November Newsletter

Witches Woods

Sharing best practices and promoting inclusive opportunities for students with special needs    

Executive Director's

Message

Dear LABBB Community,

November is a time for gratitude and thankfulness and many families will gather with family and friends to celebrate. There have been A LOT of changes recently and we should be mindful that our friends, neighbors and families may need some support.  November 13th marks World Kindness Day, and I am a believer! I think practicing gratitude and kindness should be the norm in our daily lives. The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is a great site, chock full of kindness Ideas, “ Imagine a world where you can succeed by being nice. Where we all pay it forward. Where people look for each other. It all starts with an act.” The Random Act of Kindness Foundation challenges us, and my challenge to all of you - “celebrate someone you love, compliment with reckless abandonment, and be an active listener while in the company of others!” I hope you have a great day of kindness.

A reminder that the Program Directors and I are initiating ‘Dialogue with the Directors’. All are welcome! We will be hosting these as drop-in meetings to discuss what is on your mind- while we will not be answering specific student related questions, we hope to engage in dialogues with parents and/or community members about how to keep LABBB’s mission strong and vibrant for another 50 years! These meetings will be held at the LABBB Central Offices at 70 Blanchard Rd., Suite 206, Burlington, MA and will be held on January 29, 2025 from 9:30- 10:30 am and April 1, 2025 from 9:30 - 10:30 am.  

We have rolled out our new website and are making revisions in real time! Please note that we have added a calendar feature and (hopefully) easier access to our school/program calendars. Additionally, we are/will be revising access to our Health/Nursing department site as well as the Recreation Department. Stay tuned!

Recreation opportunities continue for our middle and high school aged LABBB students. If you are interested in exploring any of these opportunities, please contact your child’s teacher or program coordinator.

It is that time of year when the weather can impact our schedule! We are exploring a few options to deliver news like this in a timely manner but for now, updates will be available on the website and will be shared through the Constant Contact platform, just as we did last year.  

LABBB Evening Parent Meetings

LABBB Evening Parent Meetings will continue on the same evenings as our monthly dances (Thursday evenings). This allows parents of middle and high school students to drop off their daughter or son at the Lexington Community Center (39 Marrett Rd., Lexington, MA) then attend the meetings upstairs. We also encourage our parents of elementary school students to attend these parent nights. These informative meetings provide time to discuss and learn about a variety of topics related to programming, MCAS, special needs planning, recreation, transition, post -22 planning, supplemental security income (SSI), financial planning, and many other important topics.

Parent meetings for 2024-25 will take place from 6:45 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on the following dates:

Our presenters and speakers are scheduled, but may change…

November 21, 2024- Guardianship

December 12, 2024 (NO Parent meeting)

January 9, 2025 - Basic Rights

February 6, 2025 - Understanding a Neuropsychological Evaluation

March 13, 2025 - Estate Planning

April 3, 2025 ( NO Parent meeting)

May 15, 2025- Understanding Executive Functioning with Elise Wullf 

LABBB’s Transition Fair date - April 14, 2025

We look forward to seeing you!

Please do not hesitate to contact me directly at pgirouard@labbb.net with any questions or comments.

With appreciation,

Pam

Clinical Corner: Making Mistakes

By: Melanie Marzolf, LICSW

This fall at Fox Hill Elementary the counseling team has been working with the younger classrooms on the challenge of learning to cope with mistakes. We want our students to adopt a growth mindset, where they are comfortable taking risks and recognize that making mistakes is an essential part of learning. 

One of the strategies we are working on with students is helping them separate the fact of a mistake from the story about what happened. For example, a mistake on a math problem is an observable fact. If a student then thinks to themself, “I’m no good at math,” or “I’m not smart enough for this,” those are stories. The student has created a story in their head about what that mistake means. This story is what often leads to distressing feelings. A growth mindset encourages us to change this story into something more positive and helpful. Instead of “I can’t do this” the story becomes “I can work on this and get better,” or “I’m brave for trying to learn something new.” 

After we change our story to something more positive and helpful, we can try these three steps to learn from a mistake:

1. Try again
2. Make a small change
3. Ask for help

Learning to successfully navigate mistakes is something that many of us struggle with, even in adulthood. The stories we tell ourselves about our mistakes can be very powerful. However, with practice we can learn to separate the facts from the story and enhance our growth mindset. We can all be good role-models for our students. If we handle our own mistakes with honesty and grace, we show students that mistakes are common, manageable and help us grow. 

Transition Department : Life after LABBB: One student’s journey to “Finding your way on what you want to achieve”

By: Sara Carver, MS-SLP, Transition Counselor

A testament to LABBB’s student-centered approach is the amount of alumni we have who stay connected and involved in our community. From the annual fall reunion dance to the impromptu classroom visits, many of LABBB’s previous students make their presence known far after they graduated from our programming. 

At Bedford High, we’ve been particularly lucky to have a few students who still live in the immediate community. Whether a run-in at their job at Marshall’s, a grocery store trip, out on the basketball courts, or working with a job coach at the local library, we have been in the unique position to witness our previous students continue to make strides into their adult lives. In fact, all of the above examples have happened with one alumnus in particular, Summer L-C, Class of 2020. Seeing Summer grow over the past four years from a diligent, albeit timid student, into an empowered and ambitious young adult, we took a chance and asked if she’d be willing to come back and talk to our current students about her post-Labbb experiences. Summer not only agreed to our ask, but went above and beyond in developing a presentation to demonstrate her experiences and growth over the last four years.

Summer arrived at Bedford with a picture board and presentation entitled “Finding your way on what you want to achieve.” She spent the next 30 minutes enlightening both students and staff on the pathway she took after LABBB. First transitioning into a community-based day support program, Minuteman Arc, she spent time refining her vocational skills, exploring different fields, refining her creative passions and interests into potential avenues for employment, and developing a resume. Through her work with a job coach at the Cooperative for Human Services in Lexington, Summer secured a job at Marshall’s, a perfect fit for her interest in fashion. She began exploring other interests, ice skating, baking at home, volunteering at Jackson Farm in North Reading, kayaking and enjoying nature at Horn Pond. And Summer was kind enough to reflect on all of the experiences she had during her time with us in Bedford, that helped create a launchpad for success. Cooking class with our OT stoked her interest in baking. Internships at CVS with the support from the transition department gave her the retail experience needed for Marshalls. Perhaps most importantly, the social-emotional skills she fostered in speech and counseling groups allowed her to validate her anxiety in work settings, while advocating for the accommodations she needed such as written directions. 

A few poignant thoughts from Summer:

• “After the process of moving from the interview to actually proceeding forward to working for the company for real was scary. I just had to remember that learning new things is a great opportunity to accomplish new goals for myself in a new environment.”
• “A helping hand will always be there for me in life. I have family and friends to help me work continually on my goals and dreams. I strive for what I want in the future. My opportunities are endless.”
• “When I first started working I felt tense, I felt scared… I get a little shy… I can get anxious… these are all valued emotions when I started working. These emotions help strengthen my work skills so I can get better at learning new things”
• “I can put my mind to anything I want to achieve as long as I try. Learning was hard for me at first because I had a hard time finding what I liked. When I took the time to figure out what I wanted to do and like, I started to find myself through things I wanted to work hard for in life.” 

While it’d be an easy win to say LABBB is responsible for all of this success, it’s no question the real work has been done by Summer and the support team she’s developed. Summer is now working up to 30 hours a week at Marshall’s, she has developed friendships with her coworkers, and lives a life full of enriching experiences. She hopes to someday live independently and continues to make strides toward her long-term goals and aspirations. Outside of the immense amount of pride and awe I felt toward Summer as she confidently spoke of the full life she has created for herself, I also felt reassured. As a transition department, our goal has always been supporting students to build a meaningful life beyond graduation. While gainful employment is a large component of this, we often echo to parents this is not all we’re working towards. The ability for a student to understand their accommodations, develop circles of social-emotional connection/support, advocate for their needs, and access support to continue to make strides post graduation, is our much larger vision. Summer reassured us that time spent at LABBB addressing the entirety of these skills is time well spent, as these soft skills are truly the springboard needed to continue to make progress on the road to employment, fulfillment, and a life well lived. 

Learning Outside the Classroom

By: Tina Langone

Class 825 has a new theme this year. It’s called Learning outside the classroom.

In order to generalize skills that are taught in the classroom we have been going into the community daily. Some examples of short community trips include: CVS, Peet's Coffee, the bank, Post Office, retail stores and take out restaurants in and around Lexington Center. 

Approximately once a month we take larger trips, for example, going to a sit down restaurant, the mall, and other special trips that the students help plan. 

This year instead of having each family send in school supplies, we asked all students to bring in $25 to purchase their own supplies. The students are expected to keep track of the items they need in class and in their ADL kits. They are encouraged to keep track of personal items and recognize when they are running low on a supply. Trips are based on what skills the students need to develop. Some skills we are working on are looking up the MBTA schedule, choosing stores to shop at, using flyers to create a shopping list and problem solving. We have been concentrating this semester on traveling to Bedford. Some of the stores we have purchased things in so far have been: Ocean State Job Lot, TJ Maxx, CVS, Whole Foods, and Marshalls. We also took an impromptu trip to the Dollar Store and compared the price differences from each store.  

It’s exciting to see the growth in just one month and we can’t wait to see what we can learn outside the classroom!

LABBB Recreation

On Friday, November 1, LABBB students traveled to Witches Woods. Thanks to some dedicated staff, this was the first time we have offered this trip. Daring souls went to be scared, and scared they were. Clowns, witches, skeletons on stilts, and zombies popped out of nowhere to elicit screams from students and staff that were ear piercing. Those who went got what they wanted: to be scared, have fun with friends, and even ride amusement park rides. The light up carved pumpkins was this reporter’s favorite.    

Dates to remember:

LABBB Fall Harvest Dance - November 21st

LABBB Monday Bowling Ends - November 25th

LABBB Wednesday Rec Ends - November 13th

LABBB November Mini Golf Begins - November 8th & December 6th

LABBB December Holiday Dance - December 12th

REMINDER: The LABBB Recreation Brochure and monthly trips/dances flyers will ONLY be in our emailed LABBB newsletter and on our website (www.labbb.com). They will no longer be sent to LABBB family homes via USPS.

Remember to follow @LABBBREC on Twitter

Belmont Recreation /Adaptive Programs - https://belmontma.myrec.com/info/activities/program_details.aspx?ProgramID=29854

Riverside Family Support

https://riversidefamilysupport.org

Housing Navigator Massachusetts

https://housingnavigatorma.org/

LABBB Contacts

LABBB Central Office

LABBB Directors and Coordinators

LABBB Webpage

LABBB Collaborative

70 Blanchard Rd, Suite 206, Burlington MA. 01803| LABBB.com