RISE Resource Center

RISE had an intimate graduation ceremony yesterday, with just a few students graduating this year. It was a beautiful moment for these families and our staff to honor these amazing kids, who are turning into amazing young men.

Rise Resource Center is very excited to be in Chino Valley. We are growing and looking for great people to join our team. Feel free to message us with any questions.

RISE at the Verde Valley Fair 🐄🎡🎢🎠
We had a blast! Thank you to everyone who contributed to RISE attending the fair this year, as we were able to support our amazing students to participate in this community event.

Autism awareness, continued:

Courageous, colorful, clever: Colton

Colton is a wild mountain country man. He is 16 years old and I met him when he was five. He does best in nature and loves animals, trees, plants, and all bodies of water. He loves music and literature of all types, from catalogs to novels. He is extremely tall and lanky and has arms and legs for days that are out of control, and seem to reach a mile out. He has a repetitive motor pattern of flailing his arms out wide and then clapping them together, very hard. Since he was little, he has had a detrimental stuck motor pattern of grabbing people's hair, sometimes taking the person to the ground.
I met Colton when he was in Kindergarten and by the time he was sent to my private school, he was in third grade, and all of his previous teachers and staff were scared of him. At the public school, they were attempting to keep him entertained by providing dolls and wigs for him to grab, not recognizing that this inevitably increased the strength of this stuck pattern/negative behavior. He was able to say some words, but was nonvocal for the most part, and without being able to communicate his thoughts and needs, Colton continues to experience a great deal of frustration. Throughout the first year at my private school, Colton was escalated and aggressive about 10-15 times a day. After almost 8 years of being his teacher, he only escalates about once or twice a year. He has a team of about 10 staff who love working with him, being his 1:1, supporting him throughout his school day.
Colton is hilarious; he is one of the most outgoing people I have ever met. Through some words, some sign language, mimicking, and some spontaneous speech, he is definitely the class clown at RISE. His humor is sharp, his heart is big, and his perseverance inspires me. He will need help for his whole life. I plan to help him.

Autism Awareness:
Stories about friends with Autism, continued…

Admirable, ambitious, authentic, amiable: Abe

Abe is 16 years old and I have been his teacher for about 9 years. I met him when he was in Kindergarten, attending a public school. He is mostly nonvocal/nonverbal and struggles greatly with controlling his body, with both fine and gross motor movements. The teachers and psychologists he was working with told me and his family that he had an intellectual disability and that he could not understand anything we were saying to him. Although Abe's parents were very involved and had gotten him an outside evaluation and he received a diagnosis of Autism at the age of three, the school would not consider the diagnosis and insisted on telling mom NOT to presume competence, and diagnosed him with an intellectual disability. They thought the behaviors he exhibited did not match what they knew of Autism.
His class at the time was kindergarten, first and second graders in the room. About 90% of the time the lights were off, a big projector screen was playing a kid's youtube video, volume blasting, and students were running around, often injuring themselves and others, with little to no structure or support. It was not functional. Shortly after, I started a private school for kids with disabilities in Cottonwood, where Abe attended as a 1st grade student after his parents withdrew him from the public school district and obtained the empowerment scholarship (ESA). He was one of five students. We had four staff/educators and myself that first year. On days when a student was absent, the staff outnumbered the students, and in some moments, it still didn't feel like enough :)
When Abe was small, he was so unsure, untrusting in his body. He would step from one flat surface to another flat surface that looked different (ex: pavement to grass) and it would seem that he was preparing to step off of a cliff. He was extremely dysregulated and it affected his depth perception, limbic system, proprioception, visual control, and motor planning in general. But we knew it did not affect his intellect. Abe has an incredible family, and because of this, there was no question if he would or would not be included; no consideration that maybe he was incapable or maybe he was inadequate. Abe’s family presumed competence. They decided that although inevitably Abe was going to have his limits, his struggles, they were going to include him in their family, in their life. They were, they still are today, holding high expectations that Abe continues to meet.
We provide Abe with constant sensory and communication support throughout the day, all day, everyday. We focus on the skills that seem to matter in this life: body and emotion control, self-help skills, hygiene, socializing, and communication. We presume competence, doing our best to engage Abe in a curriculum and experiences that are intriguing, relevant, fun and functional. He is surrounded by support from his family, and his mother and sister are very involved in RISE and our mission. Abe has inspired me throughout these years that I have known him. He is loved by so many people, getting to know him through his limited verbal language, but distinct eye contact and body language. He is stunning. It will make your day when he looks you in the eyes and smiles. He continues to bring joy to the people in his life, and I look forward to supporting him as he grows and changes. He has the brightest light behind his eyes.

Staff meeting today in Cottonwood: hiking the jail trail 🌳✌️🥾💚

At RISE we are very aware of Autism and to celebrate April, I am going to share a few stories about our students, to help others increase their Autism awareness.

First, my friend Matt:

Matt is now 22 years old and I have been his teacher for over 10 years. When I moved from Phoenix to Cottonwood to work for the school district, Matt was away in New Mexico, where he had been sent to a residential facility (what some may call an institution). He had already been kicked out of another facility in Florida. The school district and family had agreed after years of struggle, that at the age of nine, Matt was inconsolable and out of control. He was flown out of state by a private jet, because they felt he was so extreme. After a few years of a lack of progress and continuous struggle, Matt returned home to Cottonwood per his father, and I was given the opportunity to meet and work with him. He was nonvocal (did not speak), attempted some sign language (often prompted by his grandmother), and screamed and cried most of the time. He seemed absolutely uncomfortable in his body and out of control in his thinking, with continuous and intense OCD patterns he was trying to complete. By intense, I mean INTENSE: banging his head as hard as he can, punching himself in the nose until it bled profusely, destroying property, taking his f***s, urine, vomit and putting it anywhere/everywhere. When I met him, I thought, what a beautiful young man; twelve years old with big brown eyes that had so much pain behind them; tan skin that had so many bruises and cuts and scars. He was so unbelievably unpredictable with his behavior; he could destroy a classroom, a doctor's office, a grocery store aisle, in a moment's time.
Matt has attended my private school for the last nine years. Initially, I was the only staff able to work with him, but now I have about 10 educators who can be his partner for the school day and he is also able to work with various therapists.
The first year of school together, Matt was rarely able to sit in the classroom. He was not able to communicate his wants, needs or engage in the learning. He was upset, escalated a majority of the time, destroying various parts of the campus repeatedly, hurting himself, hurting teachers and peers. I took him to the river at least once a week and we would walk miles in the Verde River, and he would cry, sometimes be silent, sometimes seem happy. We went on long hikes, long walks each day and when he screamed and cried and I was not able to help him communicate a concrete reason (physical pain or emotional pain, something from this moment or something from the past), I would tell him "You are safe, you are loved. Be right here, right now, because you are safe." Nine years later, Matt has come a long way, but I wish I could say he is independent; I wish I could say that he no longer has extreme behaviors, that he does not need a 1:1 support all day, everyday. But he is not independent throughout the day and he does occasionally have some very extreme and intense behaviors. He does smile often, he participates everyday and I believe he feels loved. We are working on becoming a qualified vendor through the Department of Developmental Disabilities, an agency called RISE Supported Living, so I can offer a day program and group homes for adults with disabilities. That way, Matt and I can grow old together :)

Our preschool is now serving school age! Ages 6 - 12 years old ☀️ and for next school year, we will have aftercare for that age group, as well 📚🎨🚸

We are excited to announce this amazing expansion to our school!! We are now offering a summer camp for school-age!!!
Come join the fun!
June 1st through July 31st

Although we have explored various avenues, including connecting with the Verde Valley Fair and Brown’s Amusement, we are not able to get a discount on purchasing ride tickets for the staff who need to be the 1:1 support for our students who will be attending the fair, most often paid for by their parents. Many of our students require 1:1 support for safety, communication, and hygiene all day. Therefore it is necessary for that student to have a 1:1 support at the fair and tickets are required. Thank you for your consideration.