measures. However, it's important to have a closer think about why the behaviour is occurring.

In this blog, we'll consider the many different approaches you might take to tackling concerns about running off.

Read more at https://reachchildrens.com/tips-to-keep-your-wanderers-safe/

Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity!

Join us for a FREE CEU event on June 19th 2024 at 7pm, where you'll learn about 'Applied Behaviour Analysis & Early Education: Becoming A More Compassionate Practitioner' from the amazing Amy O'Keeffe, an autistic behaviourist.

This online event is open to BCBAs, RBTs, students, and anyone interested in learning more.

Register now and see you there! https://reachchildrenslearning.thinkific.com/courses/compassionate-practitioner