HJEC July 2023 Newsletter

What's Happening?

Independent Living Skills

Independent living skills are sometimes called self-care skills, self-help skills, or activities of daily living (ADL). These include a student's ability to perform activities for themselves such as eating, bathing, toileting, dressing, grooming, and addressing their own hygiene and health needs. AT HJEC, each of our students works on independent living goals as part of their IEP.

Some examples of programs that address independent living include:

• Mealtime skills
• Dressing
• Manipulating clothing fasteners
• Using the bathroom
• Washing hands
• Brushing teeth and hair

We begin to address independent living skills by breaking down each task into a sequence of steps. We think about how we want to prompt or present each step so that the student practices the task the same way each time for optimal learning.

For example, the skills of washing hands can be broken down into the following steps:

• Turn on water
• Wet hands
• Get soap
• Scrub palms together
• Rub the top of the right hand
• Rub the top of the left hand
• Rinse
• Turn off water
• Dry hands

In addition to breaking the task into steps, students may also benefit from having the materials or environment adjusted to help them learn the task at hand. Does your student use bar soap or liquid soap in a pump bottle? Do they need a step stool to reach the sink? 

In addition to your student’s BCBA, the occupational therapist (OT) is an important member of your student’s team who is skilled in the assessment of independent living skills and can make recommendations to support your student’s participation and independence. Talk with your BCBA about independent living skills that you feel are important for your student to learn how you can support these programs at home!

By Alexa Harry MS, OTR/L

Descriptive Teaching

The SLPs at Hopeful Journeys work with students’ teams to make sure their individualized curriculums meet their language needs! Most of our students benefit from a method known as descriptive teaching. Our students, particularly those who use AAC devices, benefit from learning how to talk about and describe concepts, rather than just labeling them! This is a research-backed method that builds the student's vocabulary in a functional way.

“Using a descriptive style, the teacher mentions and references the context-specific words, then teaches concepts behind the words using high frequency, re-usable, common words” (Van Tatenhove 2009). 

This differs from what we think of in other educational settings, where students learn referentially (think: science vocabulary like “mammal”). Instead of teaching the word “elephant” and “tusks” in a lesson about wild animals, you present the concept and teach the descriptions (think: gray, big, strong, rough, animal, long). We recommend using descriptive teaching at home and in the community. This can include describing food items, weather, color and textures of clothing, and so much more!

By: Sally McHugh M.S., CCC-SLP

Clinical Corner

Anyone who’s ever been to a grocery store has likely witnessed a child in the checkout line who is quite upset over not being able to bring home all their favorite candy. I’m sure any parent could provide similar examples from their day-to-day experiences! The point being, challenging behavior is common among all children. Individuals with autism, like their typically developing peers, may also have some challenging behavior. When this behavior begins to interfere with a child’s learning, social development, or in some cases their safety, it may become concerning and require additional support. As previously mentioned in the June Clinical Corner article, functional behavior assessments (FBAs) are often a helpful tool to determine the reasons surrounding challenging behavior and help guide clinicians, families, and other stakeholders to the most appropriate strategies to support the individual with autism and their family. In this article, we’ll be discussing a few common reasons why challenging behavior may occur and some general strategies that may be considered. 

Sometimes things are overwhelming! We’ve all experienced it. If you’re not feeling well or you didn’t get much sleep, work is a little more difficult than usual. One common reason why challenging behavior may occur is to escape, avoid, or otherwise have unpreferred situations removed. For students, this could be schoolwork that’s difficult, a loud environment, or any number of other situations that the individual does not enjoy. If this is the case, teaching and honoring functional communication can be a helpful strategy. Whether it be a child asking for help or a brief break from a difficult task, or asking for headphones in a loud environment. Regardless, teaching self-advocacy is often an essential part of intervention. Additionally, providing encouragement and some free time to do something fun after completing a difficult task can be a very motivating strategy. For this reason, most students at HJEC have individualized strategies to help motivate them and acknowledge and celebrate their schoolwork accomplishments throughout the day. This could be anything from having some free time to listen to music after completing an academic program at their desk, or hanging out with a friend while playing video games after an hour-long vocational work shift. These strategies are always individualized!

In addition to the reason just described above, it’s not uncommon for children to do things to get other people’s attention! Sometimes these things can be appropriate like asking someone to play a game or telling a joke, other times these things could be less appropriate like yelling out to a friend when they are trying to do their school work or hitting a teacher to gain their attention. For those things that are less appropriate, often an initial strategy can be teaching functional communication. In other words, teaching the child a way of communicating appropriately that they want someone’s attention. This communication should also be individualized. For example, some students at HJEC may be working on tapping their teacher's shoulder to get their attention, while others may be working on producing full sentences to say things like “Excuse me, are you available?” Once a student can effectively communicate that they want someone’s attention, another strategy may be to teach them when attention is available and when they may need to wait a little bit. This offers an important opportunity to learn the skill of waiting! 

Challenging behavior is common, and at HJEC we focus on understanding the reasons why this behavior is occurring. By doing so, we learn about our students' needs and what they care about. We use this information to develop programs to teach them to effectively navigate their environment as independently as possible and teach alternatives to challenging behavior. This is often accomplished by teaching functional communication and self-advocacy skills, and promoting appropriate behavior through reinforcement-based strategies. Next month, we’ll discuss some other common reasons why challenging behavior occurs along with strategies that may be helpful. 

Mission Moment

The HJEC mission means that we give ALL students the opportunity to be happy, be proud of themselves, and to be as independent as possible. Our mission means that we strive to watch our students succeed, especially those who other educators may not have seen or fostered their unique potential for success. Our goal is for our students to learn skills, some of which families never even imagined possible, to benefit them and those closest to them. We work every day to ensure our students have a structured, safe, and engaging environment to work to be their best selves.- Sam Thibault, Behavior Clinician (BCBA), Team C

Student Spotlight: Adam!!

At the start of the new year, Team F was lucky enough to have a new addition to the team– Adam!! He has been such an incredible addition to the team. He enjoys making jokes and building fun relationships with his teachers right away. On top of his electrifying personality, Adam is a bright young man with a great work ethic. He likes working on skills such as tool use, reading, and completing work schedules of mastered tasks. He also excels during his on-site work shifts in the school store and library. He enjoys working on using a screwdriver, writing his name, and folding socks and shirts the most. 

When Adam's work is finished, he loves to have fun!  Some of his favorite activities are playing with balloons, blowing bubbles in the classroom, playing on the playground, and he LOVES a good dance party. Adam’s taste of music is top notch. His favorite song at school is currently “Soulja Boy” … and yes, he knows the entire dance and loves showing his staff and classmates! During these activities, he’s always joking around and making other students and staff laugh. His unique personality and great sense of humor is just what team F needed and we cannot imagine our days without him.

Student Spotlight: Logan!!

Logan is such a fun, energetic, and kind student.  He loves to interact with his peers and teachers, eagerly greeting everyone with a smile as he walks into school each morning. 

Logan enjoys going on different community trips, always making sure to mark his calendar with the exact date of swimming, field trips, and even special occasions like National Donut Day! He takes pride in being the weatherman of the team and checking the daily weather report! Logan always lets his teachers know if it will be sunny or rainy that day. He also loves to look at different types of trains. Every day after school, Logan looks forward to watching the local train go by with his grandfather on their ride home!

Logan has been working on different independent living skills this year. Something he has been working very hard on is following a recipe. He makes a delicious salad each day in the vocational kitchen, and participates in making lots of meals during cooking groups with his friends! Logan has also been working on various academic goals, such as increasing his reading level and exploring different genres of books to read! 

Overall, Logan is such a delightful student to have here at Hopeful Journeys! We are all so grateful to have the opportunity to work with him and be a part of his educational journey! 

This is Us: Joey

Unequivocally, we made the best choice when we chose Hopeful Journeys for Joey in 2019. The way all of his teachers have contributed to help Joey develop his individuality, while at the same time emphasizing self-discipline and respect in the best way he can, has truly been a heartening experience. It’s funny sometimes, that as a parent, you learn just as much from your child as they do from you. During the trying time of pandemic, HJEC did not seem to struggle at all in accuracy or speed of getting remote learning up and off the ground. It was so rewarding as a parent to see Joey be able to tolerate remote learning, to watch him work, and to see the expressions of love and enthusiasm from all the HJEC staff.  Joey continues to thrive, grow, learn and progress daily at HJEC despite his challenges. Allowing Joey to be himself and adapting to his needs encourages him to succeed. When Joey started at HJ four years ago he couldn’t write, speak, or easily transition from one task to another. He now is able to sign birthday cards for his siblings, write his name when needed, and even verbally communicate basic wants and needs at times! Joey loves school, disney, music, his family, DVDs, and holidays! We truly don’t know where we would be today without Hopeful Journeys!  -The Demakes Family

Breakheart Reservation

A new and exciting summer volunteer opportunity has started for our students and has quickly become a fan favorite! On Fridays, three of our students have been going to the Breakheart Reservation in Saugus. During their two-hour shift, the students have been completing tasks in the parking areas and walking trails. Students are cleaning these areas using trash-grabbers to pick up the items, placing them into a bucket, then emptying the bucket into a large trash barrel. The students have been doing such a good job with this, and have learned quickly. Additional tasks may include painting, weeding, and planting. Breakheart has been so grateful for the help and these are some great skills for our students to have, as they can transfer over to other settings. What’s better than getting in a little exercise and enjoying the sunshine while also helping to keep this beautiful reservation pristine?!

Transition Tip

Once your child turns 20, it is a great time to start looking into the different programs available through The Department of Developmental Services (DDS). When it comes to post-22 services, whether you’re looking for a residential placement, day habilitation, community-based, self-directed, or a mix of services, it is important to stay connected with your DDS Transition Coordinator. You should talk with your DDS Transition Coordinator about what it is you are interested in for your child. 

Do you envision them working/ volunteering part-time for a few days a week, then spending the other days with peers working on social and independent living skills? Maybe you have a family friend with a business that you would like your child to work with and they will need a job coach. There are many different routes for adult services, and part of your DDS Transition Coordinator's job is to help you along the way with exploring these options. They will also provide you with a packet of adult facilities that you can read about and tour. Hopeful Journeys can go on those tours with you if you would like. Your child’s team can also assist with providing questions to ask as well as providing updates on how your child does across their vocational/ independent living skills. Recently, we have had two students tour placements and we had our staff attend to help with the process. We here at HJEC are always willing to help answer any questions and steer you in the right direction!

Teaching Teachers

June was a busy month for staff development and training! Our first staff development day in June included school-wide training for all staff specific to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) that many of our learners use to express their wants and needs, vocational training, and IT training.  During the AAC training, we were lucky enough to have an outside SLP consultant, who reviewed best practices for prompting and facilitating communication with device users.  She showed us the best way to model communication on a device and discussed how important modeling is!  We also had a parent speaker, Jen Martinage, on-site to discuss the personal journey and steps it took to get her student, Patrick, to where he is today.  This was an incredibly impactful and emotional experience for our staff and provided a very meaningful look into the parent’s perspective within special education.   We are all so grateful to Jen for coming in to share her family's story, and hearing this vantage point provided additional meaning to staff to continue the invaluable work they do on a daily basis with our students.   

Our second staff development day in June focused on the facets of case management schoolwide. We are continuously analyzing our case management structure to ensure systems are in place across the whole school to help facilitate as much student progress as possible, and this seminar provided training on new updates identified for the systems to be most effective.  This training included components of case management in which staff revisited the importance of their role as a case manager to ensure student progress and received further training on the essential components of curriculum, how to set up these components in ACE (our online data collection system for all programming), and how to select functional program materials. Using a behavior skills training model, staff participated in role-plays to practice how to set up curriculum, how to run specific reports for tracking objective progress, and how to evaluate and document student progress. Each role-play and practice activity included a competency component to evaluate staff competency with each skill. 

In addition to learning about the components of case management, all staff learned about our current summer groups which are a great opportunity for our students (and so much fun, too!).  During this training, staff discussed how to organize and teach in a large group format, along with how to develop functional and fun activities for every student. They also discussed the benefits of groups and why they are essential for our students, including teaching students to share attention, helping them generalize skills to new materials and in new environments, and providing more opportunities to practice their skills away from their desks. Staff also talked about how this would be structured for students on their teams and are ready for a fun summer of learning!

Family Meet-ups

Did you know that here at Hopeful Journeys, we have students from all over the state of Massachusetts, and some students from New Hampshire and even Maine? While it is amazing that we get to work with children and families from all over, we know it is tricky to not have the opportunity to meet other families as frequently. Hopeful Journeys loves facilitating “family meet-ups”, as it is a great opportunity to meet other students and families!

Once a month, a family meet-up event is planned on the weekend, and we encourage families to participate whenever possible. We have at least 1 staff member present at these events to provide introductions as needed and to be the point person for identifying the designated meeting spot! 

Our family meet-up in June was at the Salem Willows.  We had 7 families attend this event with their children, along with 4 staff members.  The students and families enjoyed the many options at the Willows, including arcade/video games, snacks like ice cream, fried dough, pizza, and more, and even a walk along the water on the beautiful coastline.   The rainy downpour did not stop anyone from having a blast!  We can’t wait for our upcoming August event at Dane Street Beach!

A Year in Review

The 2022-2023 school year officially ended in June!  We are taking a look back at some highlights and great memories from the year!

Team A Highlights

Team A has had some great success stories from this past year. One of our learners recently started independently saying “buh-bye” as their teacher leaves the room. Another learner has increased their independence with medical tolerance and is able to wear headphones at the nurse's office to have their hearing checked. Another learner on team A is doing a great job increasing their independence with their exercise skills and is now tolerating the treadmill and walking for 1 minute. Additionally, one of our Team A learners has increased his verbal communication and shows independence by saying “I need help” and “I want more time” as well as typing these and many other phrases on his device across his school day. We have had some amazing community successes this year too! A Team A learner recently started going in the pool during monthly swim trips where in the past they would sit on the side and watch. Other Team A learners have been able to attend community trips for the first time with great success! It has been a year full of learning on Team A!

Team B Highlights

We have made great progress on team B throughout this year. One of our students is doing an excellent job working at Metro Bowl. He is independently completing cleaning and vocational tasks in the community. Another student has really increased his AAC device use and is making progress in identifying internal states such as "I’m hungry" and "I'm thirsty."  We also have a student that is doing a nice job collecting inventory data, then inputting the data into a google sheets document. It is great for him to use functional computer skills! Conversational skills have greatly improved for one of our students, as she is now engaging independently for the majority of the exchange. Community trips have become a new experience for one of our students as well. She has recently taken a trip to Shaws and to the Beverly YMCA for our swim trips. One last highlight for team B is that we recently welcomed a new BCBA! Team B has made tremendous progress over this past year and we cannot wait to see how our team continues to grow. 

Team C Highlights

We are so proud of the staff and students on Team C this year! Some of our favorite moments include: One of our students who often avoided any sort of cardio now consistently completes cardio each day. Recently, he even challenged himself by walking up and down the stairs for a few rounds! A student who often only completed 1-2 programs per day is completing 10-15 per day. She also attended a field trip and did a fabulous job! A student who earns a "perfect day" based on specific criteria, identified that his criteria was no longer challenging enough for him, and initiated a conversation about increasing the expectations for himself. A student who has historically engaged in challenging behavior is now working on self-monitoring his own behavior. It has been a great year for everyone on Team C!

Team D Highlights

Team D worked so hard together over the past year. We as a team take so much pride in our students' success, ensuring that motivation and reinforcement are of high quality. Through communication and teamwork, we have seen a large increase in student independence and participation during various social skills groups, gym, cooking group, and art activities. For our AAC users, they have had so much success attending morning meetings where they develop their calendar skills, listening to books and answering questions, as well as gaining independence with attending a group and to the lead teacher. So many of our students of various ages and abilities have shown great strides in functional communication which has helped replace challenging behaviors including requesting more time on a device, asking for a break verbally or with PECs, using self-regulation tool boxes and learning how to identify emotions in various zones to express how they feel. We have a student that began this year working on PECs and is now utilizing a new “go talk” device to better communicate his needs. Another one of our students would previously need verbal prompting to engage with peers and teachers, but now does this consistently with high levels of independence. Many of our students have made great strides with their academic goals. On team D we are so proud to see our students become more independent with self-help tasks and vocational skills as well. We can’t wait to see what the next year has in store for us. Go Team D!

Team E Highlights

This year Team E has excelled! A group of students from Team E has been attending a weekly academic group. Over the past few months, the group has been focusing on the human body and body systems. We have been having fun watching informational videos, completing experiments, and hanging out with our new friend Harriet the Skeleton! Team E teachers have been working hard with creating fun and engaging activities that go with our weekly themes. Some highlights were Genie Simon Says for Disney Week. Students rubbed the Genie’s lamp and picked out a slip from inside. Then they followed the secret message in the lamp! For dinosaur week, students wore large cardboard dinosaur feet and stomped around the classroom pretending to be dinosaurs. Students have also been learning about Plants and what they need to grow. They experimented with different soil solutions to see which conditions plants can thrive in. They got to plant some flower seeds and watch them flourish! Team E has also enjoyed getting back into the kitchen for cooking group. We have been making a variety of recipes including homemade butter! Students are also learning to be safe in the kitchen with proper hand washing and being careful with kitchen tools and appliances. It is such a great opportunity for students to work on following directions and trying out different types of food! Way to go Team E!

Team F Highlights

Team F has had such an incredible year! With our amazing new additions (both staff and students), and all of the successes our learners have had, we are so grateful to be part of a wonderful team. Many of our learners have had great opportunities that have allowed them to flourish. One of our students has made such significant progress with his off-site work shifts at Backbeat and Metro Bowl. He and his friend have also had opportunities to take trips to train stations in the area as a reward for all their hard work. 

Nothing can get past another one of our learners as she excels at all programming that comes her way (she loves to complete ALL of her programs daily). Our newest addition to the team is such a jokester and has the best dance moves. Swim trips to the YMCA have been another fan favorite on Team F – it is so amazing to see our learners go out in the community and have the best time with their teachers and peers, while also generalizing skills they learn at school.

We are so excited for summer & to provide our students with ample opportunities to have fun with their peers doing activities while learning and going to the ice cream truck. We can’t wait to see what the next year brings to Team F! 

Team G Highlights

What a year it has been on Team G! Over the school year, we have welcomed a number of new students to the Hopeful Journeys family, each bringing their own personality and strengths to our classroom! All of our staff and students have worked incredibly hard, and so much progress has been made across all domains. We have a student that began the year with very little spoken language, who is now vocally reading stories and functionally communicating with independence. We also have a student who excelled during MCAS testing and was recognized by the state of Massachusetts for their accomplishments. Team G students have made their mark on their community during the 2022-2023 school year as well! Our learners have had so much fun attending trips to the YMCA and Shaw’s, as well as attending school-wide trips to places like Stone Zoo and Roller World. For a number of our students, these were their first field trips, and they totally rocked it; we could not be more proud of them! 

Overall, our year on Team G has been nothing short of spectacular! Whether it is mastering a new math skill, taking turns with a peer, trying new foods, buying a toy at the store, or going to the dentist, our students have accomplished so much over their school year. Each and every day our students come into school and bring a smile to our faces. We are so happy to be a part of their journey here, and cannot wait to see what they achieve next!

Team I Highlights

Team I is known to strive for perfection, no matter what the task is at hand! From attending community trips with model behavior to typing full sentences and presentations, our team is always giving 100% with everything that we do (students and staff alike)! It’s also super cool to see some of our students work in the community at local businesses and also to see students utilize incidental and vocational skills at places such as Shaw’s, Roller World and the YMCA. 

Team I never fails to impress with their impeccable work ethic, and it’s truly amazing to see the dozens of programs that our students complete each week. But the most unique aspect about Team I is our abilities to use our words to problem solve and identify our emotions simultaneously. Each one of our students is working on this throughout their day incidentally, and it makes us proud to see them grow as individuals and as students.

Vocational Team Highlights

The Voc team’s reflections from the year: One student began the year reading at a rate of around 30 words per minute. He would mostly read short books that his teachers found online. He is now able to read at nearly 50 words per minute and is also now going to the school library to pick out books that he wants to read.  

Another student made a lot of progress with programs and her overall independence! At the start of this year, at cooking group, she was averse to putting her hair up. She now independently puts up her hair before cooking and for her exercises! Also with her hall pass, before this year she would not even walk anywhere without her teacher being in her direct vicinity. Now she will go on "special missions" around the school and is running around downstairs for exercise group. 

One student has made exceptional progress this year in attending groups. Larger groups have been challenging for her in the past, but over the course of the year, she has made great strides in groups. She has worked on using technology to look up information during social group, delegating tasks to her peers during cooking group, and has shown a willingness to try more difficult exercises in a new gym group. All of these skills that she has worked on gave her the confidence to attend the science fair this year for the first time. 

It has been so rewarding taking a student to the Beverly Library where he works on finding requested books. We usually alternate between fiction and nonfiction to learn both call systems equally. Each week he is more independent in locating the correct aisle and then scanning the books until he reaches the one that matches his list. We are so excited to start the new school year and to celebrate more accomplishments!

It's been a great year at Hopeful Journeys - congratulations to all of our students and teachers for their hard work this year!