Note from our Director:

Dear Families:

The time has come to pre-register for the upcoming 2022/23 school year! But before we jump ahead, it’s nice to reflect on the absolutely incredible year we’ve had so far…

Willowcrest School launched in September 2021 with two students and a lot of really great ideas and intentions. In its inception, many of the administrative staff mused about a paradigm shift in education; one towards a holistic modality that supports the whole child. For us that looked like a program that included Speech, Occupational, Behavioral and Music therapies lead by a collaborative team of specialists governed by a unifying philosophy - the greatest good for the child.

Looking ahead, Willowcrest plans to hone in on what's attracted so many families - its commitment to holistic, kind and effective intervention delivered by a community of productive and collaborative teachers and therapists. To that end, we’re proud to introduce a new initiative and invite parents to participate in CLINIC!

What is CLINIC? CLINIC is a weekly meeting attended by our team of Occupational, Speech, Music, Behavior and Educational therapists, Teachers, Curriculum Specialist and Director to discuss two children in depth (all 8 students over the course of a month) and promote communication, collaboration and consistency throughout the school. These meetings are beneficial in implementing new strategies, making quick changes in programming and discussing new and existing goals.

What day and time? CLINIC is held virtually every Friday between 2:30-3:30pm. If you’re unable to attend the meeting but would like to receive notes pertaining to your child just let us know. Families will receive a schedule of meetings so they can plan to listen in on the 20 minute session pertaining to their child.

Can members of my child’s team outside Willowcrest School attend? Absolutely! We encourage ALL members of a childs team to participate, share and collaborate.

What should parents expect to gain? We’re opening these meetings up to the parents so they can hear the goals and strategies that are being implemented with their child at school. In doing so, our hope is that parents will continue that work at home, learn techniques and will generally be better informed in the work they do with their child and empowered to advocate for proper supports once they move beyond the Willowcrest community. Follow up notes and goals will be sent following the meeting so that parents can sit back and listen without feeling the pressure of having to remember everything said.

The success of Willowcrest School is not elusive; it’s the result of the hard work, dedication and commitment of the incredible community of parents, teachers and therapists involved. We look forward to our continued collaboration and to seeing you at CLINIC!

Books Read

Ten Wriggly Wiggly Caterpillars

Little Caterpillar

Gotta Go! Gotta Go!

The Very Impatient Caterpillar

Art

Coffee filter butterflies , play foam, pom pom caterpillars, polka dot wings, shaving cream art, ooblek and jelly bean science.

When Natally offered to feature me in the newsletter I thought about what I wanted to share with the Willowcrest community. Would my years of working as a speech pathologist and writing about language development be the story I wanted to share. I decided to go another route and tell a little about my journey with my own special needs child who is now 19 years old.

As a parent of a special needs child I had many concerns, my biggest one being would my child ever be able to live independently? Before we could address that concern, I needed to take smaller steps, like finding a school where he could thrive. By 6th grade he had been to over six schools in our search for a community. We never gave up and finally found the right fit. In 11th grade the next concern popped up: would he be able to get into and go away for college? To our great relief, he applied and was accepted to a handful of schools, so we were half-way there! Next, he chose his favorite college, which was out of state.

Would he be able to succeed in college? Would he find meaningful work and build strong relationships? The concerns never stop. We are only one year into the college adventure, so my questions are yet to be answered.

Looking back over 16 plus years of education as a parent of a special needs child and as a speech pathologist working in the field, I can humbly share some personal lessons I've learned along the way.

First, typical development parenting books and classes offered little practical support to special needs kids. Not every therapist and/or therapy was equal (trust me, I watched an endless slew of professionals come through my house). These professionals ranked from true therapist to glorified babysitters, but strength based education and therapy was effective and life changing!

I now understand that my child’s brain values different things, he dives deep into interests, and comprehends things in a different way. Rather than trying to fit into some proverbial mold, finding your people and the environment where you can feel successful is everything (this applies to parents as well as our kids). Everyone needs to feel accepted and have true peers that appreciate and understand them.

And now for some thoughts toward the future. We parents need to hold the same expectations and values for our special needs children as we would for a typically developing child, the difference being the levels of additional support and scaffolding we need to put in place to ensure success. Our society hasn’t yet created enough environments for neurodiversity and it is our job as parents to continue to build communities that will understand and welcome our kids. An environment of empathy and understanding is essential to get through this unpathed terrain. Trying to make all kids as typical as possible is a disservice to the neurodiverse child, and a missed opportunity to interpret the world in a unique way. I've learned to value all exchanges and try to find a deeper understanding and connection with my child and the students I support. This is what I've learned and why I chose to participate in the development of Willowcrest as it embodies all that took me over 19 years to learn.