ABLE-differently Recreation Project Application
Part I
To better understand the Application Form to further explain and give support in answering the questions. This application is in two parts: 1) preparation of application for activity and 2) completion of the activity with story and measurement of progress.
- Application
Dear Parent,
This application may be challenging to do right now, so emotional and practical assistance can be helpful in accomplishing the application process. To
build on your strong commitment to help your child, a family member, church member school person or friend can help you complete the information needed
for the application.
- Child’s Interests:
What has your child really wanted to do as a special activity? How and when has your child told you about this activity? Does your child talk about oract this activity out in play? If your child has not expressed an interest, you can watch your child’s play, drawings, books, video/movies, to gain asense of your child’s interest. In addition, you and your child can complete the Daily Child Strength Scale.Many children reveal new ideas when answering one of the questions, “Do you have enough fun things to do?” Look at these checklist to see if they might help answer the questions: Child Reinforcement Survey and Child’s Strength Checklist
- Reason for request
You may have wanted these special activities but have been unable to obtain them.
The special activity you are seeking for your child can work together with other treatments your child is receiving and can help build self-esteem, confidence and problem solving for acting- out behaviors, sadness and loss. There can be a combined affect with other treatments and school interventions you already are using.
A parent may see recreational or talent building experience for the child as leisure time with adult supervision and a parenting break. However, these experiences can also provide new skill acquisition with better understanding of rules of play and group interaction. New friendships can be developed. Recreation and talent building experiences benefit healthy brain/mind and body. Our philosophy has been to expand this experience so parent/child have an opportunity to join together and discover more of the child’s interests and use the experience to start a new tradition of having fun, pleasure, celebrating your child’s new adventure and broadening how you use and view helping the child grown. As a parent you will find the community has wonderful programs to offer your family, yet you may have felt undeserving or set-apart from this part of the community, so a friend or support person can help.
- Visit to the organization
Activity contact person/teacher/instructor/ “care coach” is the person who works with the children. Find and talk to this person when you make your visit to the facility/program.
Interview visit to the facility with your child to meet and talk to the owner/teacher about how the experience can be individualized for the child and ask questionsas:
How will they work with you and your child?
What is their philosophy of child’s development—discipline and limits, reinforce, How will a shy child be encouraged to continue?
If extra attention is needed will it be given,
Then, what did the child think of the visit, what special instructions do you want disclosed to the program in light of the above, and will the teacher/coach help track attendance and progress and provide feed-back to the funding source.
How many children will be in the class or activity? We have found a smaller group works better and also allows the teacher to have more time with each child.
We would then like to talk with you about the interview visit with parent/child and activity/couch/teacher person
Consent for extra attention
Child’s response to the visit: eager, pleased, shy, scared, refused?
Did you ask about special attention from the teacher for your child to help increase comfort and security or help with containment of behavior and eagerness?
Will they help track attendance?
5. Cost for activity What is the total cost?
In alignment with our philosophy we are looking for a parent to match part of the fee, we would pay. Or the parent can find a contribution from others to help pay for a portion of the fee charged by the facility. In our past clinical experience we encouraged parents to ask relatives or their place of worship to contribute to the fee. However, we want to make this experience happen for your child and you and we don’t want the lack of money to prohibit your doing. If family puts in some money–what every you could afford, and look for others to help– then we would pay the difference. If you help pay for the experience, you will be more committed.
Search for a couple of people to help. You will also be doing the in-kind contributions of transportation, food, materials, and uniforms/costumes.
- Before the starting date, we encourage the following to be done:
Before the starting date of the activity we request the following to be done. Each of these forms can be download from our website and your support person can help you complete them:
Daily Child Strength Scale to be done with your child—you may help him or her.
Past Weeks’ Quality of Family Life for parent to complete
Pediatric Symptom Checklist (English and Spanish versions are available) to be completed by parent, coach/instructor and schoolteacher, if possible.
For older children the Pediatric Symptom Checklist-Youth version can be used.
And complete ratings to help reflect before the activity:
Rating of child 0 to 10 with 10 as positive.
Self-satisfaction in child _________
Self-satisfaction in parent________
Family satisfaction______________
General sense of pleasure and feeling good in child_____
General sense of pleasure and feeling good in parent _____
General Sense of pleasure and feeling good in family _______
Child’s behavior, sadness, depression? _______
School performance for the child? ____________
Child’s friendship? _________________
(These will be repeated again at the end of the activity)
_____________________________________________________________________
- Date the activity/classes begin:
The parent can start reflecting on the activity by talking with your child about the first day. Was the first day what you expected? What fun things happened; what was hard? Ask your child about feelings about the experience, as fun, interesting, happy, surprises, frustrating, difficulties, fears, new friend possibility, more confidence. What does your child think about the other children and the teacher? Were they nice, will they be friends? You might ask the child to draw a picture about it. We ask that you take photographs of your child participating in the activity and of your child with the instructor/teacher/coach to help keep the experience in your child’s memory and your memory. The photographs can be apart of the storybook made at the ending.
This next part will not be completed until the end of the activity or classes.
ABLE-differently Recreation Project Completion Part II
This section is to be completed after the activity is finished
Date the activity or classes end:_______: After the completion of the program activity, the following are to be repeated to learn how the experience impacted your child and family:
Past Weeks’ Quality of Family Life
Pediatric Symptom Checklist (English and Spanish versions are available) to be completed by parent, coach/instructor and schoolteacher, if possible.
For older children the Pediatric Symptom Checklist-Youth version can be used.
And complete ratings to help reflect after the experience:
Rating of experience for the child 0 to 10 with 10 as wonderful experience
Self Satisfaction in child _________
Self-satisfaction in parent________
Family satisfaction______________
General sense of pleasure and feeling good in child_____
General sense of pleasure and feeling good in parent _____
General Sense of pleasure and feeling good in family _______
Improvements in child’s behavior, sadness, depression? _______
Any school improvements for the child? ____________
These are some of things you and your child may want to talk about with your coach to see if this really made a difference for your child and to highlight the pleasure and how you valued it. When your child is having or had the experience, does his or her day go better; does he or she seem happier, showing less frustration? What is better, what difference has it made? As a parent have you had more enjoyable moments with your child? As a parent do you feel more apart of the community? Have you discovered new aspects of your child?
What has been your child’s personal story of this experience?
The Care coach/teacher/ support person could help download pictures from your camera to place pictures in the memory book, on the refrigerator and or the child’s bedroom wall and to help create the story.
- Create a story of the experience with your child.
Along with the questions and ratings mentioned above, the following ideas can help create the story of the experience.
Here is an example of what the parent, child and coach/teacher might discuss with to write or dictate the story.
“Help your child to tell a story after she/he has breathed in the treasured experience and sets up the purpose of these following ideas to get your child to think about starting to create a story:” Soon after the activity is over start talking to your child about routines experienced, what happened on most days as well as interesting exceptions to what was expected that day? (What, when, where, who, how). Describes the beginning, middle end of the experience, the people involved (parent, teacher, children), what were the new things learned, where was the experience held (at a studio, park), how long did the experience last, what was the most wonderful thing that happened? What was the hardest thing to do? What was your child most proud of?
Questions pertain to the child.
- Did you help choose the activity? Why? Something you longed for or just trying out something?
- Ask about feelings experienced as fun, interesting, surprises, frustrations, difficulties, fears, feeling strong and confident, jealous etc.
- In terms of the friends you met, do you think they had some of the same feelings as you or different? Any best friend? Why? What did he/she think about you? Why? How might you stay friends even after the activity is over? Do you think that might be in your friend’s mind too?
- What did you think about the coach, teacher, and leader? What did he/she think/feel about you? Did you feel liked?
- Did you learn new things? What? How might it make a difference for you? Can you give a specific example of one special time you will not forget?
- What was important or most valuable doing this activity?
- What would you hope or dream for now that you have done this?
- Did you take any pictures? Draw any pictures? What did you do with them?
- What about a scrap book or portfolio (notebook or color file in which to keep these memories)
- Would you allow us to use part of your story to share with the person who gave money to pay for you? It might help get money for you again or other kids. Would you want to do that or not?
- Have you thought about with who you might also share your story? Why?
- Would you want to continue this activity again, and why or does something else seem fun and interesting to try? What would it be?
- What do you think about your story? What’s different about it unlike any other story you have told? What does this tell you about yourself, who you are and how you fit into your world? Are you a different person after experiencing this opportunity?
The experience with this documentation could be used at school for the Star of the Week or Show and Tell or with teacher’s help, as an assignment for academic credit earned by the child. It could be added to the child’s IEP as Portfolio Development. (An example of a student Portfolio development at different ages for a special needs child can be reviewed at this website.
Thank you note represents gratitude and can be an expression of self-satisfaction. The private funders appreciate a thank you note to know directly how this experience affected the child, parent and family. A photograph, picture drawn by child or writing can be used to personalize what the experience meant to the child. Story your experience, using your photographs, drawings, or journal.
Conclusion: Again, where do you go from here?
Do you have plans on how this activity can continue, and if so we maybe able to help, or is there another activity your child has interest in doing?
This document can be downloaded for reference to the application questions.
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