treatment of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Temperatures soared on Saturday, July 28, but guests still had a good time at NSSA’s 2nd Annual Brew-B-Q at the Great South Bay Brewery in Bay Shore, NY.
Delicious food was prepared by Fireside Caterers of East Northport and people dined throughout the afternoon on grilled burgers, hot dogs and barbecued chicken, side salads and corn on the cob, with cooling watermelon for dessert.
Families and friends played corn hole, can jam, ladder ball, giant jenga and badminton, while younger kids jumped in the bounce house.
The dunk tank was a popular attraction.Thanks to all our “dunkees”!
Some tried their hand at winning prizes at soccer darts and the wheel of chance, and many walked away with whimsical inflatable coasters, gift cards, light-up beer stein pins and more. There were two great prizes raffled off: A Coolest Cooler filled with craft beer from local Long Island breweries and a tour for 14 on Riverhead’s Brew Crew Cyle. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone who bought raffle tickets!
Soar Photo‘s photo booth was a popular spot.
Talented local bands The Big Happy and Arnold on Mars performed throughout the afternoon keeping the atmosphere festive.
Even the kids were transfixed!
And may I just say…NSSA Volunteers Are the Best! They spent the day in sweltering heat, checking people in, selling t-shirts, running games and just in general making sure things went smoothly and guests were fed and having a good time!
Brewery staff helped guests try the different beers and wine.
And friends and families just hung out together and generally had a good time enjoying the festive atmosphere.
We can’t thank Jen O’Malley and Tori Ardito enough for all the hard work, long hours, enthusiasm and love they poured into this event. Thank you!
We especially thank Great South Bay Brewery for their amazing space and all their support in the planning of the event, as well as our generous sponsors – thank you, everyone!
Thanks to everyone who attended, volunteered, sponsored, donated and worked this exciting event!
Welcome back to another week at NSSA. We’re in the middle of our summer session and the days are hot and steamy but we’re making the best of it!
Running for the sheer joy of just being outside.
Jumping for joy!
Classroom Three went to their jobsite at Outback and made the place sparkle in record time! See more on this in an upcoming blog.
Someone’s excited to go make chocolates!
Classroom One hard at work making treats.
Adult clients doing office work at Winters Bros.
Classroom 1 went on their 1st Annual Pancake Breakfast at IHOP.
Plenty of smiles at Running Club!
Some adult clients went to South Bay Arts for drumming and karaoke.
And everyone’s always happy for a visit from Mister Softee!
Happy Friday, everyone – see you next week!
Earlier this summer we shared (here) that Randy Horowitz, NSSA’s Associate Executive Director of Program Development, began a school-based running club here at NSSA. The weekly practices are broken into two groups: The Junior Runners (the younger students in classroms 1 & 2) and Senior Runners from classrooms 3 & 4.
The club meets on Friday mornings and Randy and Barell parent Jennifer Prince spend 30 minutes leading students through warm-up exercises…
an individual short run…
a couple laps around the playground track with a teacher or running partner….
…and finishing up with a brief cool-down and a round of applause for their efforts.
The purpose of the running club this summer is to assess student’s skills, motivation and interest in running. Randy anticipates that by summer’s end they will have identified a handful of students who could be interested in running longer distances (perhaps a 5k, Jack’s Run, Blazing Trails for Autism 4 mile run, etc.). These students will be paired with staff and parents who can coach them towards this goal.
Randy shared why participating in organized runs or races could be a benefit for our students: “In addition to decreasing problem behavior and increasing health and fitness, among the most important benefits of exercise for individuals with autism, are the social implications of participating in activities with typically developing age matched peers, and relatives (e.g., siblings and parents).”
If you want to read the story of a family who helped their two sons with autism by running together as a family, read Silent Running: Our Family’s Journey to the Finish Line with Autism by Robyn K. Schneider. Ms. Schneider, the boys’ mother, shows how skill building, effective supports, developing community partnerships and selecting activities based on shared interest, can promote independence and community integration for individuals with autism.
And there’s certainly no denying the joy on these faces!
Thanks, Randy, for starting this important exercise club for our students!
We started the week with a visit from Ginny Green from Autism Speaks who delivered a plaque regarding a grant they awarded NSSA for Building the Field and Scope of Educators Supporting Children with Autism. Thanks, Autism Speaks!
The week started out hot so some of the adult clients came over to cool off in our pool…
…and later to indoor air-conditioned glow-in-the-dark mini golf.
Students did more tie-dying in preparation for Brew-B-Q.
Adult clients were given the job of weeding this raised bed at the Elija Farm. Look at the great job they did! Great teamwork, everyone!
J from NSSA’s Green Team came to pick up the shredding and recyclables from the Martin C. Barell building. You can learn more about The Green Team in an upcoming blog post.
The Running Club had a second meeting on Friday morning.
And students enjoyed the weekly summer visit from Mr. Softee after lunch!
And so ends another week of NSSA’s summer session. Check back next week to see what we’re up to!
Last fall we shared the story about Classroom 4’s Salad Shoppe program (read full story here). The program was such a resounding success they decided to expand their product line and delivery days. The teachers were able to replicate the program they created for salads and apply it to a new product with the same outcome and success. Now, in addition to Salad Thursdays, Classroom 4 is offering staff Fruit-Yogurt Parfaits on Fridays.
Each Wednesday staff members get a parfait order form delivered to their desks where they can choose yogurt type, up to 3 mix-in fruits, such as blueberries, honeydew melon, grapes, etc., and whether or not they want granola. When the forms are submitted on Thursday, the Classroom 4 team takes inventory of what is needed to fill the orders and goes shopping for all the ingredients. They keep track of the money and budget so they can make all the necessary purchases.
Friday mornings are spent rinsing, chopping and melon-balling.
Afterwards a production line is set-up on long tables in the classroom and everyone has a specific job to do: layering yogurt in cups, measuring and dropping in berries, filling separate cups with granola and writing customer names on labels. Students are assigned jobs based on their IEP goals and they are also learning to work as part of a team.
As with the salad production, health and safety are of paramount importance. The students use special tools for chopping, everyone handling food and containers wears gloves and students are closely monitored during the entire preparation process.
Everyone’s happy to see the delivery team arrive at their door with their Friday morning fruit parfait.
Classroom Four’s Salad Shoppe and Fruit-Yogurt Parfait delivery is an excellent illustration of the creativity and ingenuity of our teachers, who are tasked not only with teaching academics but also (and perhaps more importantly) teaching vital skills necessary to navigate and progress through everyday life. With careful assessment of each student’s needs and goals, our teachers created a new and exciting endeavor that combines their students’ academic goals with daily living objectives while generalizing and building upon skills that have already been mastered.
Congratulations on your success, Classroom 4!
Welcome back! After a 2-week program break, students, clients and staff returned to NSSA this week for the start of the new year.
Students settled back into familiar classroom routines.
Adult clients started a new pilot program this week called “Life Long Learning Series” that will run two days a week over the six-week summer program and then throughout the rest of the year with more students and perhaps an additional day. You’ll be reading more about this in a future post but for now we wanted to share some pictures of clients getting right into the program this week.
A new group of enthusiastic summer interns started.
Adult clients made new friends at the Elija Farm.
The NSSA Cafe began serving morning coffee again to happy customers.
Classroom Four’s Salad Shoppe resumed business.
And they picked up again with their new Yogurt-Fruit Parfait product that staff can order for Friday mornings. Learn more about this in an upcoming blog post.
NSSA’s school-based running club started this week. Randy Horowitz, NSSA’s Associate Executive Director of Program Development, and Barell parent Jennifer Prince led the students through some warm-up exercises, an individual run, a couple laps around the playground track with their teachers and a brief cool-down at the end. You’ll be hearing more about the running club soon!
Jen and Tori from NSSA’s Development Team led adult clients in tie-dying tee shirts for July 28’s Brew-B-Q (are you going?).
And the week ended up with a visit from Mr. Softee!
It looks like our summer session is off to a great (and busy!) start. Thanks for sharing it with us and we’ll see you again soon!