Day Camp Mighty Mind | Darien, CT | July 22 – August 9, 2013
Camp Mighty Mind is a fun-filled movement – and activity-based program that your kids will love. This intensive and engaging day camp for children aged 5-12 is designed to improve weak brain connections by using neuroplasticity and the brain’s innate ability to rewire itself based on intensive stimulation.

Camp Angelfish | August 11 – 16, 2013
Hosting location Camp Winuakee on Lake Winnepesuakee, NH
Camp Angelfish is a week-long overnight summer camp for children with a broad range of ability levels, and has been specifically designed to be friendly to those with a variety of special needs, including physical, sensory, developmental, or neurological issues.

Click here to learn more.

Saturday, May 18 Totally Treatment

NJ, Randolph YMCA
Sunday, June 2 Totally Treatment

Monday, June 3 Swim Whisperers

Click Here For Workshop Details

Like the rest of the world, we at Angelfish Therapy were shocked and devastated by the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary last month, and our hearts go out to all of the victims, their families, and the Newtown community. Newtown has been our base of operations for years, as well as a home for some of us, and we have a close connection to this wonderful, family-oriented area. But for us, the connection with this tragedy goes even deeper. Because on December 14th, we lost one of our precious Angelfish, Josephine “Joey” Gay.

Joey was an energetic and creative handful of joy on the autism spectrum, whose parents first brought her to us in 2010. Since then, she progressed quickly from private aquatic therapy to small group therapy to Swim Whisperers, and is even featured working with two other girls on the autism spectrum in our Swim Whisperers training video. Joey had difficulty speaking, but acquired many gestures to get her point across. She often came to the pool with her two older sisters, who would swim alongside her to help her succeed at her therapy goals. The dedication of Joey’s family to help her overcome her challenges on a daily basis with a positive, loving attitude was — and continues to be — a constant source of inspiration for all of us.

Words cannot begin to express the pain of losing our beautiful Joey so young, and in such a terrible manner. So in honor of Joey, we at Angelfish intend to donate our time for a child from the Newtown/Sandy Hook area to receive free weekly sessions of aquatic therapy for 12 weeks each fall and 12 weeks each spring. We’re calling this our Joey Jumps In Scholarship, and Joey’s mother Michele will determine each fall and spring who the recipient will be.

If you would like to honor Joey’s memory yourself, we encourage you to visit the Joey’s Fund page on the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism website. Here, you can learn more about Joey in her parents’ own words, and contribute in Joey’s name to an organization that does so much to raise awareness for and help families of children with autism.

In closing, below are several videos of Joey in the pool with us during one of her earliest sessions with us.

We miss you, Joey.

Can’t see the videos?  Here are the links …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZzDZa3GFIw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0-aEGHhbD8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeFkq5KzCPc

This July, for four days, you’ll find co-owners Ailene Tisser and Cindy Freedman at Sanlúcar de Barrameda, in the Cádiz province, in the Cádiz province, where we’ll be speaking, teaching, and providing hands-on training about aquatic therapy techniques and treatments for children with sensory and motor issues. So if you’re a physical or occupational therapist in the area, don’t be shy — we’d love to meet you!

Stay tuned for more details.

CLICK TO VIEW A 10-PAGE EXCERPT OF THE STUDY GUIDE

If you’re a swim instructor or aquatics professional having trouble teaching a child with sensory, motor, or anxiety issues how to swim, keep in mind that for many children, teaching swim strokes simply isn’t enough.

Before you can teach the child, you need to reach the child. And to do that, you need to understand how a child experiences the water.

The Swim Whisperers® DVD + Study Guide will show you how to overcome the obstacles that prevent children with issues like these from being safe, confident, and independent swimmers.

Order Swim Whisperers in July, and receive the printed Study Guide at no cost.

CLICK TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS OFFER

The topic for this informative speaking event will be …

“THE POWER OF SWIMMING: Using the Properties of Water to Benefit Your Child’s Sensory System”

Come learn about the properties of water and how they can address sensory processing dysfunction. We will discuss pool activities that promote self regulation, attention and modulation. We will specifically identify swimming strokes, motor planning, and tools you can implement to help your child. Learn about resources for training parents and professional staff on how to teach children with sensory processing issues to swim.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT

Drowning is a leading cause of death for children with autism.  Together we can decrease this statistic.  Come by and find out how!

Date & Time:
Wed., July 11, 2012, 7-8:30 p.m.

Location:  
The Spiral Foundation at OTA-Watertown
124 Watertown Street
Watertown, MA  02472

Program Cost:
$25 parent/professional ($10 for a second parent)

Contact hours available for professionals.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT

Are you a swim instructor, aquatics professional, or therapy student who’s interested in teaching children with sensory, motor, and anxiety issues how to swim?

Are you somebody with office management experience, amazing organizational/multi-tasking abilities, and great interpersonal skills, with an interest in helping families of children with special needs?

Then you need to contact us today about becoming Angelfish Therapy’s next new Aquatic Therapist, Swim Whisperers® Swim Instructor, or Office Manager.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS

For many children, teaching swim strokes simply isn’t enough.

Before you can teach the child, you need to reach the child. And to do that, you need to understand how a child experiences the water.

We all had to feel comfortable and in control on our feet before we could learn to walk. Likewise, every child has to feel comfortable and in control in the water before he or she can learn to swim. But kids with sensory, motor, and/or anxiety issues find comfort and control hard to come by.

The Swim Whisperers® DVD + Study Guide will show you how to overcome the obstacles that prevent children with issues like these from being safe, confident, and independent swimmers.

Order Swim Whisperers in June July, and receive a printed copy of the Study Guide at no extra cost. This guide covers all of the concepts presented on the DVD, breaking swimming obstacles down into 14 key areas …

1. Safety concerns
2. Water properties as they relate to the sensory system
3. “I can’t touch that!”
4. Making a child go under water successfully
5. “What did I say?”
6. “How do I control my body?”
7. “I’m not going on my back!”
8. Seeking sensory input
9. Petrified to let go of the side
10. Engagement and interaction
11. Reacts extremely when getting splashed
12. Excessive drinking of the pool water
13. Ritual and routine to increase comfort
14. Success with swim strokes

Then we invite you to attend our 3rd Semi-Annual Parent Appreciation Party, being held June 9th at the Trackside in Wilton, CT.

Come get your groove on and celebrate with Team Angelfish.  It’s just our way of showing how much we appreciate everything our clients do for us and for their children.  So join us for food, drink, and a live band, Eight to the Bar, and be ready to dance, socialize, and be groovy!

DOWNLOAD THE FLYER FOR MORE INFORMATION

Last week, the CDC released findings that raised estimates about the number of children in the U.S. with autism to 1 in 88 (previously, it was estimated at 1 in 110). That’s roughly a million U.S. children and teens.  And the incidence among boys is even higher — around 1 in 54. These figures are both saddening and alarming, and the fact that they’re based on data from 2008 means the picture could be even bleaker for children in 2112.

One of the many challenges faced by children “on the spectrum” — including those with related Asperger Syndrome — is that at first glance, you might not even know that a child has a diagnosis.  In many cases, the symptoms are subtle, and hard to spot unless you’re looking for them — things like sensory and language issues, low muscle tone, social awkwardness, anxieties, and learning problems.  Once revealed, these symptoms can result in children with autism being misunderstood and even mistreated by their peers, and even by school systems that are struggling to keep up with these rising statistics.  Which is a shame, because as we can tell you, from working with these children in the pools, they are some of the most amazing, intelligent, brave, creative, and funniest people you’ll ever meet.

Today is World Autism Awareness Day, and April is Autism Awareness Month.  Obviously, this is something that we at Angelfish Therapy and the families of our autistic clients are all-too-aware of every single day of the year.  But if you’re not, then we hope you’ll take some time this month to educate yourself about the realities (and the fallacies) of an autism diagnosis.  Because at 1-in-88, odds are, if you’re the parent of a school-aged child, he or she will have a classmate on the spectrum who will need your and/or your child’s understanding and patience.  Not to mention, if we as a society ever hope to slow or reverse this epidemic in our lifetime, it will require all of us to understand what autism is in order to effect the changes needed.