More than Music: Music Therapy Taps into Something Everyone Loves
More than Music: Music Therapy Taps into Something Everyone Loves It is hard to find anyone who doesn’t like music. We all have a song that gets us singing along, humming, or tapping our feet. Music therapy takes that universal love for music and applies it as a therapeutic tool to address social, emotional, communicative, […]
Compliance: Providing the Best Supports by Protecting our Resources
Compliance: Providing the Best Supports by Protecting our Resources The Compliance Department at Wildwood is part of our overall quality assurance programing and it is an important part of supporting the agency’s overall success. The compliance department helps Wildwood to be able to commit our resources to our mission. “Far from being a mere bureaucratic […]
Autism and Seasonal Affective Disorder
Autism and Seasonal Affective Disorder People with autism seem to be more prone to Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. Seasonal Affective Disorder is a form of depression that occurs in the fall and winter seasons when there is less daylight. It affects mood, energy levels, sleep patterns, and can lead to feelings of sadness, fatigue, […]
Understanding and Managing Hitting Behaviors
Understanding and Managing Hitting Behaviors: A Guide for Caregivers Hitting behaviors can be very upsetting for parents and caregivers. When a person with a disability strikes out, it’s easy to interpret the action as aggression or anger. While that may sometimes be the case, hitting is often associated with frustration or an inability to communicate […]
Physical Roots of Behavior
Physical Roots of Behavior There is a principle in medicine and psychology that is important to know. It can affect people with disabilities in a profound manner. It is called Diagnostic Overshadowing. “It is the idea that once a person is given a diagnosis there is a tendency to see that as the reason for […]
Independence
Independence Written By: Michelle Brown, Crystal Baker-Breault and Craig Smith Craig’s story is one of success. He lives in an apartment with his girlfriend and works full time at a home improvement store. His journey has been one of identifying life goals, accepting support, learning new skills, working hard and maintaining a positive attitude. His journey […]
Physical Therapy
Physical Therapy At Wildwood School, Physical Therapy is a related service offered to students who have delayed or atypical gross motor development. Gross motor development encompasses everyday movement skills such as changing positions, standing, walking, running, hopping, skipping or play skills such as throwing and catching a ball. “In our role, we observe and analyze […]
Becoming a Trauma-Informed organization
Becoming a Trauma-Informed Organization A “Trauma-Informed Organization” is one that recognizes that many of our staff and the people we support may have experienced trauma in their lives – and that trauma may impact how they interact with others and respond in a variety of situations. Organizations may have policies and procedures and environments that […]
Understanding Rights
Understanding Rights Sarah Vanslyke, Director of Quality Assurance I remember my first apartment. I was very young and I was so proud of the rundown place. One night there was a terrible thunder and lightning storm and it threw me into a panic. I couldn’t get the rickety old kitchen window down for the life […]
The Quality Assurance Department Regulations are Just the Starting Point
The Quality Assurance Department Regulations are Just the Starting Point The Quality Assurance Department is located on the south side of the first floor of Latham Building One. Many of us see QA as the department that oversees regulation and, though that is indeed true, oversight of regulations is only a part of the department’s […]