Traveling with Special Needs

At times, just the thought of traveling can stir up feelings of anxiety for families who have children or young adults with special needs. With families recently making headlines about their travels with special needs children, many families are left feeling overwhelmed.

Whether traveling near or far, there are many resources out there to help ease the stress and make the trip enjoyable for everyone, especially your special child!

See below for various travel links, tips and suggested vacation spots.*

Travel Agents who specialize in Special Needs Travel

ASD Vacations
Free of charge travel agent service. They contract with hundreds of destinations and resorts for adaptive and special needs friendly experiences.

Autism on the Seas
Cruises for adults and families living with Autism, Down Syndrome and other related disabilities.

Autism Adventure Travel
Individual and Group trips for families and individuals living with Autism, ADHD, Down Syndrome and even Wounded Soldiers.

Hammer Travel
Customized trips to fit the needs of each individual family, with all disabilities. They offer both domestic and international trips.

Preparing for Travel

Wings for Autism
Now a nationally recognized program, Wings for Autism is run out of Boston Logan International Airport and gives families the chance to experience a flying test run.

Pre-flight Tips and Check-list
Tips ranging from what types of tickets to book to making a backup plan.

Flying Social Story
Developed by a mom of a 6 year old boy with autism.

*The purpose of this blog post is to provide information on the various special needs travel resources available to the community. The Recreational Education Center, LLC does not endorse or recommend any of the listed agencies or companies.

Recap of April: Autism Awareness Month

April is Autism Awareness Month. It is the month in which organizations, families and friends all come together to shine a light on Autism Spectrum Disorder with the Autism Speaks slogan Light It Up Blue. Part of Autism Awareness is educating the world about autism and how it effects 1 in 68 people (US statistics). Team REC organized and participated in a number of events this past month to show our support and love for everyone touched by autism. Combined we had almost 2,000 people involved in lighting it up blue!

Now that April has come to an end and the blue lights are turning off, we all harbor a hope that April’s Autism Awareness will turn into AUTISM ACCEPTANCE for the remaining 11 months of the year.

See below for some picture highlights of the April #LIUB events.

REC Spring Into Autism Awareness EGGstravaganza
March 29, 2015

Team REC of NH

EGGstravaganza Craft

Sensory Friendly Easter Bunny

Salem, MA World Autism Awareness Day Walk
April 2, 2015

Walk Around Salem Commons

Team REC Walkers

REC Touch-a-Truck for Autism Awareness
April 19, 2015

Touch-a-Truck Crowd

Peabody PD and McGruff

Peabody’s Newest Junior Firefighter

Autism Speaks’ Day at the Fisher Cats
April 26, 2015

Watching the ball game in style

Thank you to everyone who volunteered, attended and participated in any #LIUB events this month! Keep the lights shining!

Now Enrolling for Camp REC!

The REC’s customized ABA programs don’t end with the school year! Did you know that we offer an extensive summer program at Camp REC from June 13th through September 2nd? Families can choose the days, weeks and times!

What is Camp REC?
Camp REC is an individualized summer program that combines fun and learning through ABA methodology while students work and play their way through the day at the center. The days are structured with various activities from cooking, crafting, indoor gym play, board games and puzzles. Older kids have their own space in the Teen Center and the vast outdoor space is great for sport games, water fun, sidewalk chalk and much more!

Furthermore, our creative Program Coordinators develop weekly themes such as Down on the Farm or Rainforest Ruckus so make sure you enroll soon to book your favorite week(s)!

How do I enroll my child?
If you are new to the REC, you will need to complete the intake packet which includes assessment documents, insurance information, release forms and registration details. Contact us today for a complete intake packet by emailing info@recreationaleducationcenter.com or by calling one of our 2 locations.

If your child already attends the REC and has completed the intake, you only need to complete the Camp REC registration form which includes the requested schedule and other pertinent information for the summer program. See the link below for the Camp REC brochure and registration.

Camp REC Flyer 2016 

How long does the intake process take? 
Depending on the time of year, the intake process may take anywhere from 20-40 days in order to confirm insurance, review assessment forms and schedule the evaluation. Once the evaluation is complete, one of our BCBAs will complete the treatment plan for insurance approval.

My insurance doesn’t cover ABA. Do you accept private pay?
Yes, but the cost varies based on the needed staff to student ratio. Please contact info@recreationaleducationcenter.com for more information on private pay.

My child is enrolled. Now what?
Stay tuned for our Camp REC Orientation in early June! More details to come. See you this summer!

Updated REC Snow Policy

Snowed in… again! New Englanders are tough and a little snow doesn’t bring us down, but what about A LOT of snow?! With a winter that seems to have no end in sight, we have decided to revisit our snow policy. One of the goals at the REC has always been to be a constant in our REC families’ lives and to provide continuous ABA programming 7 days a week. Starting immediately, we are no longer following either Peabody Public Schools’ or Londonderry Public Schools’ closings. Keeping the safety of our students and staffers in mind, please see the below policy with the new information regarding potential closings due to inclement weather.

Updated REC Snow Policy- Click Here

Staff Spotlight: REC of NH Program Coordinator

The REC of NH in Londonderry has been open just over 3 months but we are far from green! Our last Staff Spotlight (click here) featured Program Coordinators from our Peabody, MA location. Our rapidly growing REC of NH currently has one Program Coordinator who has set a high standard that we like to consider the REC way of providing effective, individualized, and comprehensive ABA programming.

Gina Tremblay, Program Coordinator

Gina joined Team REC in Peabody, MA several years ago. She began training as a Behavioral Support Staff, and it became clear early on that she was passionate about helping REC kiddos reach their full potential and facilitating ABA programming.  When the REC of NH was being developed, Gina was the perfect candidate to lead the charge and replicate our successful Peabody program in Londonderry. She has embraced the role of Program Coordinator and exceeded all expectations by bringing her experience and creativity into her work.

Gina effectively juggles many responsibilities including clinical tasks such as student assessment, treatment planning, and ongoing maintenance of students’ individualized programming. She also plans daily group art activities, ice skating pond crafting, and cooking task analyses, baking marshmallow pumpkin pops for Halloween or multi colored red and green cupcakes for the Holidays.  If you’ve been to the REC of NH and like what you see, it is most likely thanks to Gina and her bright handmade craft ideas brought to life by the students at the REC and adorned all throughout 10 Mohawk Drive!  We can’t wait to see what else Gina has up her sleeve and look forward to her kicking off an amazing Spring and Summer Program (Camp REC) schedule!

Thank you Gina for all that you do! To read more about the REC Staff visit our website.

Gina pictured with 2 REC students

Stay tuned for more staff spotlights!

REC Snow Closure Policy

A reminder for snow/weather closures as we brace for tomorrow’s storm!

The REConnection

It is that time of year! Closures due to weather are a bummer, but a necessity in New England! At the REC we pride ourself on our schedule and availability by staying open during school vacation weeks, weekends and even some holidays. However, the safety of REC staffers and our REC families is top priority.  

Below you may view our official cancellation/closing policy: During the week the REC closes if Peabody or Londonderry schools are closed. On the weekends, we will update the voicemail for both locations. We will also update our website and Facebook page.

Cancellation Policy 2015

Also, click here to read one of our favorite articles “Snow Day Strategies for Children with Autism” from our friends at AutismKey.com.

Happy Snow Storming!

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Homemade for the Holidays!

Here are a couple of yummy and easy Holiday treats to make with the kids!
Great as tasty gifts, too!

Hersey Kiss M&M Pretzel Treat

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees
2. Place pretzel on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet
3. Unwrap Hersey Kisses and place one on top of each pretzel
4. Place cookie sheet in preheated oven for 3-4 minutes
5. Immediately upon removing from the oven, place one M&M on top of each pretzel/chocolate
6. Place cookie sheet in freezer for 8-10 minutes, to allow chocolate to re-set.

Santa Hat Brownies

1. Bake a brownie mix in a mini muffin pan to create perfectly poppable bites.
2. Once the brownies have cooled, top each one with an upside-down hulled strawberry.
3. Use canned whipped cream to outline the hat and top.*

*Feeling inspired? An alternative to the whipped cream is to melt white chocolate chips and use a pastry bag to pipe a ring around the base and a small dollop atop each strawberry.

Create Your Own Winter Wonderland!

Ripped Paper Wreath

1. Color paper plate ring with green crayon or marker.
2. Rip green paper into small pieces and glue to paper plate.
3. Add a red construction paper bow.
4. Add glitter, pompoms, or crinkled tissue paper for the berries on the wreath.

Doily Santa Claus

1. Cut red triangle and glue onto green paper.
2. Glue doily onto center of triangle.
3. Add Santa’s face, eyes, nose, and mustache.
4. Glue on 3 black buttons to Santa’s coat.
5. Glue cotton ball onto Santa’s hat.
6. Use white paint to add snow to picture.

  Paper Plate Christmas Tree

1. Paint paper plate green and add green glitter to wet paint.
2. While paint is drying, have students lace small beads onto pipe cleaner.
3. Cut paper plate into thirds, and staple together to form a tree.
4. Use hole puncher to attach strand of beads for the lights.
5. Add a star to the top of the tree and a brown tree trunk.

The Tree of Warmth Returns!

UPDATE: Deadline extended to December 29th!

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In the spirit of giving this holiday season, we are bringing back the Tree of Warmth! This year, both of the REC locations will be collecting coats, hats, mittens and scarves to be donated to the following local organizations:

Citizens for Adequate Housing: Peabody, MA
For 25 years Citizens for Adequate Housing, Inc. has worked toward ending homelessness, providing a temporary home for homeless families and permanent affordable housing to low income families.

Front Door Agency: Nashua, NH
For over 27 years the Front Door Agency has offered support and provided services to assist individuals and families transition from crisis to self-sufficiency.

Please come on by and adorn our tree with these warming items which will be dispersed to the organizations the week of December 15th. In return for your generosity, the REC is offering FREE Open REC to those who donate. (Londonderry Open REC by appointment only).  In order to maintain the health of these families in need, we request that all items are new, preferably with the tags.

Thank you for your donation! We are very thankful for all of our REC friends! Please spread the word AND warmth!

Reserving for Vacations and Holidays at the REC

Reminder! The REC is committed to providing constant ABA programming, all year-round.  As many of our REC families know, this means support during school vacation weeks and some minor holidays. Due to the high demand, space for the vacation and holiday programming is limited and not guaranteed. In order to be considered for a spot, enrolled REC families must first complete the Vacation and Holiday Request Form and return to info@recreationaleducationcenter.com or to Mark Williams, Clinical Director.*

You may download the form by clicking on the below relevant link:

MA REC Vacation Request Form- Peabody, MA
NH REC Vacation Request Form- Londonderry, NH

*Please note that completing and returning this form does not guarantee a space in the Vacation/Holiday programs. REC families will be contacted by staff to confirm availability. (If your child(ren) are not currently enrolled and attending the REC, they must first complete the intake process which may take at least 20-30 days depending on availability and insurance processing).