New Blog Page http://www.magnificentminds.ca/apps/blog

We're blogging at a new address, linked to our homepage. If you haven't check it out, you're missing out on up and coming posts!

http://www.magnificentminds.ca/apps/blog OOPS!

Our webhost changed our URL on us, without letting us know!! You can now find our NEW BLOG at:
http://www.magnificentminds.ca/#!blog/cjom

Stop by and give us a shout out!
Yours truly,
Miss Alley

Small Group JK Placement Open, Toronto

We have had a space free up in our ABA Style JK/SK class; hours are M-F 9:00-3:30 any takers? 

The ratio is 3:1 and we won't increase beyond 4:1. The teacher is a registered ECE with experience in an IBI setting and extensive experience working with children with social and communicative delays; supervised by the clinical coordinator of our centre/school program. 

We have made huge gains already this year in our program. The ideal candidate is waiting for IBI funding and looking to kick start development with a low ratio therapy-based class OR requires development of attention, language, focus and self regulation skills. An ideal candidate may possess a diagnosis of ADD, ADHD, Aspergers, Autism, or other Learning Disability. An ideal candidate mayrequire development of social and play skills.

Cost
Starting at $5/hour to a max of $12/hour

Hours

9:00-3:30PM (half days available but priority will be given to those registering for full days). 

Location

Magnificent Minds Private School
Dufferin/Lawrence Area

47 Glenbrook Avenue

Reach Us

MagnificentMinds.ca
647-404-6349

Swap out and tag team teaching

http://www.magnificentminds.ca/apps/blog/swapping-out-and-tag-team-deescalation

A TASTE:

From time to time, it can hectic in a group learning environment; even in a one to one learning situation, you sometimes need support. It is essential to your professional efficacy, and sanity, that you support your team members as you work together towards common goals. There are two techniques I have often called upon in tougher situations, behavioural meltdowns, or total stand-offs, which can help deescalate and manage your own emotional responses and maintain control of the situation. It goes without saying that teachers and therapists need to maintain calm, cool and collected; but, it’s not always easy. 

Strength Based Programs for ASD

Available at our new blog:
http://www.magnificentminds.ca/apps/blog/strength-based-programs-and-asd

We've moved.

To our wonderful and faithful followers: we have moved!

You can find us at our new home MagnificentMinds.ca/Apps/Blog

Looking forward to continuing to support your families, and classrooms!

Warm regards,
MM

Summer Fun

We are 3 steps ahead of your typical day camp experience, with some important modifications to suit our learners.
From arts and crafts to sensory science, from sports to water works we participate in all your favorite camp-time games. Understanding the social skill development is the goal of a successful camp experience--it was important for us to hand-pick a team of qualified professionals to lead the troops.
With a 4:1 ratio our camp, with on average 12 children on site, we find exactly the right balance for our campers. Our campers are a dynamic mix including peer mentors who participate in inclusive cabin groups alongside their peers with a variety of social-considerations from Autism to Down's Syndrome.Whether typically developing or exception, there are distinction at our camp. Everyone is here to learn, have fun, and make friends. With enough hands on deck to provide every camper with a 1:1 as needed, we ensure safety and security while providing an authentic camp experience..."Let me see you're funky chicken...

What's that you say?

I said let me see your funky chicken...

What's that you say?

I said Ooooh Ah Funky Chicken Ooooh Ah One more time!"

Music is such a huge part of the camp experience; we use music to teach social skills from greetings to social rules, from echoics to intraverbals (those are verbal behaviour terms that mean increased communication). With specialty activities chosen to suit the age of the campers in the group, our campers experience the real-deal camp experience (from boondoggle to camp-wide meetings), with a few minor adjustment to meet the unique needs of children with special considerations like allergies, neurological impairment, sensitivities, behavioural, emotional or social concerns.

Having a quiet place to take a break is so important for kids with social challenges. Socialization is hard-work even for the extroverted, so for introverted kids, a calm space to recharge is essential. In each class we have a tent like this one, and/or other options for relaxing quietly in your own space; we have pillow-reading areas, huge floor pillows to curl up on, or quiet sensory games to play on the floor like digging in corn flour, sandboxes, or bean buckets. Especially in the summer, when the schedule is go-go-go and transitions are every 30 minutest, we need to make sure that our campers have enough down time, and enough time to recharge so that they are at their best when it comes time for activities. We love to take a break from the fluorescent lights by switching to a black-light-only atmosphere or soaking up the sun on our fantastic property. 

1 down...lots to go

A reflection on biopsychology, and the  biopsychosocial as a whole.

A Bigger Picture Perspective

This course has impacted my counseling style by giving me a deeper understanding of the characteristics associated with a wide variety of diagnoses from depression to anorexia (Pinel, 2012); uncovering the complexities of each condition has been fascinating. This course has given me insight into characteristics, coping mechanism and behaviour patterns associated with clients from infant to elderly.

Coming from a strictly behavioural background, it has become increasingly clear to me that the connection between mind and body is very powerful. I found Sigelman and Rider (2012) to be particularly insightful when it came to depicting the holistic perspective and cyclical relationship between mind and body.

Sigelman and Rider’s concept of social norms as a contributing factor to parenting style was insightful and relevant for me as a child-behaviour therapist; understanding the various perspectives has allowed me to be an active part of trouble-shooting, and parental support. A large part of my role is the education and training of parents; gaining insight into the various styles of attachment, and parenting was both relevant and informative.

As before I find myself learning towards alternative therapies (that is, alternative to medication) like diet, exercise, conversational therapy, behavioural intervention and so on; but after having taken this course, I appreciate that though medication should be a last resort, it is the missing piece of the puzzle for some individuals. The ability to know when to make a referral, is a very valuable (actually, an essential) skill.

References

Pinel, J.P. (2012). Basics of biopsychology. Boston: Pearson

Sigelman and Rider. (2012) Life span and human development (7e) Belmont, CA: Wadsworth

Woolfson, L. L., & Grant, E. E. (2006). Authoritative parenting and parental stress in parents of

pre-school and older children with developmental disabilities. Child: Care, Health & Development, 32(2), 177-184. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2214.2006.00603.x