Camps fill up quickly, so you may want to get a jump start on getting signed up for big adventures!

Our SPY CAMP offers lots of fun with our SPIES solving the missions and developing social skills abilities at the same time.

Our SPY CAMP will be available per week/per age group.

Call now 693-7688 for details.

Fundy Speech Pathology Clinic is now offering Spring Social Skills Groups for 2013

Now taking registrations for ages 5 – 12 years of age

Groups will be based on enrollment and please call Karen Belliveau for more information at 693-7688.

In this social skills “Spy camp” each mission is completely top secret and classified. In order to unlock each mission the Spy’s in training must pass the training level. Each training level is centered around a specific social skill. After completing several activities and passing their training level, the mission unlocks. Their task now is to solve the mission.

The camp has been described by parents as ” hook, line and sinker” the perfect amount of reinforcement to make learning fun.

Is now taking registrations for our Spring Social Skills Groups

Social Skills for 5 – 7 year olds will be held every Tuesday from May 1 – June 5, 2012

Social Skills for 8 – 10 year olds will be held every Thursday from May 3 – June 7, 2012

Cost: $55.00 per week (may be covered by your medical plan)

Location: 142 Harrington, Saint John, New Brunswick

Time: 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

Call Karen Belliveau at 693-7688

or email at Karen@fundyspeechpathology.com

Dear Par­ents,

We are pleased to announce that Sep­tem­ber 22, 2011 is our offi­cial Open House, a time set aside to cel­e­brate the great facil­i­ties that we now have for our chil­dren. It is our inten­tion to pro­vide vis­i­tors with an overview of all the ser­vices offered at Step­ping Stones.

The Open House if from 1:00–4:00 with the ceremony/ribbon cut­ting being held at 1:30 in the play park.

Due to amount of vis­i­tors we are expect­ing, the agency will be closed on Thurs­day, Sep­tem­ber 22, 2011.

We hope that you will invite your friends and fam­ily to cel­e­brate this occasion!

Come join the fun!!

Sharon R. Gainforth

Director

The Fundy Learning Centre will be offering classes on everything from behaviour management to communication skills for anyone who may come into contact with autistic children, including daycare workers, teachers or even law enforcement officers.

“We’ve been approached a lot about the program,” said Karen Belliveau, the manager of the Fundy Speech Pathology Clinic, which administers the curriculum. “The autism spectrum disorder is being found earlier and more often, so a program like this is such a need.”

Belliveau said the classes, which start Oct. 3, are intended to educate people on the basics of autism, intervention techniques and other methods of helping autistic children overcome the communication and concentration issues that are the hallmark of the condition.

With hundreds of autistic children – whose conditions vary from severe to high-functioning – living in the Saint John-area, Belliveau said there are countless professions where skills on how to deal with autistic children might be helpful.

“This course isn’t just for daycare workers or teacher’s aides,” Belliveau said. “People like police officers or firemen could probably even benefit from the skills we’re going to teach.”

Sharon Gainforth, executive director of Stepping Stone Fundy Region, an organization tasked by the provincial government with dealing with preschool-aged autistic children which supports the new program in the Valley, said it is a valuable asset for educating the community.

She said often, autistic children are just misunderstood.

“People sometimes see autistic children as just unruly or misbehaving,” she said. “In reality, sometimes it just takes a gentle hand to calm them down.”

Gainforth said parents have to deal with staring, or judgmental people who are unable to distinguish a normal tantrum-throwing three-year old from a child with autism.

“The truth is, a lot of people could probably benefit from this program,” she said.

The curriculum-based program allows people to pick and choose individual classes, or take the entire lineup.

Belliveau said that flexibility has been appealing to daycare owners who want some of their employees to get the training, without having to deplete their staffing.

Classes are taught by professionals at the offices on the Marr Road and students will learn in a classroom setting with regular readings and assignments. There will also be a practicum portion in which students will work with children with autism.

The classes vary from a day-long session to the full program between the start of October and the first week of December. Prices for single courses range from $45 to $295, while tuition for the entire program is $945.

via telegraphjournal.com – Program trains people to deal with autistic kids | Mark Iype – Breaking News, New Brunswick, Canada.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO ABOUT FUNDY LEARNING CENTER

]]> http://www.fundyspeechpathology.com/?feed=rss2&p=383 0 http://www.fundyspeechpathology.com/?p=332 http://www.fundyspeechpathology.com/?p=332#comments Fri, 02 Sep 2011 01:16:20 +0000 Aslam http://www.fundyspeechpathology.com/?p=332 SAINT JOHN – Saint John’s growing autistic community is being well served, and the provincial government should be lauded for funding programs for children that may have otherwise fallen through the cracks, say local advocates.

“The government deserves a lot of credit,” said Sharon Gainforth, executive director of Stepping Stone Fundy Region, an organization tasked with dealing with pre-school-aged autistic children. “I never dreamed they would put out a chunk of change like that for our kids.”

Gainforth, a speech pathologist who has worked with the autistic community for more than two decades, said government funding provided seven years ago for helping young autistic children has made a world of difference for countless kids.

“From the moment a child is diagnosed, until they head to school, we can provide some of the most effective intervention for those kids,” she said. “But the key is early intervention.”

Gainforth said autistic children often struggle with developing effective communication and social skills, something that most kids learn easily and incrementally. And the sooner they can be assessed and helped, the easier their transition will be for school and beyond, she said.

While no firm numbers on how many people are coping with autism in Saint John exist, Debbie McDonald, executive director of the Community Autism Centre, said her group is currently working with about 800 families.

McDonald said her group helps connect people with autism programs from youth until well into adulthood, when the availability of services for people struggling with the little-understood condition begin to wane.

“Autism isn’t something that people outgrow,” she said.

One thing McDonald and Gainforth both agree on is that people are best served when autism is caught early – something parents, physicians and teachers are getting better at.

And that is where Stepping Stone fills the need.

Children going through the Stepping Stone program are referred by the government, which fully funds the centre. Gainforth said if a child is diagnosed, the physician notifies the Department of Education (they administer the program), who then forward that child’s information to Stepping Stone.

Gainforth said from diagnosis to intervention, it can be “just a matter of weeks.”

Stepping Stone runs the program for children from the moment they are diagnosed – sometimes as young as 18 months – until they “graduate” to kindergarten at the age of five. Each child works with a team of specialists, including a speech pathologist and an occupational therapist, to meet the individual needs of the family.

“Intervention works best when it is tailored to each child,” Gainforth said. “And we try really hard to do that.”

Stepping Stone runs morning and afternoon sessions for up to 70 children at their facility on Adelaide Street, as well as a satellite program from their office in the Kennebecasis Valley. The city facility is well-equipped with toys, musical instruments and a large playroom with a fishing village theme, including a floor to ceiling mock lighthouse.

The children get the services of a personal aide, and they are exposed to various stimulating activities that teach both how to concentrate on a task, and how to communicate with others.

Christian Whalen, acting child and youth advocate with the New Brunswick government, said the province has worked hard to be seen as a leader when it comes to autism intervention.

“If you make the investments, and you make them early enough, lives can take another twist,” said Whalen.

Whalen said extensive research on autism in the province has been conducted, and Saint John is the model for the rest of New Brunswick.

via telegraphjournal.com – City seen as front-runner in autism intervention | Mark Iype – Breaking News, New Brunswick, Canada.