May 2024 Newsletter

“You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.”– Walter Hagen

Editorial 

Dear Dawn to Dusk Community,

One of the favorite parts of my work is giving a tour of our program to prospective participants and their families. It not only allows me to observe and showcase our program but also hear from parents and families what they are looking for, their concerns, aspirations for their loved one etc. This year alone, I have given more than 25 tours to date. We are humbled by the overwhelming demand for our program and services. To help new participants transition into our program with the right supports and help current participants adjust to the new participants, since January 2023, we have only onboarded 1 participant every 2 weeks or approximately 2 participants every month.  This approach combined with the excessive demand has resulted in a waiting list for new participants, meaning that  a new participant cannot start until January 2025 as of today. This is not ideal, especially for June 2024 graduates and they are looking for continuing education/engagement soon after graduation. Parents are also concerned that not having a program soon after graduation may result in regression.

Hence, after much deliberation, discussion and consideration, we have made a decision to launch a transition program on September 3rd 2024 for the June 2024 graduates.  We are calling this program the GAP (Graduate Adjustment Period) program and this year, it will be limited to a maximum of 16 June 2024 graduates. While the details remain to be worked out, the GAP Program will have its own schedule and activities/outing calendar.  We are very excited to be offering this new program but are also feverishly aware that this program may also fill up soon.

As always, we remain committed to strive for continuous improvement and bring the best program and care for all our participants. Wishing you good health and wellbeing always. 

~ Sesh Subramanian

Life Skills and Growing Independence

Personal Hygiene: In April, the participants spent some time during our Life Skills activity sessions focusing on the topic of personal hygiene! Starting with the basics of what hygiene is and why it is important, the participants worked in groups with staff, then more independently, to come up with examples of “good” and “bad” hygiene. The examples provided were then turned into a sorting game and a matching game to test the participants’ knowledge and recall of the lessons. We will continue to build on this topic in May as we look forward to a healthy, happy, and hygienic summer season!

Other Activities:

• Our What’s Cooking activity sessions focus on building kitchen safety skills and knowledge of tools and appliances in the kitchen through practical use. Each session begins with review of the recipe and gathering the ingredients as well as materials and utensils that will be needed for cooking. Learning the difference between dry and wet ingredient measuring cups, a teaspoon and a tablespoon, a whisk and a spatula, and so on, has been a long-term goal of the cooking sessions and the participants work both independently and together to ensure all necessary materials are gathered before we begin to cook. While cooking, the participants work with staff to follow directions, take turns completing tasks, help each other with next steps, and employ fine motor skills to scoop, shake, spread, slice, saw, stir, and much more to create delicious and (mostly) nutritious treats for the center! In April, the participants made gluten free Jam-Filled Thumbprint cookies to serve for the afternoon snack, because what’s better than making delicious cookies with friends? Making enough cookies to share with all friends!

Self Expression Through Creativity

Our Get Creative activity sessions are exactly that: an opportunity for the participants to show off their creativity using various media and techniques to create a piece of art! Each month we select art projects that match with the monthly theme and provide ample choices and options for each participant to create something that truly reflects their preferences and vision. Working on listening and following step-by-step directions from staff; sharing and communicating with their peers; making choices about color, material, texture, placement, detail, and design; manipulating tools and using fine motor skills throughout, the Get Creative activity sessions are a popular choice in the afternoon for many of the participants at Dawn to Dusk!

Other Activities:

• In Artist’s Study we explore one artist for each project. The participants learn about the chosen artist’s life and influences, the technique and style used along with the various media used, and then apply those techniques to create a project inspired by the style of the artist, thus expanding their knowledge of the art world and providing opportunities for mimicry, inspiration, and the continued building of fine motor skills, following directions and procedures, sharing, patience, and collaboration during each and every session. In April, the Artist Study sessions focused on drawing inspiration from nature, as many artists have done before. The participants used recyclable materials in honor of Earth Day to create flowers, insects, and general spring greenery using tissue paper, coffee filters, recycled/scrap paper, cardboard egg cartons and empty towel rolls. We are committed to providing a comprehensive curriculum of recreational and skill-focused activities, but also want to focus on ensuring that all members of the Dawn to Dusk community feel empowered to take care of each other and the community environment itself. 

• Our Music Enrichment activity sessions provide opportunities for recreational music making in small groups focusing on exploring beat, rhythm, tempo, and musical foundations. During these sessions the participants have worked with various percussion instruments and body percussion techniques, hand bells, chimes and xylophones, and much more. Each month the sessions to listen to our monthly theme song and work toward learning to play it together as a group. We encourage you to explore the monthly and weekly theme songs with your loved one at home or in the car, as these may be familiar and can further strengthen their auditory discrimination and identification skills! (Auditory hierarchy, Norm Erber, 1908)

• Beads, Buttons, & More: Tiny trinkets and mini media have been very popular at Dawn to Dusk in our Beads, Buttons, & More activity sessions, and it is always fun to find new ways we can repurpose the items to create something totally new! Making bracelets and jewelry remains a popular choice, but the participants are often coming up with new ways to infuse more skill building into the sessions. Making bead patterns, button-by-number images and scenes, spelling out a friends name in letter beads, using pom-poms and gems to create a colorful and textured abstract self-portrait are just a few of the projects the participants have gotten into lately.

Physical and Mental Health and Wellbeing

We are proud to offer Dawn to Dusk's Health Matters program at our center, which is led by our experienced Nurse Mike. The program focuses on helping individuals improve their overall health and wellness by incorporating full body motion paired with mindful and intentional movements. This month saw the participants following along with Thai Chi and Yoga flows to promote the mind-body connection, as well as compound movements during aerobic exercise including squats, lunges, and boxing movements that work the entire body and large muscle groups.

Walking Club: Despite April showers rolling in this past month, our Walking Club has been very successful in getting their steps in this past month! Each morning (weather permitting) the participants and staff have enjoyed walking the 0.2 mile loop around the Dawn to Dusk building and tracking their steps via pedometers and logging their completed laps on the Walking Club Chart. At the end of April, there were numerous participants and staff having logged multiple miles over the course of the month! The Walking Club has provided an excellent option for exercise, movement, and socializing each day and we look forward to even more opportunities to get outside as the warm weather rolls in.

Other Activities: 

• In Community Collaborative sessions, the participants turned their citizenship efforts toward our Dawn to Dusk community. In April the participants completed their exploration of the art of Origami during Artist’s Study sessions. Each individual worked independently to create an intricately folded petal, which was then assembled with other petals to create a flower! This activity really brought attention to the fact that every single person has something special to contribute, and together, we can achieve so much.

• In April we continued our volunteer work with the Franklin Food Bank by packing paper bags with non-perishable food items and canned goods. The participants continue to look forward to this activity session and we look forward to continuing to offer it! Since implementing this part of our program, it has become quite clear that the participants at Dawn to Dusk agree; time spent helping others is time well spent.

Leisure and Recreation

Spring means the return of the Dawn to Dusk Garden Club, and it seemed as if everyone was looking forward to the return of this program! In April, the participants spent time outside in the garden removing the hay cover, weeding the garden beds, turning the soil over and adding new dirt, and ensuring that the garden was in tip top shape for planting. Inside, the participants explored the different seed varieties we had, identified which food group on the food pyramid each seedling would eventually become (lettuce, kale, herbs, tomatoes and more!), and planted the seeds into small pots, and watering and checking on the growing seedlings. The participants also spent time working in small groups to assemble decorative planters and pot holders for the little plants with support for staff to use hammers, nails, and wood glue to put together the wooden pieces of the decorative boxes.

Other Activities:

• With a schedule so packed with outings and activities, it’s nice for everyone to have some scheduled downtime in our Recreation Room to just chill out for a session. Outfitted with table tennis, air hockey, mini basketball, foosball, puzzles, games, books, and much more, the Recreation Room provides an opportunity for the participants to take a break from working on skill-building and instead choose a leisure activity that they enjoy. We are finding that all the skills we work to build and reinforce during our more structured sessions tend to come alive in the Recreation Room. Providing the time and space for participants to practice communication skills, sharing, turn-taking, decision-making, and self-directing their time while there has proven to us the importance of recreation and rest in the skill-building process. 

Community Corner

In April, the participants took advantage of the warmer weather during their outings by visiting local parks in our community on nice days. Thompson Park in Monroe has been a favorite with its walking trails, waterfront views, jungle gyms and basketball courts, and wildlife observation areas, while Sondek Park in South Brunswick has been it’s close competition for favorite park with it’s benches and scenic pathways for strolling in the sunshine, and it is our privilege to enjoy these wonderful community green spaces. The participants also visited the Knob Hill Country Lanes Bowling Alley and the South Brunswick Public Library for some indoor recreation, as well as local shopping centers in the surrounding community. 

Going out for lunch with friends is always a highlight for the participants at Dawn to Dusk, and in April we introduced a new restaurant to our outing line-up by visiting Red Robin in East Brunswick. The staff continue to work with the individuals at the program weekly to review the menu before going out, assisting the participants to make healthy choices in their lunch selections, ensure they have enough money in their program banks for the selected lunch order, and record their order details on our lunch order form to bring along to the restaurant. This process has proven to be extremely beneficial for the participants and we can’t help but notice the growing independence in each of the participants in the lunch outings since we implemented this Menu Planning session back in 2023. This process helps to prepare the participants and staff for visits to new restaurants, and provides opportunities for increased self-direction and decision making when completed for familiar restaurants as well! Some old favorites visited in April included Subway, Burger King, Applebee’s, and Dusal’s Pizzeria. In May, we are excited to work with the participants and staff to have them choose one restaurant they would like to visit, and work toward planning that outing at the end of the month as a group!

If you have any questions or suggestions about the Day Program, please contact Emily at: emily@dawntoduskwellbeing.com          

Photo Gallery

Enjoy some special moments and smiles in our photo gallery here.