January 2023 TLC E-Newsletter

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR A MESSAGE FROM THE

Happy New Year! I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation for the entire TLC community that made a big difference in the lives of the individuals we serve. 2022 was a memorable year of accomplishments that could not have happened without the strength and commitment of our TLC family. Below are some highlights of the year.

TLC Outcomes had more in-person opportunities, partnering with various industries and employers to meet the diverse needs of the community. Some of the employers we collaborated with included CVS, NIH, Office of Senator Tim Scott, Petco, RM Realty Center, Red Wiggler Farm, Safeway, Sandy Ridge Academy, Shoppers Food Warehouse, Skookum, Special Olympics, St. Peter's Catholic School, The SPARKS group, Sunflower Bakery, TJ Maxx, Train Like a Pro, Unity Woods Yoga, U.S. Veterans Affairs, and WRMMC.

In April, we hosted nearly 150 guests for the much anticipated (and delayed due to pandemic) The Treatment and Learning Center's and The Katherine Thomas School's 70+ and 25+ year anniversary Stronger Together Gala. Due to the generosity and kindness of our community, we were able to raise over $200,000 from this event. Support received at the gala allows us to provide needed scholarships and subsidies to those we serve through our Caring Neighbor Fund.

In May, several KTS students had artwork selected to be showcased virtually in the annual "Celebrating Through Art: The First Lady's Mental Health Awareness Youth Art Display." Honorary chair of the Campaign, former Maryland First Lady Mrs. Yumi Hogan, joined to offer congratulatory remarks at this recognition event.

TLC rolled out a revamped TLC website in September, to make the TLC website user experience simpler and easier to navigate. New features include increased user language capabilities, a downloadable event calendar, and enhanced search functions.

October was a month of community recognition! Washington Parent Magazine recognized TLC as a winner in the magazine's “Washington Parent Picks Reader’s Poll.” With over 24,000 voters, the community rallied (in high numbers!) to support our organization, recognizing the hard work and passionate nature of our TLC team.

In October, KTS was recognized and awarded for their Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Program. With a lot of dedication and effort, the KTS PBIS committee was able to earn all recognition badges available (three in total) via an application process.

The list of accomplishments can go on, but one thing is clear; TLC has a strong community of doers, who make the impossible possible, and always strive to not only achieve, but exceed goals to improve lives and expand possibilities.

We hope that you have a New Year full of good things. We are here to support you in any way we can! Thank you for being a part of our community. We appreciate your generosity and commitment to our mission.

OUTPATIENT DEPARTMENT

TESTING, TUTORING, AND COUNSELING DEPARTMENT

Robyn Davy, M.A. BC-DMT, presented a workshop to teachers at the Butler School entitled "The Circle of Security Workshop: A Roadmap to Understanding Children’s Social and Emotional Needs." The Circle of Security is a visual map of children’s behaviors when relating to self/others. Research supports that children with secure parent-child relationships tend to solve problems on their own, have higher self-esteem, feel less anger at their caregivers, and worry less about the

future. TLC offers an evidence-based parenting program based off of that roadmap geared towards helping caregivers connect with the children in their lives, The Circle of Security® Parenting™ Program. Learning objectives of the training include reading your child’s emotional cues, enhancing the development of your child's self esteem, enjoying more positive time with your child, and reconnecting after tantrums. Contact Robyn to learn more.

OUTPATIENT DEPARTMENT

WINTER BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY DEPARTMENT

Winter is made for cuddling up with a good book! Here are some suggested reads from the SpeechLanguage Pathology Department for you and your child to share this winter. Whether listening to a story or practicing telling their own story from the pictures, books are a great way to grow language skills.

Playing with Lanterns

By: Wang Yage

By: Erin Dealy

Winter Cake

By: Lynn Rae Perkins

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY DEPARTMENT COMMUNITY UPDATES

The Outpatient Occupational Therapy Department offered free back-to-school occupational therapy screenings this fall at TLC. We also visited several schools in the area to screen students. Clinicians provided a two-part workshop on creating sensory-friendly classrooms to the Howard County Head Start Community Action Council.

The Outpatient Speech-Language Department also offered free back-to-school speechlanguage and hearing screenings this fall. Clinicians presented a workshop for parents on literacy and language skills at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School. We also attended the Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk.

Snow

By: Uri Shulevitz

Ten Ways to Hear Snow

By: Cathy Camper

Snow Globe Wishes

Tracks in the Snow

By: Wong Herbert Yee

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow By: Lucille Colandro

Snow, Snow, Snow! By: Lee Harper

Immi’s Gift By: Karin Littlewood

Ruby’s Chinese New Year By: Vickie Lee

THE KATHERINE THOMAS SCHOOL A KTS

On November 22nd, The Katherine Thomas High School enjoyed a whole high school Thanksgiving feast! A collaboration of the departments designed an afternoon of fun for the students and staff. The culinary classes made turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, green beans, gravy and desserts for all to enjoy for lunch. The art classes made the centerpieces and reflected the Native American influence of Thanksgiving. The ASL-sign language classes signed the words for the dishes of the feast. The music department provided a music playlist while dining and live music for dessert. The drama department put on a short play about being thankful, and the PE department got everyone ready to eat with an activity. Woohoo! After putting the tables and chairs away, the event ended with a conga line. Everyone enjoyed this fun event and are looking forward to next year's feast.

THE KATHERINE THOMAS SCHOOL KTS

HOLIDAY STORE

Excitement was in the (cold and crisp) air at KTS, as we opened our holiday store. The students enthusiastically look forward to this fun tradition every December! During the holiday season, the KTS community comes together to give our students a holiday shopping extravaganza. The KTS Social Work Department prepares early for this event. Months before the holidays even begin, the social workers begin collecting donations for the store from the community friends, staff, and parents. In December the store opens, and our students go shopping.

In lieu of cash, students use points that they have accrued over the school year. And what gift isn’t complete without wrapping?

KTS staff wrap the selected gifts for the students to provide a festive presentation.

This school store truly offers a nonintimidating, real-life shopping experience for the students. We are grateful for our community and their support of our store, demonstrating the true spirit of the holidays by spreading kindness, generosity, and cheer.

Supported Employment (SE) Job Group

Theme: Job Readiness

Agenda

Welcome

Conover – Attitude Series Videos, handouts, and discussion Activity 6 – Controlling your Emotions

Introduction/Overview – Page 32 Stay Calm – Page 33 Practice using good communication – Page 34 Learn to make constructive suggestions – Page 35 Think before you speak or act - Page 35 Write down your emotions – Page 36

Lunch

Conover – Attitude Series

Videos, handouts, and discussion

Activity 7 – Being Flexible

Introduction/Overview – Page 38

Be willing to do some extra work – Page 39 Accept that you might get thrown off your routine – Page 39

Learn to balance your own needs with those of others - Page 41 Work beyond your title – Page 43 Getting back on track – Page 44

Attitude Series – Wrap – up Review and discussion of Series

Activity 1 – Attitude overview Activity 2 – The Importance of having a positive attitude Activity 3 - Keeping your focus Activity 4 – Doing your best Activity 5 – Responding to Guidance and Direction Activity 6 – Controlling your Emotions Activity 7 – Being Flexible

Communication video – 6:11 minutes (Depending on time) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Lkb7OSRdGE

Communication - Basics and Importance – YouTube

Discussion of video https://www youtube com/watch?v=xQfYiHbAjJo Discussion of video

What Are Communication Skills? Top 10! – 7:21 minutes (Depending on time)

Kahoot it (Depending on time)

Career Awarenesshttps://create.kahoot.it/details/fc85a7f0-4209-46cd8fed-7fdfd3a67721 https://www.askamanager.org

Askamanager.org - by Alison - Discussion (Depending on time)

THE FAMILY HEARING CENTER

LATEST NEWS

The Family Hearing Center staff have been busy providing comprehensive hearing evaluations and hearing aid fittings to our community. Over the past year, we have added new Managed Care groups to our referrals allowing us to fit patients who have hearing aid benefits through their insurance plans. Our Audiology office at Asbury Village in Gaithersburg has been seeing patients every Thursday for several years, and recently a Wednesday clinic was added due to the increase in residents who are in need of

hearing healthcare. Susan Yaffe-Oziel, our clinic director, has been giving talks to residents on the Asbury campus to inform them about our services and educate them about the importance of wearing hearing aids for cognitive health. She also restarted the monthly Hearing Loss Support Group at Ingleside King Farm. Our staff of audiologists are here to provide hearing related services to anyone including newborns.

THE DEVELOPMENT DIGEST GRATITUDE IS THE WORD! TLC GOLF CLASSIC: JUNE 2, 2023

The TLC Golf Classic is coming soon! Join us for the 32nd TLC Golf Classic scheduled for FRIDAY June 2nd at P.B. Dye Golf Club in Ijamsville, MD.

TLC'S FALL LUNCHEON A SUCCESS

The TLC Fall Luncheon was held on November 3rd at Lakewood Country Club. Thanks to our generous sponsors and guests, the event was an incredible success! Highlights of the event included an inspiring testimony and musical performance by a current and recent graduate of KTS, and a celebration of Melissa Pappas and Athena Consulting, our TLC Champions.

Thank you to everyone who gave during this giving season and helped TLC continue our mission of improving lives and expanding poss

We are so grateful for our incredible donor community as they demonstrated their strong support for our many programs and services! Year-end fundraising started off with our “Alaskan Cruise” Raffle. The winning ticket was pulled on October 18th. The lucky winner was Rhonda Dickens. TLC’s Majestic 7-day Alaskan Cruise Raffle was a great success, raising $18,200 for programs and services.

This took us right into Giving Tuesday, the international day of giving. We are excited to report TLC raised over $34,000! Thank you to our sponsors and our very generous donors who chose TLC as their charity of choice on Giving Tuesday. Our sponsors were:

The TLC Board of Trustees Conrad and Lois Aschenbach Richard and Laura Ward

In addition, over the last six weeks of 2022 our direct mail and online campaigns encouraged end of the year giving and continue to be a way our donor community can support our causes into 2023. Our GOKTS campaign, Help Others Hear and TLC Scholarship and Subsidy letters and emails informed our donors of our most pressing needs. To date, these campaigns have raised over $32,000 for TLC.

A YEAR OF TLC IN PICTURES