The school year is underway, and your child—and your family—is still adjusting to new people, places, and routines. The year ahead may be challenging, but is full of possibilities and growth opportunities for your child! Remember that Peak Potential Therapy is here to help you and your family in any way we can. These are just some of the additional ways that we can support your child during the school year:

1. Speech-Language Therapy – We offer individualized speech-language therapy services, ranging from early intervention speech therapy for toddlers to ongoing speech-language therapy for older children.
2. Academic Tutoring – Our tutors offer services in one-on-one or small group settings, customizing your child’s tutoring to his or her unique needs and learning style.
3. IEP Consulting for Parents – Navigating your child’s Individualized Education Plan, especially for the first time, can be challenging. We can offer caring advice, guidance and support throughout the school year.
4. Social Developmental Camps –Peak Potential Therapy runs several camps designed to help your child maintain a routine and keep working on important social and developmental skills during breaks from school. For example, during winter break, we offer Camp Snowcubs, designed for children ages 12 to 15. It is never too early to reserve your child’s spot for this winter!
5. Social Skills Groups – Many children learn through play, and facilitated social skills groups with peers can be an ideal setting to enhance language comprehension and expression. We offer 6-week sessions through the school year in our Twinsburg, Ohio, center.

How can we support your child and your family this school year? Do not hesitate to reach out and contact a member of the Peak Potential Therapy team. We look forward to a great year together!

Teens with autism often struggle with the transition from school to adulthood. Researchers have been trying to find new ways of understanding this transition from the teens’ perspective, rather than relying on interviews with parents and family members. Autism Speaks recently reported on research taking place at the University of Missouri’s Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders using Photovoice, which is a “creative research method that allows study participants to use photography to identify and share their experiences.” Teens were given cameras and asked to take photos that best captured their personal experience of growing up. Those photos were then used to initiate a conversation with researchers.

“In order to truly understand the perspective of young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder, who struggle with limited communication and fears, we needed to think outside the box to help them share their stories. Giving them cameras so they could tell their stories through images allowed us to determine what these young adults thought and felt.”

– Nancy Cheak-Zamora, study co-author

If you are looking for ways to strengthen your child’s communication as he or she approaches the transition to adulthood, please use Peak Potential Therapy as a resource. Contact us today to learn more about our programming and therapy services for teens with autism.

Children, parents, and teachers alike across Greater Cleveland and Akron are probably experiencing some “back to school blues” as the more carefree summer season with its relaxed schedules will soon be replaced with early alarms and structured routines. But, for your child with special needs, going back to school can be an extremely stressful and anxious experience. You likely have stuck to a routine throughout summer break to help your child maintain some of the structure of a normal school day, but now that routine will once again change. How can you help your child ease into his or her new school schedule?

1. Arrange an early visit to the school. Many school administrators will allow you to bring your child into the school early to familiarize him or her with the school environment. Sometimes it may be possible to also visit your child’s classroom and teacher. Or, if you prefer, make a visit to the school alone and snap some photos (with permission, of course) that you can use to create a photo book for your child. Talk with your child every day as you flip through the photo book.
2. Use social stories. If possible, speak to your child’s teacher and school staff to get some details about what will happen on the first day or in the first week at the school. Then, you can use this information to talk to your child about what to expect and explain different activities or events that might occur. For example, there may be a welcome back assembly with all students at the school, or perhaps your child’s teacher has a special art project or activity planned for the class.
3. Give your child some choice in new school supplies and clothes. Back to school should be a fun and exciting time of year for children. Involve your child in school supply shopping, allowing him or her to have a role in selecting the supplies he or she will use in the classroom or the clothing he or she will wear on the first day back. This can help to build confidence in your child.

If you need additional guidance or suggestions to help your child prepare for going back to school, do not hesitate to contact the team at Peak Potential Therapy. We work closely with children with autism and special needs and their families across Cleveland and Akron and look forward to speaking with you.

The steps of job seeking are challenging for any candidate: preparing a polished resume; communicating with potential employers; participating in what can be a rigorous or stressful series of interviews. It is easy to imagine how challenging this process can be for a young adult with autism. Research has shown that employment rates are lower for young adults on the autism spectrum than those who are not. An American Academy of Pediatrics study from 2012 found that only 55% of young adults with autism had held a paid job during the first 6 years after completing high school.

There are foundations and organizations across the country that are actively working to change this statistic. The Atlantic reported in July that the Dan Marino Foundation is helping young adults with autism train and prepare to enter the workforce. The foundation, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is focused on “empowering individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities.” In addition to helping students learn basic skills for the workplace and train for industry certifications, the Foundation is training young adults with the help of virtual job interviews, conducted by digital avatars on a large screen. This gives the trainees an unprecedented opportunity to practice engaging with and responding to an interviewer.

Learn more about the work of the Foundation and other programs in place to help young adults with autism navigate the workforce here. For resources that exist for young adults with autism and other special needs closer to home in Ohio, contact the caring team at Peak Potential Therapy.

The development of Google Glass, Google’s computerized headset that features a camera with a small display above the right eye, has long shown significant promise in improving the lives of children with autism. Researchers at Stanford University are currently conducting a study using facial recognition software that runs on Google Glass to see whether the software can help children with autism deal with one of their greatest challenges—reading emotions in the faces of others. The camera on the device is able to detect emotions like happiness or sadness and shows the corresponding words, or an emoji, on the glass display.

From an Associated Press article reporting on the study:

“The autism glass program is meant to teach children with autism how to understand what a face is telling them. And we believe that when that happens, they will become more socially engaged,” said Dennis Wall, whose lab is running the study.

Read more about the study and its potential to lead to an alternative therapy for children with autism here.

Summer camp is a wonderful experience for children that promotes independence and social skills development, as well as encourages them to try new things. At Peak Potential Therapy, we believe that every child should have the experience of summer camp, regardless of any special needs or disabilities. That’s why we coordinate special needs summer camps for children in the Greater Cleveland area through August, affording all children the opportunity to attend camp within a safe, therapeutic, and supportive environment.

These are just 3 of the many amazing benefits of summer camp for special needs children:

1. The opportunity to practice social skills. It is so important for children with special needs to have opportunities to practice communication and interaction with peers. Rather than lapse in this area of development during the summer, camp ensures that critical social skills development and growth continues throughout the summer. While children engage in typical summer camp activities, they are practicing these essential skills. They can progress and have success through the summer with the support of a speech therapist or behavior consultant.
2. The chance to experience a sense of pride and independence. During Peak Potential Therapy’s summer camps, children in S.M.I.L.E. Summer Camp™,Camp Suntastic™, and Preschool Camp A.B.C™ are presented with many new activities. Within a safe, caring environment with therapists and their peers, they can experience the pride that comes with trying a new activity. Whether it is going down a big slide at Twinsburg Waterpark or feeding long horn steer at Wagon Trails animal park, our older children experience the sense of self-pride and independence that comes when you step outside of your comfort zone and attempt something new and unfamiliar. The preschoolers in Camp A.B.C. also have opportunities to try new play-based activities with their peers.
3. The joy of having fun with peers. Above all, the most important benefit of summer camp is having a fun summer! Peak Potential Therapy’s summer camps designed for special needs children ensure that no matter their unique challenges, all children will experience that joy that comes from having fun with your peers.

Are you looking for a summer camp that is right for your child? Peak Potential Therapy offers S.M.I.L.E. Summer Camp™, Preschool Camp A.B.C™. and Camp Suntastic™. Find the summer camp that is the best fit for your child and schedule and register soon. Spaces remain for sessions this summer but will fill fast!

“Is my child autistic?”

If you are asking this question, you are likely experiencing a mix of emotions: anxiety, fear, curiosity, frustration. You are longing for an answer to your child’s struggles or behaviors. One place to start is with a self-evaluation of your child and his or her unique behaviors or potential symptoms. We do offer an Autism Screening Quiz that can help you take this first step in identifying behaviors in your child that are indicative of Autism.

The most common signs of Autism relate to the following:

• Communication: Your child may have difficulty communicating with you and your family, or his or her peers, or may be entirely nonverbal.
• Repetitive Behaviors: Your child may have obsessive tendencies when it comes to routines or keeping to a set schedule for his or her actions. Or perhaps your child will repeat saying the same word, or performing the same action, over and over.
• Social Behaviors: Your child may struggle with touch, such as holding someone’s hand or being hugged, as well as struggle to engage in conversation. He or she may disengage from peers in a social setting.

Observing these behaviors does not immediately equate a diagnosis, rather it suggests that your child should have an evaluation by a developmental pediatrician, a psychologist or a team of professionals at a specialty autism clinic such as Rainbow Babies. As you navigate a possible Autism diagnosis, remember that there are many caring, compassionate individuals, including the therapists at Peak Potential Therapy, who want the very best for your child. If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact Peak Potential Therapy.

A few weeks ago, we received a note from a parent whose son was preparing to attend a horse camp at Fieldstone Farm. The parent noted how our therapists were able to help her son work through his anxiety to reach a point of being comfortable with riding and interacting with horses. She noted once her son was able to get on the horse, he loved the activity. But, it was not possible without the therapists at Peak Potential Therapy using a variety of techniques to help her son work through his anxiety.

Children with special needs often struggle with stress and anxiety. Anxiety may keep your child from joining in with other children who are playing, stop him or her from trying a new activity, or even prevent him or her from being willing to taste a new food. At times, this struggle to cope with anxiety may feel like an enormous roadblock for your child and your family. Fortunately there are ways that you can help your child deal with anxiety and stress. These are just a few of the strategies we use at Peak Potential Therapy:

• Visual Supports: Many children with special needs are very strong visual learners. Communicating a process, such as getting on and riding a horse, or caring for a horse, can be done with visual supports, such as a visual schedule or a custom My Social Stories book.
• Peer Modeling: Using this technique, a child who is struggling with anxiety and hesitating to participate in an activity can watch a peer participate and model the appropriate behaviors.
• Modeling Self Talk: The therapist working with a child can use self talk to describe each step he or she is taking. For example, if the therapist is working with a child to overcome anxiety to ride a horse, she may describe approaching the horse, feeding the horse an apple or petting the horse’s nose, and so on.
• Transitions: This is a classic area of struggle for children on the Autism spectrum. It could be as simple as changing activities, like going from reading books to playing with blocks, or a change in the child’s schedule. Or, it could be a huge ordeal to change classrooms and get a new teacher from year to year. Our therapists help children learn how to handle these types of transitions.
• Positive Verbal Support: Consistent praise can be a very powerful motivator in helping a child work through anxiety and reach a goal. Verbal praise is more effective when coming from an individual that a child has built a relationship with.
• Time: While one child may need just one visit to a horse farm to feel ready to ride a horse, another child may need a dozen visits. Every child is unique.

If your child is struggling with anxiety, contact our team today to learn more about the available therapies and services offered at Peak Potential Therapy.

Often, parents will speak to one of our speech language pathologists, asking whether their child’s struggle with language development warrants speech therapy, or, at the opposite end of the spectrum, if speech therapy will help their nonverbal child. At Peak Potential Therapy, we strongly believe in speech-language therapy as a benefit to all children, whether they are struggling with speech rhythm, such as stuttering, or have an inability to make speech sounds. These are just a few of the primary benefits for children:

• Speech therapy gives children a voice. If a child is nonverbal, and has difficulty producing any sounds at all, they lack a voice and a way to communicate. Through speech therapy and forms of aided communication, like technology communication devices, children learn a way to communicate with their parents and family members.

• Speech therapy teaches children expressive language skills. Speech therapy is not only about the physical ability to speak, but about language. When we communicate with others, we use so much more than simply words—we communicate through eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, and so on. When children learn these methods of communication, they can more easily communicate with and understand those around them.

• Speech therapy promotes self-confidence. When a child struggles with a speech disorder or delay, they likely also struggle with a lack of confidence and self-esteem, especially in situations with their peers. Working with a speech language pathologist, a child will gain an ability to communicate, giving them more confidence to engage and interact with peers.

To learn more about speech language therapy services offered at Peak Potential Therapy, contact us today. You can also assess your child’s skills with this speech-language self-evaluation before calling to schedule a formal assessment.

At Peak Potential Therapy, we care deeply about our clients and their success, beyond the hours of a therapy session.

We are always looking for resources and tools that may aid families and provide helpful advice and insights. Recently, we had a parent who was struggling with her son’s sensory aversions to food, which made mealtime a stressful situation. One of our therapists found the “Ask an Autistic” YouTube channel of Amythest Shaber, a young woman who regularly responds to questions about living with autism. We shared one of Amythest’s videos, titled “Ask an Autistic – What Is Sensory Processing Disorder?” with the parent, hoping it might shed some light on her son. The parent responded that the video really helped her put her son’s approach to food in perspective.

We wanted to share this video and Amythest’s channel here as well, as it may be a useful resource and source of information for other parents and family members of a child with autism.

If you have questions or concerns regarding your child, please do not hesitate to contact our team at Peak Potential Therapy. We are here to help and offer whatever guidance and support we can.