Michelle Wendt, Parent
Your including my son in leadership training to help him market this
program has given him a chance to see himself in a positive light and
feel valued for his contribution. I am sure that it is also enlightening
for the parents of students in your program to hear from him about his
experiences and his perspective.
My son went through a very difficult time as an adolescent with a
diagnosis of PDD NOS, not only because of the attitudes and behavior
of some of his classmates, but also in coming to accept who he is.
Reconciling those aspects of himself at which he excels, with those that
are more challenging has been difficult. I applaud your efforts toward
seeking to empower the youth in your program by helping them to
reach an understanding of their individual learning styles and come to
value and respect one another for those differences.
Maryann Lombardi, Parent
I am a parent of three children. One of my sons is afflicted with
Autism and Childhood Apraxia of Speech and the other with Attention
Deficit Disorder. Raising my boys has been a lifelong education which
led me into the world of advocacy on behalf of children and young
adults with developmental disabilities. Currently I serve as Vice Chair
to the CT Council on Developmental Disabilities having been appointed
in 2009 by Governor Jodi Rell. I also serve as Special Needs Outreach
Chair for Inclusion Teaming and it is on behalf of Inclusion Teaming
that I write you this letter.
Inclusion teaming is a cutting edge program that uses current research
on social cognition/social communication differences to teach young
people diagnosed with conditions that create social skill deficits.
Inclusion Teaming teaches the students alongside students with
traditional social skill who want to learn from them. Inclusion Teaming
provides a laboratory for practical implementation of explicitly taught
skills. Since we have programs that social skills, why do we need
Inclusion Teaming?
Inclusion Teaming offers our children a real world opportunity to
actually practice their social skills and to learn specific communication
skills for the future. Students with traditional social skills are
practicing and learning new skills right alongside our children!
Inclusion Teaming provides a forum for the open exchange of ideas
between young people with social skill differences and their neuro-
typical peers. This forum benefits both groups of young people by
promoting knowledge and practical strategies for effective
communication. These skills will have immediate benefits and will
continue to benefit all participants in the future as they move into the
labor force.
There is no other program that provides the service benefits that
Inclusion Teaming can bring to our Middle School, High School, and
College students with social skill differences. Students learn to
exchange ideas effectively; they practice learned skills; and they
experience their inherent value and potential to contribute to society.
Douglas Sharafanowich, Parent; Secretary, Special Education
PTA Network
I am a parent of a son with Autism. I have been working with Inclusion
Teaming in an advisory capacity for the past 2 years, helping the
organization to more clearly identify and state its goals, its mission,
what it does, and how it impacts youth with special needs.
As a result of my activity with the organization, I have come to realize
that the methodology used in Inclusion Teaming is unique, and that it
works.
While there are other so-called “social skills” programs out there, they
focus on the simple friendship and exchange concepts. INCLUSION
TEAMING, on the other hand, goes beyond that foundational level of
instruction. It puts youth (both typical and like/kind non-typical) in the
same room to learn Real World “social skills” that they can apply for
success in their daily lives. This is far different from the usual artificial
classroom settings found in schools.
Catherine Hogan and the rest of her team are committed to delivering
a very high quality series of programs that are designed to help the
youngsters achieve success and gain a better understanding of who
they are and how best to work with their individual challenges in public.
Parent (Name Withheld By Request)
It has been a little over a year since we learned about Inclusion
Teaming and met Catherine Hogan. Prior to that, my son spent four
years in college without feeling or being prepared for life. He was
frustrated and had difficulty motivating himself to try something new.
Having held a summer camp job for a number of years that he liked,
nothing in the "real world" offered the same inspiration. Reading and
writing came easily. Socializing did not.
Although he was not especially eager to become part of a group (the
post college group) at first, he agreed to come to Catherine's office for
meetings. It is one year later. My son has completed a semester with a
peer group, and is now looking forward to training to become a group
leader for Inclusion Teaming. He has been consistent in his attendance
and has been making efforts to engage in social situations IN HIS
DAILY LIFE that might have been far out of his comfort zone a year
ago. Life is a process and he is now moving along in that process!
Thanks to Catherine and Inclusion Teaming.
Parent (Name Withheld By Request)
As a parent whose son has participated in Inclusion Teaming Program,
I would like to express my strong support for funding for this much
needed program. This was my son’s the first experience with face to
face-interactions, presentations, questions, one to one dialogue, group
dialogue, practice, and laughter-first experience in 16 years of school—
with typical peers.
I believe Catherine's Inclusion Teaming Program is going to help
many students with disabilities to believe in themselves enough to go
to college & beyond. Before Inclusion Teaming, my son had some
intervention help; however, he still did not feel good enough about
himself. He was all set to settle for going to a community college in
town and never imagined himself going away to college. Then, he
because a part of Inclusion Teaming, and was for the first time, a part
of a “Real Team of students that treated him as an equal.”
Under the direction of Catherine Hogan and her team, my son’s
confidence level grew (in just a short time); he just started
transforming (this is a student that never went to a dance at the
schools) and then, next thing I knew it, he wanted to go to the prom
himself. Next, he said that he did not want to go to the local
community college; he wanted to go away to college. Everyone that
knew him was shocked to see the transformation during that short time
span. This was a student that always went along and did not believe in
himself, then, just started blossoming when he went through this
program.
Inclusion Teaming is an asset to those who need it, and most
importantly, it works. It is an empowering, community based
conference room setting like no other and the best part is “the
results”. She and her co-facilitator have all the right tools for students
to feel as if they are equal participants and all on the same team (there
is nothing out there like it).
I was very impressed and saw results firsthand. I watched the
students both with and without social skill challenges interact in the
same room, which was wonderful to see as a parent. Catherine and her
co-facilitator are amazing and they really hit a home run for students
by doing something that I thought could never be done and have not
seen any programs like hers. I hope that your organization can help
her with the much needed funding to make her program available to
other students like my son – there is a great need for this program out
there.
Parent (Name Withheld by Request)
I really loved this program for my son because they were able to go
there outside the classroom setting where it was anonymously run with
no needed about study of his career. Catherine, and her team, taught
my son needed about study of his career. Catherine, and her team,
taught my son skills and knowledge that empowered him. He learned
indispensable skills and knowledge that empowered him. He learned
indispensable skills that prepared him for college and boosted his
confidence, expanding his knowledge "of how to function beyond high
school in the real world" -- by teaching him the things he needs to
know and that you could not get anywhere else, in my opinion. He is
ready to go onto the "next steps" and really understands and is able to
accept his differences. He learned how to compensate because he was
taught in the right setting.
Elyse Sherman, Parent
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the assistance you're
giving Justin. I am a State of Connecticut, Department of Social
Services Case Manager, a parent consultant of Inclusion Teaming, and
a mother of a 26 year old son. Justin graduated from college with
honors and was a member of his college tennis team. Justin has
Asperger's Syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism. Justin has
been an integral part of Inclusion Teaming for the past two years. He
helped in the development of the program, and then completed the
course, and is now a paid leader.
Like many of our children on the spectrum, Justin had a difficult time
socially throughout his school career due to the fact that the
neurotypical students did not "get" him, because he "looked normal."
However, Justin often displayed social behaviors that were not the
norm, and he didn't "get" his neurotypical peers either. Chasms
resulted between him and these peers, all because of the ignorance on
both sides about the way each other functions and views the world.
Inclusion Teaming has given my son a safe venue to interact and "test
the waters" in the company of his neurotypical peers. Both populations
of Inclusion Teaming students benefit from the epiphany that the
chasm between them is much smaller than either side originally
imagined. My son now has the confidence to interact more successfully
with his neruotypical peers and potentials employers as a result of this
wonderful course, and the level of his self-esteem has been raised
significantly.
I greatly urge participation in this remarkable program, ans there is
nothing else quite like it for our children on the spectrum...Inclusion
Teaming gives our children the chance they need to improve their self-
esteem to the point that they have the readiness to make a place for
themselves in a world that has thus far proved difficult for them.
Inclusion Teaming is resource for our children.
Catherine and her staff staff have made my son feel like a million
dollars; which at this point in his life he needed desperately, and I
appreciate this more than words can say.
Parent (Name Withheld by Request)
My son liked the whole setup. He's open and wants to get the most
out of these sessions. I was completely astonished. He also was
somewhat introspective afterwards and figured out the reason he
becomes anxious when meeting people. I'm both thrilled and relieved
that he wants to continue. Thanks very much for your good work.
Parent (Name Withheld by Request)
It has been a little over a year since we learned about Inclusion
Teaming and met Catherine Hogan. Prior to that, my son spent four
years in college without feeling or being prepared for life. He was
frustrated and had difficulty motivating himself to try something new.
Having held a summer camp job for a number of years that he liked,
nothing in the "real world" offered the same inspiration. Reading and
writing came easily. Socializing did not.
Although he was not especially eager to become part of a group at
first, he agreed to come to Catherine's office for meetings. It is one
year later. My son has completed a semester with a peer group, and is
now looking forward to training to become a group leader for Inclusion
Teaming. He has been consistent in his attendance and has been
making efforts to engage in social situations which might have been far
out of his comfort zone a year ago. Life is a process and he is now
moving along in the process. Thank you.
TESTIMONIES
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