HJEC October 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’s). 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 work 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
• Laundry
• Cleaning
• Meal Preparation

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:

1. Turn on water
2. Wet hands
3. Get soap
4. Scrub palms together
5. Rub top of right hand
6. Rub top of left hand
7. Rinse
8. Turn off water
9. Dry hands

In addition to breaking down 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 suggest ideas 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 and how you can support these programs at home!

By Alexa Harry, MS, OTR/L

Turkey Time!

November is quickly approaching and so is our love for turkey! Year-round, we are incredibly thankful for our staff, students, and families who take part in making Hopeful Journeys such a special place. We love to take this opportunity to take a step back and celebrate as a Hopeful Journeys’ community. For our students, this looks like enhancing social skills, introducing new vocabulary, participating in fun-filled events, and learning what it truly means to be thankful. There are many ways for us to support your family during this exciting time of year!  

• Social Skills: The holidays can be a difficult time for students with more social demands. One way to work on these skills is right in the comfort of your own home. Creating a fun and interactive environment allows for your children to practice their social skills while connecting with family members. Try a Thanksgiving-themed “would you rather” game at home with friends and family. Have your student answer a question and ask one too! Some examples include: 
  • Would you rather…
    • Eat apple pie OR eat pumpkin pie 
    • Drink apple cider OR drink apple juice 
    • Eat dinner first OR eat dessert first 
    • Eat ham for Thanksgiving meal OR eat turkey for Thanksgiving meal
    • Cook the Thanksgiving meal OR clean up the Thanksgiving meal
    • Watch football on Thanksgiving OR watch a Thanksgiving Day Parade
    • Help set the table for dinner OR help clean up dinner 
    • Cook the dinner OR bake the desserts

• Vocabulary:  For students of all communicative abilities, Bingo is always a fun way to introduce new words and talk about different things that your child might see or do over a certain holiday. We can incorporate nouns, verbs, and adjectives that are related to Thanksgiving to expose your child to a variety of words. 

Reach out to your child's team for additional communication support during the holidays, and keep an eye out for Tadpoles photos of your child participating in lots of fun activities here at HJEC! 

By Shauna King M.S., CF-SLP and Rachel Brown M.S., CF- SLP

Beverly Library

The Beverly Library has become a fan favorite of off site vocational locations. Weekly, four students volunteer for an hour fulfilling the "pull list".  The "pull list" is a list of items reserved by patrons through the online library system. Students navigate the different areas of the library to collect everything from books to DVDs and CDs. Students then navigate locations from fiction and nonfiction to music and travel to find the requested item. Students need to not only find the correct item, but also the correct copy requested and bring it to the circulation desk. In addition to the "pull list", the library is a great opportunity for generalization of social skills. Students engage with library staff as well as patrons in a variety of small talk conversations, practicing both greetings and appropriate conversational topics while at work. Students are doing an excellent job of generalizing their functional academic skills to the community!

Making Communication Work: Teaching Requesting

Programming based on the principles of applied behavior analysis focuses on developing skills that are important and meaningful. That said, one of the most important areas of skill development for all children is learning to effectively communicate. For most people, this process begins shortly after we’re born, when we learn that crying produces food, a caregiver, and even a diaper change. As we get older, these skills get more refined, and people we’re around teach us new, and more complex ways to communicate. 

In many cases, children with autism benefit from explicit instruction to acquire language and related social skills. When designing language instruction, there’s much to consider. For example, some children communicate with vocal speech and others use alternative augmentative forms of communication (e.g., picture exchange, electronic devices). Regardless of what the communication looks like, behavior analysts take a functional approach to teaching communication skills. Specifically, looking at contexts that promote the development of specific types of communication. Behavior analysts have names for these basic types of communication. They include mands (e.g., requesting), tacts (e.g., labeling), echoics (e.g., repeating) and intraverbals (e.g., answering questions, finishing common songs). Over the coming months, we’ll discuss each of these types of communication and common teaching strategies for each skill. 

Manding, or requesting, is typically the first type of communication that develops in children. As mentioned above, babies often learn that their cries get them the things that they need. Many parents can likely even tell the difference between cries (because their child is hungry or when they need to take a nap). Often, these are the first examples of requests that children learn. Requesting is one of the most important communication skills because it allows someone to access what they want and need. When teaching requests, first we need to identify when there is a want or need. Usually, an effective way to do this is by reading someone’s body language. For example, if a child is reaching for a toy on a shelf, that’s probably a reliable indication that they want the toy. It’s in that moment of ‘want’ that you can model the request (e.g., “Toy, please”) and when the child repeats the request, you get the toy from the shelf and hand it to the child. This teaches the child that their communication works. This process of identifying a want or a need, modeling or prompting the request, and then providing the requested item can be very effective at developing requesting skills. Sometimes these opportunities to teach requests occur naturally. Other times, we can create or contrive more chances to practice. For example, imagine you’re working on teaching a child to request “more”.  If the child enjoys being pushed on the swing, one strategy could be to push them a couple of times and then wait until they indicate they want to be pushed again (e.g., looks at you). It’s at this time that you can prompt the child to say “more” and when they say it, provide more pushes. 

Communication skills are arguably some of the most important skills we teach students at Hopeful Journeys. There are many types of communication and behavior analysts take a functional approach to teaching communication. When teaching a learner to request, it all starts with identifying when they have a want or need, and this requires careful observation from the teacher. Once you have identified the want or need, you must provide an effective prompt to show the learner how to request (e.g., having them repeat a vocal request, pressing the corresponding button on an electronic communication device), and then providing access to what they request. Like most of the skills we teach at Hopeful Journeys, an individualized approach is going to be the most effective.

Inspiring Hope, Building Potential and Creating Opportunities

Our Mission

Hopeful Journeys’ mission is to provide quality and individualized education to children with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities.  We strive to build better futures for children and families by helping them to reach their fullest potential and enabling them to live more productive and independent lives.

“Each and every staff member at HJEC will do all that they can to provide the tools, education, and care for our students and families to ensure they are working on skills that will better their lives; not only at school, but at home and beyond.”

-Jody Page, Vocational Coordinator & Educational Program Manager

Student Spotlight: Zach!

Zachary has been an amazing addition to our school community here at Hopeful Journeys since December 2021! Zachary is always on the go and always laughing! He enjoys spending time in the motor room, watching videos on the computer in his classroom, and playing with his impressive collection of action figures! Zachary is a very bright young man, who excels at math and spelling. He is working on addition, time-telling, and printed price money! He even practices some of his math and writing at home with Mom and Dad! Zachary also loves to practice his sports, often including a peer in the gym. He enjoys soccer and basketball, and continues to try new activities! Recently, he has been successfully participating in social groups with his classmates. Team A is so lucky to have Zachary’s big smile and infectious laugh!

Student Spotlight: Stefan!

We are so lucky to have Stefan as a student on Team B! Stefan started attending Hopeful Journeys in 2020. Since starting, he has made significant progress transitioning to different places around the school such as the dental office and school store. He also has made progress with successfully attending community trips including the Stone Zoo, In the Game, and Roller World. Recently, Stefan has started joining his friends in the cluster for his trade-ins and during social groups. Along with running around in the motor room and gym, Stefan has found a new love for his monthly swim trip to the YMCA. Stefan is often found working hard and is consistently mastering programs. He mastered labeling different actions and describing items using his AAC device, saying hi and bye to his teachers, and increased his duration of joining his peers during groups. Stefan has also been successful with practicing for dental and medical appointments. It has been amazing to see Stefan work on vocational skills such as restocking gift cards. Stefan shines when he discovers new pathways on his AAC device, expands his vocabulary, and communicates his wants and needs. He has been working on using his device to describe objects and answer WH questions as well. When Stefan is not working hard, he enjoys sitting in his beanbag, watching ASMR videos, and playing with his mirror. Stefan is a wonderful addition to Team B and we are all eager to continue to see and be a part of his journey.

This is Us: Logan

I am so grateful for Hopeful Journeys! Logan loves going to school every day and every one of his teachers makes him feel like a superstar! He is learning skills that will better his future. Hopeful Journeys does it in such a way that work never feels like work and my son continues to make progress! The teachers that work here give everything they have to make our kids feel accomplished. I am blessed to know that my son Logan is at the best school in the North Shore. - Alison & Joe

Transition Tip: Let's Dive Deep into Guardianship (Part 1)

What is Guardianship?

Guardianship is a legal proceeding in which someone (usually a family member) asks the court to find that a person is unable to manage his or her affairs effectively because of a disability. A guardian assists the person with a disability and makes the decisions for them. Guardianship requires paperwork to be filed with the court which can be done with or without a lawyer. There are different types of guardianship depending on the person’s needs. Generally, there is a guardian of the person and a guardian of the property, and one person can serve as both. A guardian of the person can make decisions about a person’s healthcare, housing, food, clothing, and other subjects that affect the person. A guardian of the property makes decisions about a person’s money, income, property, public benefits, and other financial matters.

Will your child need a guardian?

Short answer– yes. Until 18, parents have the legal authority to make decisions (medical, financial, etc.) for their child. Most service providers, including physicians, dentists, and school personnel, do not question this authority when the parent is in charge of his or her minor child and the parent is making decisions, recommendations, and participating in all of the areas where a child needs to be represented. The minute the child turns 18 years of age that authority ceases. The parent/ guardian of that now 18-year old adult no longer has authority over important items such as their finances, legal matters, and medical needs. The parent will need to decide whether to seek decision-making authority for the young adult, and if so, how much authority. Stay tuned for part 2 next month! Please reach out to Vocational Coordinator, Jody Page (jpage@hopefuljourneys.com), if you have any pressing questions and he is more than happy to help answer or steer you in the right direction!

Opening Doors to Hopeful Journeys

Hopeful Journeys teachers and staff were excited to welcome families into the school for our annual Open House event on the evening of September 18th. At this event, families had the opportunity to meet their student’s team, tour classroom spaces, and hear about all the wonderful things students are doing throughout the school day! 

Highlights from the event included: 

• Staff enjoying listening to family stories about the funny things students do at home and even seeing photographs of some students when they were much younger!
• Teachers sharing how proud they are of student progress in regards to programming, the community and social skills.
• Parents being able to match names on Tadpoles notes to faces in person and getting to know the staff working with their students each day a little better. 
• Parents meeting and being able to connect with other Hopeful Journeys families on shared experiences. 
• Many laughs and positive conversations shared between everyone within the Hopeful Journeys school community. 

We are all incredibly proud of our amazing students and greatly enjoyed the opportunity to discuss their achievements with our supportive community of parents and guardians. Thank you to all of the families who were able to join us for the Open House. We look forward to many more opportunities to come together and celebrate all of the exceptional work our students accomplish throughout their educational journey with us! 

Teaching Teachers

Our September Staff Development Day (SDD) was our first of the 23-24 school year and especially productive! We completed training topics such as reinforcement and motivation, rapport building with students, ABC data collection, time management, incidental teaching, review of task analysis programs, and peer-to-peer feedback, with each of these areas tailored to each team based on their student profiles and individual team training needs.  Our behavior skills training (BST) model involves practice and repetition where staff are able to demonstrate competency with skill implementation, which ultimately benefits the student's educational experience here at Hopeful Journeys! The BST model is incorporated throughout our training not only during staff development days, but all training throughout the course of the school year. As part of the training, staff have the opportunity to practice each of these skills and discuss how the training will benefit their team and students as a group. Staff then have the opportunity to work on teaching these skills with a peer so when we get to the student, our teaching skills are perfected! 

In addition to individualized team training, we also came together as a school to review important policy topics such as bullying prevention and intervention, civil rights, behavior support, emergency procedures, mandated reporting, general state educational assessment review, and health care topics such as recognizing and monitoring for medication side effects. These policy trainings are provided at initial staff orientation and are refreshed schoolwide with all staff annually to promote staff and student safety and understanding and adherence to important policies and procedures. 

As this was our first full day training opportunity of the new school year, we also used this time to have teams work on writing team missions to set positive intentions for the year!  This allowed staff to work together to craft their team mission as a group and to reflect on how it aligns with the school's day-to-day and year-to-year big-picture goals. Some mission highlights included continuing to work towards maximizing student progress, team communication, and continued staff development! This helps us all keep the big picture and Hopeful Journeys’ mission in mind so that we can provide the best educational experiences for our students and best prepare them for life after Hopeful Journeys. As shared by one of our teams: “The Team I mission is to provide a safe learning environment to facilitate student success.  We are dedicated to promoting a growth mindset in order to foster independence.”   

Our first SDD of the new year covered a lot of ground, and provided important foundational skills to set all of our staff up for success in this school year!