February is almost here, and that means it’s time to share love and gratitude to the important people in our lives! Valentine’s is a wonderful opportunity to have some fun while practicing some really important skills. Check out our list of fun activities and fantastic books to help your kiddo really get into the holiday!

Mad for Movement

Get your body moving and work on all sorts of receptive listening skills while you are at it with this awesome resource from Fantastic and Fun Learning! Click on this link to visit their site and take advantage of their free downloadable!

Valentine’s Visual Supports

You know we love a great visual support over here at The Helm! This month’s visual support gives parents and teachers alike the visual aides to take out the unknown of any valentine’s day celebration. From a First, Next, Last resource that you can use to sequence the day to choice cards, to practice valentines, this resource has it all!

Crafts to Crush On

Sponge Heart Art

Feeling crafty? This simple sponge art activity is sure to please. This craft can support a wide range of skills including fine motor, color identification, receptive and expressive language building! Check out the Flying Couponer for this ingenious craft!

Valentine’s Sensory Bottles

valentine's

TeachingMama.org has some great tips on creating sensory bottles for the holiday, but really, there’s no wrong way to do this. You can use old plastic bottles, red or pink glitter, heart beads, food coloring, and oil. The sky is the limit!

 

Swoon-able Science

This month’s science experiment is a fun twist on a fan favorite- baking soda and vinegar! Jump over to Sugar Spice and Glitter to get this easy and fun science experiment!

Beloved Books

We can’t say enough about how important reading is to developing language! Use the holiday as an opportunity to try out some of these lovely books!

Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink by Diane deGroat

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt

Love Monster by Rachel Bright

 

Wishing you all the love and gratitude this Valentine’s season! As always, if you need any additional supports or resources don’t hesitate to reach out and schedule a free consultation or tour!

 

 

We have been a family blessed with the help of the team at The Helm. Our son was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when he was 2.5 and The Helm was one of the places recommended by our developmental psychologist. I am a physician and still found it hard navigating this new medical problem and knowing what to do next. I called many places and from step one Lee Ann was the most helpful explaining the process with paperwork, assessment, available services, insurance, etc. we were able to start therapy quite soon after diagnosis and had sessions at home daily for 3 hours. The quality of staff, the system they have in place for the therapists, the coordination by the BCBA supervising therapist and early response put us at ease that we were on the right path. Ultimately the steady positive changes we saw with our son overcame any fears we had about autism holding our son back for the rest of his life.

We used many forms of intervention that we felt were individually tailored for our family – for potty training, anger management, dietary intervention and even let them know when we could not maintain something suggested in family training, and they would just take our request and implement another plan. Our son has now graduated/transitioned out of therapy and is currently in pre-K in a regular classroom with him on par with his class in academics, has friends and no behavior issues. Most important of all we have a happy son who loves to play with his big sister.

I know that I will always read all there is on autism and watch my son for any features. But I hope my review adds to positive aspects that I wish someone would have told me when I started the journey – start early, don’t put off your suspicions, get your child evaluated now! The label does not hinder,  in fact it falls to the side once you have the diagnosis to facilitate therapy. ABA intervention, especially done with the right people, makes a big difference. It does not pressure or upset the child at all, and you are not stuck in therapy for life! I know if any behavioral issues come up in the future I have The Helm, and they will help us and the outcome is going to be positive. Said with heartfelt thanks.

– Former Helm ABA Family

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