It doesn't seem that long ago Joyce Salzberg and Donna Maher decided to revolutionize the EI community and create Sunny Days. Since its inception, Sunny Days has truly pioneered advancement for the treatment of children, the quality of work-life for dedicated practitioners, and service coordination and policies for communities at the state level.
| Highlights from the past 20 years: | |
| 1994 : | Joyce Salzberg & Donna Maher founded Sunny Days |
| 1998 : | Joyce Salzberg became a member of New Jersey SICC |
| 1998 : | Karen Olanrewaju joined the Sunny Days team, currently serving as Program Director in NJ |
| 2002 : | Sunny Days adopted initial and ongoing service coordination in NY under the direction of Program Director, David Salzberg |
| 2003 : | Jerome Campbell joined Sunny Days as Program Director for PA and DE |
| 2005 : | Cameron Stone joined Sunny Days as Program Director for CA |
| 2005 : | Sunny Days introduced the Clinical Education Team to provide mentoring, training and clinical support |
| 2008 : | Sunny Days began offering web-based training courses |
| 2011 : | Sunny Days marked one million individual therapy sessions |
| 2011 : | Lindsay Hilsen, BCBA, published her curriculum, A Step by Step Curriculum for Early Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorders. |
| 2012 : | Sunny Days developed Virtual Intervention |
| 2013 : | Sunny Days launched a pilot program in New Jersey for Virtual Intervention |
| 2014 : | Sunny Days opened the Sunshine Center |
We can't wait to see what the next 20 years has in store!
To commemorate our two decades of early intervention services, Sunny Days is hosting an Open House celebration. Please join us Thursday, May 15, 11am-3pm at our headquarters in Manalapan, NJ. We are preparing a fun-filled afternoon that includes a lineup of excellent guest speakers.
More details coming soon!
If you would like to attend, please RSVP by calling 800-891-3444.
There is a growing need and concern for autism awareness. Many professionals in the fields of Early Intervention and Special Education have been celebrating Autism Awareness since the 70's but spreading awareness has never been as important as it is today. A recent study found that 1 in every 66 children is living with a form of ASD. Twelve years ago, studies found 1 in every 150 children were living with ASD. As these numbers are bounding, so must our vigilance.
Here are some tips for helping children blossom:
- Respond with empathy when your toddler wants something he can’t have: “I can tell you really want to play outside again like we did yesterday. It was a lot of fun and I know you liked going on the swing, but it’s raining today so we must stay inside. Let’s try this game.”
- Take a walk and stop to smell the flowers. Point out animals, cars, people you meet, anything interesting you see. Older children can be on a “scavenger hunt” to find a blue car, someone on a bicycle, a fire hydrant, etc.
- Your child is enjoying playing outside and starts to rub her eyes. You ask her if she would like to go down the slide one more time or go inside now. Giving her this choice helps her feel like she has some control and helps to support the transition.
For more information about all available job openings nationwide, please visit: http://www.sunnydays.com/careers
On January 6, we officially opened the Sunshine Center and have been offering speech and language, occupational, physical, and ABA therapies as well as performing evaluations and assessments. Our schedules are filling up and our group sessions, particularly our Mommy & Me groups, are a success!
If you have not yet visited the Sunshine Center, please stop by. We'd love to give you the grand tour! If any therapists are interested in joining the Sunshine Center team, please contact Judy Sloop.
Sunny Days Inc., 2013. All Rights Reserved.
www.sunnydays.com