Learners visited Snapperz Family Fun & Sports, finding the soft indoor playground the number one attraction. Outings like these give our learners the opportunity to practice generalizing skills they learn in the center to other social environments.
Little Star Center conducted its annual food drive at the Carmel and Lafayette centers to help local food pantries stock up for the Thanksgiving holiday ( the New Life Fellowship Church in Carmel and Elmwood Church of Christ and Food Finders in Lafayette).
As an incentive for staff participation in Carmel, a contest was held between the Little Star and Middle Star centers, with the prize being a pizza party for the winning center’s staff. Apparently, the promise of a pizza party was a tantalizing offer and the food totals at both centers were so close that both centers will receive the pizza party!
We appreciate and thank you all for your efforts to help those less fortunate enjoy a Thanksgiving holiday with plenty to eat.
Learners in Little Star’s Early Learner program created Thanksgiving pictures for their parents. The making of these outstanding works of art was a fun process. It began with painting brown paint on the bottom of their feet, a process that tickled the toes! It then took a steady hand guiding the foot to the paper.
Then, cleaning the foot, which caused more tickles!
Next, we put on a bib so we didn’t get paint on our clothing. We added prints of painted hands, eyes, nose and wattle and a Thanksgiving message.
The completed artwork is masterful!
Little Star (LSC) staff recently attended the fourth Hoosier Association for Behavior Analysis (HABA) Conference. HABA, the state chapter of the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI), brought in Dr. David Celberti, executive director for The Association for Science and Autism Treatment (ASAT) to provide the keynote address: “Science: Don’t Treat Autism Without It (that applies to everyone).”
The presentation highlighted the role that behavior analysts can play in helping consumers and other providers choose and implement interventions, as well as evaluate outcomes.
Although there are hundreds of autism interventions, most lack any scientific support; yet, such approaches prevail in many public schools and receive widespread media coverage. Science and scientific methods should serve as the foundation upon which treatments should be chosen, implemented, and evaluated.
Other topics the LSC staff enjoyed included: Dr. Wayne Fuqua’s “When Evidence Based Interventions Fall Short of the Treatment Goal: A Checklist for Trouble Shooting Treatment Failures” and Dr. Ernest Vargas’ “Language: Lingual Behavior.”
HABA “facilitates humane, ethical and effective behavioral practices in academic, research, home, school, clinic, community, and other settings.” To this end, the organization promotes the basic science upon which the behavioral technology is grounded and supports the Behavior Analyst Certification Board as the appropriate credentialing body for practitioners of applied behavior analysis in the State of Indiana.
Gentry Groshell, daughter of Amy Gudal Groshell—the founder of Little Star Center, is an amazing artist. Her paintings grace the walls of Little Star’s centers in Carmel and Lafayette, Indiana as well as the Groshell home and the Duval County Public Library in Florida. The demand for her work is such that her canvases and jewelry collection are available for purchase via the website, peaceofheartjewelry.com. Through her talent, Gentry has become an inspiration to other young people with autism and their families.
The story of Gentry’s journey in painting is chronicled in an excerpt in the article, “Healing Through the Arts,” in the September 2012 issue of Autism File Magazine. The piece discusses the Rainbow Artists project which was developed through a partnership with The HEAL Foundation: HEALing Every Autistic Life, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Jacksonville, FL, and the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens. The art program was initially started by mothers of children with autism: Carol Lombardo, Cynthia Walburn, and Holly Green.
As noted in the article, “Art can play an important role in the lives of many children, teens, and adults diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It can be therapeutic, and gives the individual with autism an avenue of creativity and self-expression. The activity of art can quell many of the stimulatory behaviors caused by the disorder and be a soothing and calming exercise for the participant. Since many young children with autism have deficiencies in their gross and fine motor skills and are averse to learning new things, teachers and parents should explore the options art offers as a therapeutic tool.”
Gentry has severe autism and is non-verbal and constantly in motion. When her mother noticed that Gentry calmed down when painting, she explored the MOCA program and discovered an outlet for her daughter’s energy and self-expression.
“Family and friends have all shared in the bittersweet journey with Gentry as we’ve navigated the storms of autism and mental illness,” said Amy Groshell. “I am happy that through her art, we have a venue to celebrate her life and all she has overcome. May she continue to inspire us all. God bless Gentry and all the other children, teens and adults trapped inside their minds. May we not pity them, but see their lives as a source of inspiration and beauty.”
HELP US SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY!
Little Star Center is hosting its annual food drive to benefit a local food bank at locations in Carmel and Lafayette, Indiana. Donations of non-perishable items will be collected at the centers from Wednesday, November 7, through Friday, November 16.
Questions? Please contact Jennifer or Laura at 317.249.2242.
Little Star Center (LSC) — created by a family of a child with autism — was the first in Indiana to employ Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) treatment, which has long been considered the most effective intervention method for children with autism. ABA features several instructional approaches for consideration when developing a learner’s personal program. One of the ABA evidence-based procedures used by the Little Star clinical team is ‘errorless learning’ or ‘errorless teaching.’ Errorless learning is a strategy to ensure independence in the learner and foster success by systematically fading out assistance. Learners (or all people, actually) , at times, become frustrated or discouraged if they make a mistake and may hesitate to try a skill again. Or, the learner learns a skill incorrectly, which then needs to be corrected. Frequently making errors or being asked to do work that is too difficult may provoke problem behavior such as tantrums, aggression or self-injury.
Errorless learning is the technique of making sure the learner provides the right answer to a question every time, reducing or eliminating mistakes. A key element of errorless teaching is the therapist prompting the answer when the learner appears uncertain; increasing the likelihood the learner makes the correct response. Prompts are extra cues or hints to help the learner know what to do in a particular situation or time (including physical assistance, pointing, demonstrating, showing a picture, writing a checklist, or asking what the learner wants). In addition to prompts, errorless learning uses positive reinforcement to assure the skill is performed again.
The process at Little Star sometimes involves flashcards with pictures or words on them or pointing to something. The learner is asked to identify the appropriate item, by matching, selecting or naming it. If the learner hesitates in responding, the therapist prompts him/her as many times as needed for the learner to understand what is required. The therapist monitors how often the learner needs prompting and how often he/she responds unaided in order to determine when to decrease prompting.
If the learner makes an error during the process of learning something new, the therapist does not make negative comments, nor provide reinforcement or reward. In these cases, the therapist withholds reinforcement and presents the instruction again providing an immediate full prompt of the correct answer or presents a new instruction.
As the learner performs the targeted skill independently, the therapist reduces prompting. Once the learner has mastered the skill, it is revisited periodically for maintenance purposes and the process begins again with a new skill.
10.24.2012 Little Star Center, 317.249.2242
© 2012-2013 Little Star Center, Inc. All rights reserved.
Learners from Little Star Center – Lafayette visited Columbian Park Zoo. The zoo is one of the oldest zoos in Indiana dating back to 1908. The original animals housed at the zoo included foxes, skunks, pelicans, deer, lynx, prairie dogs, and a wolf. Today, the zoo houses over 120 animals representing 49 different species. Located in historic Columbian Park, the zoo has made a home and a name for itself in Lafayette.
It was a wonderful evening in a wonderful space. This year’s annual Autism Society of Indiana (ASI) Excellence Awards event was held at the Robert Irsay Pavilion and featured tasty hors d’hoeuvres, fine silent and live auctions, and guests dressed to celebrate. Little Star Center, which won the Excellence in Direct Care award at last year’s event, served as a major sponsor of the evening, along with Noble of Indiana, Katz Sapper & Miller, Franciscan St. Francis Health and Hope Plumbing.
One of the more memorable moments of the affair was provided by John Mikkiah Thompson, a young adult on the spectrum, who entertained the crowd with several musical selections. His talent on keyboards and vocals was exceptional and the crowd gave him well-earned standing ovations.
Emcee Tracy Forner, co-host of Indy Style program on WISH-TV, kept the presentation moving along with his trademark style and made a fashion statement with his lime green shirt to coordinate with ASI logo colors.
Doug McKinney, a parent of a Little Star learner, donated one of the most unique items of the silent auction…a stunning, hand-crafted writing instrument featuring multiple types of wood cut into puzzle pieces and fitted together smoothly around the pen barrel. It was one of the most popular articles of the evening, garnering a significant donation to the cause. Doug, you are an amazing artist! We admire your talent and your generosity.
This year’s ASI Excellence Awards went to the following individuals: Excellence in Advocacy/Self-Advocacy: Brooke Taflinger; Excellence in Early Intervention: Dr. Hannah Shertz; Excellence in Direct Care: Vicki Mabanta; Excellence in Family Leadership: Patty Reed; Excellence in Education: Chris Steffen; and Excellence in Partnership: John Fultz, Project Lifesaver.
More than 250 guests attended the celebration, which raised more than $20,000 for the ASI mission of providing individualized information and support referrals to individuals who are affected by autism at little to no cost to the individual or family. To this end, ASI offers support and advocacy, and works to increase awareness and acceptance throughout Indiana. It is the first point of contact for people around Indiana when they need support, input, or a shoulder to cry on.