Substitute Therapists make an Impact

As you may be aware, children in our program for Autism Spectrum Disorders go through multi-disciplinary therapy - individualized Applied Behavior Analysis therapy, combined with our unique Group Language Therapy preschool classes. We also have a rather small but very passionate, dedicated corps of substitute therapists who step in to cover therapy when a staff member is out. Sarah Brunet, Speech Therapist, had this story to share about the impact one of our substitutes had on a child with ASD in her speech group:

"I was out about 6 weeks ago on vacation and had a substitute therapist cover my groups. She hasn't been around much since, until last week when one therapist was out for jury duty. Well, one day last week, I was out on the playground with my group and she walked outside. The little boy I was playing with looked up and cued himself, saying 'Go say Hey, Ms. Pam!' He ran over to her smiling & gave her a big wave! I was surprised to see not only that he remembered her name, but that he was so excited to see her that he stopped what he was doing to go say hey! It's proof not only that our kids are constantly full of surprises, but also a testament to the spirit and importance of our wonderful subs!"

Sarah's client says thanks

Sarah Brunet is one of our speech therapists who provides group and individual speech therapy at our clinic, and also off-site through the Federal Early Steps program. She had this experience recently:

“I had an Early Steps patient who I’ve worked with since October, and my last session with him was a few days ago. When we started he was only using single words and gesturing a lot – now he asks questions appropriately and uses complete sentences. His mom has been warning him for a few weeks that his time with me was almost over. Well, at the end of the session, unprompted by me or his mom, he looked at me and said, ‘Thank you for playing with me.’ When a student comes up with a spontaneous sentence like that, I really know I’ve had an impact!”

BRSHF's Autism Program Growing

Dr. Brian Esteve, coordinator of BRSHF's program for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, shared this quick update about the program:

"Last week as we kicked off the summer session, the Autism program welcomed twenty new and returning students into therapy. We started the program in conjunction with LSU six years ago with four children. Two of the undergraduate therapy aides from that first group in 2004 still work with us today - Sarah Brunet is a licensed speech pathologist leading group and individual speech therapy, and Carolyn Barahona is a Ph.D. candidate in Psychology helping to oversee the individual ABA therapy. We're so proud to be able to offer the only clinic-based, scientifically-proven therapy for autistic children here in Baton Rouge, and look forward to growing the program to meet the community's needs in coming years."