Hope your day is full of smiles, laughter, and a great year ahead!
Happy Work Anniversary!
Hope your day is full of smiles, laughter, and a great year ahead!
Happy Work Anniversary!
Happy Work Anniversary!
Happy Work Anniversary!
Hope your day is full of smiles, laughter, and a great year ahead!
Hope your day is full of smiles, laughter, and a great year ahead!
Fidgets are tools; toys are for play.
A fidget is intended to support regulation and participation. It may help a student keep their hands busy, manage sensory needs, maintain attention, or remain available for learning. Examples might include stress balls, textured items, fidget rings, or other small, quiet sensory tools.
Toys, on the other hand, tend to invite play, exploration, or interaction that can compete with instruction and distract the student or others. Items such as action figures, toy cars, and other play materials should generally be put away during instructional time unless they are intentionally incorporated into a lesson or designated break.
Fidgets can have boundaries, too! Providing access to a fidget doesn't mean there are no expectations. We can teach students to use these tools safely, quietly, and in a way that allows everyone to continue learning. If an item becomes a distraction or turns into play, it may be time to put it away and try something different.
A few things to consider:
Is the student still listening, participating, or demonstrating understanding?
Is the movement actually interfering with learning, or does it simply look different?
Is the item meeting a sensory or regulation need?
Could we teach a different way to use it rather than immediately removing it?
Does the student need a different tool?
One important reminder: An item isn't automatically a fidget or a toy based on what it looks like. It's important to consider how the individual student is using it and what purpose it serves.
Ultimately, our goal isn't still hands or motionless bodies. Our goal is accessible learning! Sometimes movement is exactly what makes participation possible.
Please take a few minutes to check out this month's attached Strategy of the Month! Feel free to share with others!
Thanks for all you do to support our students!
Your ASD Support Team:
Kallei Mapes-Hahn, Leah VanOrman, Jennie Sumner, Melissa Bevens
Students are enjoying their visits to Hopewell Ranch, and the team there has been fantastic. If you have a chance, stop by their Open House on November 7 and see firsthand what a valuable resource they are for our community.
Your Future Workforce Starts Here!
Connect with motivated high school juniors and seniors, showcase your career opportunities, and help build the future workforce in our community! Registration is now open for the 2027 Gratiot and Isabella County Career and Recruitment Expos. Join us in connecting local talent with local employers!
Check out the flyer below for more details.
Business Registration Form - Google form
We are excited to bring you the October Strategy of the Month: Stimming!
Stimming is short for “self-stimulatory behavior.” It can include movements, sounds, or actions that provide sensory input or help someone regulate.
Everyone stims! Tapping a pencil, bouncing your leg, doodling, humming a song, or twirling your hair can all be forms of stimming.
Autistic people may stim more often or in more noticeable ways. Examples include hand-flapping, rocking, spinning, repeating sounds or words, pacing, jumping, or playing with objects in a particular way.
Stimming can serve many purposes. It may help someone:
- Stay calm or regulated
- Manage overwhelming sensory input
- Get needed sensory input
- Focus or concentrate
- Express excitement, happiness, or anticipation
- Communicate feelings
- Cope with stress, anxiety, or uncertainty
Stimming isn't always a sign that something is wrong. A person might flap their hands because they are excited just as easily as they might rock because they are overwhelmed.
Look at the whole person—not just the stim. Ask, “What might this person be communicating or getting from this?” rather than immediately assuming the behavior needs to stop.
Safe stimming should generally be allowed. If a stim isn't hurting the person or others and isn't preventing participation, there may be no reason to interrupt it.
Sometimes we do need to intervene—but the goal should be safety and access, not making someone look less autistic. - - If a stim is harmful or interfering with someone's ability to participate, we can look for safer ways to meet the same sensory or regulatory need.
Stopping a stim doesn't necessarily solve the underlying need. If someone is overwhelmed and we stop their rocking, for example, they may still be overwhelmed—they've simply lost one of their tools for coping.
Stimming is part of neurodiversity. Rather than asking, “How do we make this behavior go away?” we can ask, “How can we help this person feel safe, regulated, understood, and able to participate?”
A simple takeaway:
Stimming is a way the body communicates, regulates, and experiences the world. Before we try to stop a stim, let's get curious about what the person might be telling us.
Friday, September 25th, Adapted PE teacher, Cheryl Evers, hosted a professional development day at Winding Brook Conference Centre. There were participants from the Saginaw ISD, Midland ESA, Mecosta-Osceola ISD, and the Clare-Gladwin RESD. They had sessions on tennis, fishing, gymnastics and cycling.
Give Like Dolly Day 9/25!
Right here in Gratiot & Isabella Counties, 2,716 children receive a book every month through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. Behind every book is a community of people who believe in the power of giving - our donors, volunteers, local partners and supporters who help make this program possible. On September 25, Give Like Dolly Day, you can help us reach even more children and families in Gratiot & Isabella Counties. Every gift helps us to continue building a community where children can grow up surrounded by the joy of books and reading. Help us make an even bigger impact for the children of Gratiot & Isabella Counties by making a donation. Donate here. To register your child or for more information about the Imagination Library of Gratiot and Isabella Counties, click here.
#GiveLikeDolly
On September 19th, our PE and Health Consultant, Josh Boutwell, had the opportunity to present and be an exhibitor at The Heart to Shape a Mind Early Childhood Conference at Mid Michigan College. Josh presented on the importance of adding Health Education (Michigan Model for Health) and movement (GCAMP) to the early childhood classroom for Whole Child Success.
Participants were able to receive all of the GCAMP resources. Also, the educators in our region were able to receive the Michigan Model for Health Early Childhood Modules for free.
If you are interested in adding movement to your household, Josh has created how-to videos for the Gratiot-Isabella RESD Classroom Activity and Movement Program (GCAMP). The activity list with games/movement videos and the how-to videos can be found here (click on the GCAMP + sign):
26-27 Activity List
GCAMP Resources