CADES- Children and Adult Disability and Educational Services

We love Read Across America week here at CADES! This year's theme: SUPERHEROES! Reading Specialist Megnan and Speech-Language Pathologist Lizzie Vollmer have been hosting classes all week for students of all ages. This week, all of the activities for our secondary school students focused around the choose-your-own-adventure type story "What Should Danny Do?" At key moments in the story students would decide the direction Danny should take in his interactions. With GCMS Teacher Denise McKee's class, students were shown a flip-book that outlined the two big choices at key moments in the story. Mekhi in particular threw us for a loop when temporarily turning villain during one of those choices! Students then got to do all kinds of fun sensory activities, including feeling their way through bowls of uncooked pasta and beans to find letters to complete a secret word, like students in GCMS Teacher Anastasia Navickas' class, to making superhero masks and using chalk to add graffiti to buildings around the library! Shout out to Meghan and Lizzie for their outstanding creativity in putting this together! And to our entire staff for supporting literacy for our students! #readacrossamericaweek #literacyweek

Our latest CADES Video Spotlight is on Bridget Finn, our Assistant Director of Program Development for all three of our Adult Day Program sites. In her 18 years here at CADES Bridget has worked within both our Adult Day Program and our Residential/Community Living Arrangement Program. Her spotlight speaks to her leadership path here at CADES, which has taken her to the director-level, and the impact of her leadership, dedication, and creativity in the programming being brought to our Adult Day participants, and the impact that work is having on the community around our Adult Day Program sites. Her spotlight also speaks to her professional and personal connection to CADES.? ? Bridget, thank you for all that you do!?

Check out our latest CADES Courier- Our Monthly Newsletter- on our website: https://cades.org/updates/! This month's issue contains:? January Headlines: Adult Day Partnering with Community Arts Center in Wallingford. George Crothers Memorial School (GCMS) Skating with the Little Flyers CADES and Wallingford Swarthmore School District come together for a winter concert World Culture Celebration Projects from classes at GCMS. Retro Bowling at CADES Recap and Pictures More pictures from the Photoshoot with Positive Exposure- THESE ARE BEAUTIFUL! PLEASE CHECK THEM OUT! Designer Bingo Registration And More! We hope you enjoy! #disability #inclusion #adaptation

Every week students in GCMS Teacher Lori Griggs’ class learn new sight words, but not in the traditional “let’s just memorize them” kind of way! Students develop sentences with their sight words, like Max and Savanna do here, and then those sight words become the lyrics of their latest sight word song, with the help of Paraeducator Mikenzie Stumm. However, the love of sight words (and music!) has spread, as acclaimed musical artist Diamond (from GCMS Teacher Renee Grimes’ class) and her classmates, along with Paraeducator Joe Ward, visit to bring some powerful vocals and catchy rhythms! Anyone who would like to sing can jump in, like Amari does here, and there’s nothing like closing out with a full-class dance party to celebrate! Differentiated and adapted literacy using AAC! That’s how we do literacy at CADES!

We can't say enough about how much fun we had with the Philadelphia Little Flyers Junior Hockey at IceWorks Skating Complex last week! Elle, Emma, MayRose, Shannon, Qua-zir, Sean, and Kandeh had an incredible time flying across the ice! Whether it was Elle walking the ice in a gait trainer with her dad and PT Amy Wolstenholme, or the team learning about AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) from Emma and PT Kim Smith, Kandeh scoring multiple goals on passes from Little Flyer players and then racing down the ice in celebration, or Sean being pushed in his power wheelchair by a train of Little Flyers before deciding to move on his own without their help, these are memories we will never forget! Shout out to GCMS Teacher Meghan Powley and Paraeducators April Schull and Shanta Scott for organizing this amazing trip for a second year in a row, to the Little Flyers not only for welcoming us to their practice, but for being genuinely outstanding young men, engaging in really important conversations about people living with disabilities, and to our awesome staff who were able to come out and support our students!

CADES is honored to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on this important day in our history and our society. We hope that through our mission, empowering people to achieve their highest potential, and the inclusive work that we strive for each day at CADES, we honor his memory.

Our latest video spotlight is on Paraeducator Terrell Stansbury, the Garvey Family, and our student Liam: https://lnkd.in/ePKErBPS Hear the story of how Kris and Ryan Garvey found CADES, what our work here has meant to Liam and their family, and how Liam found not only a community of staff members throughout our organization who 100% support him, but a professional, an educator, and a big brother in Terrell. We challenge you to try not to get chills or maybe a little choked up when you hear things like “I see a lot of potential in Liam” and “We couldn’t ask for more than a community like this for him” and “the entire school wore red [for Liam]” in this latest spotlight! Terrell, thank you for all that you do, and Kris and Ryan, thank you for the trust you place in us here at CADES!

Happy New Year! I hope that you are all doing well! We are excited to present the Iatest issue of the CADES Courier, the first of the new year, which looks back at some of the great things that happened at CADES back in December! You can find it, and all of our newsletters, on our website: https://cades.org/updates/! Or scan the QR code! In addition to all of the holiday-related celebrations and activities in December, the Courier has a copy of our latest impact report, a look at what's coming up for our Adult Day Program in January, our CADES Video Spotlight for the month of December, and some of the fun moments we had with some of our community partners, including the Swarthmore Rotary Club, the Delaware County Intermediate Unit, and Janice's Danceworks! #disabilityawareness #inclusion

It is with great pleasure that we introduce our latest CADES Impact Report! Couched within the framework of our Strategic Plan, our impact report provides a glimpse into all of the things we do that are making a difference in the lives of the people we serve and the staff that makes this all happen, including: Growing over 18 different kinds of plants in partnership with Swarthmore College? Successfully piloting our new NADSP-Certification Program for DSPs and Front-Line Supervisors Over 3000 books signed out of our CADES Accessible Library Over 5000 meals donated by our adult day participants at CADES at Aston How over 1600 lifts are done by CADES Staff… in a given day! We hope you enjoy! You can also find our impact report on our website at https://lnkd.in/eCRaN-4A

This month's CADES Video Spotlight shines on Cindo Carrasco, Operations Manager for our residential program- our Community Living Arrangements. Cindo works as the manager of "physical plant," which here at CADES means he is responsible for the interior and exterior design of each of our community living arrangements; homes where we support people 24 hours, 7 days a week. Known for his exceptional dedication and meticulous approach, Cindo ensures that all CADES residential homes meet compliance standards while creating a warm, home-like atmosphere tailored to the preferences and interests of the individuals we serve. Cindo joined CADES in February 2017, recently celebrating seven years of remarkable contributions. He supports 31 CLA homes, focusing on maintaining consistent safety standards aligned with regulations. Beyond compliance, Cindo's passion for decorating and personalizing our homes truly sets him apart. His commitment and heartfelt effort embody the mission and values of CADES. Thank you, Cindo, for all that you do to make our residential homes safe and welcoming! Check out more video spotlights on our website: https://lnkd.in/eWJv2C8V Assistant Director of Culture Enhancement Alpha Barrie collaborated on this post