Visit us on the web at www.BDSHelps.com

Walk Now 2013 – Team High Spirits

For several years BDS team members and our families have taken part in the Walk Now for Autism Speaks. We actually started doing this before the National Alliance for Autism Research) and Autism Speaks merged and it was called the Walk Far of NAAR. This year, we have decided to take part in the walk again through our continued participation with Team High Spirits.

Please join our team or make a donation by visiting the Team High Spirits Walk Now for Autism Speaks website located at http://www.walknowforautismspeaks.org/dc/highspirits.

Visit us on the web at www.BDSHelps.com

You Asked… We Listened – The Waiver

Based on the questions and comments that we have received, we have added a few more pages to the BDS website. The first group of pages are about Maryland’s Home and Community Based Waiver for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (also know as the Autism Waiver or the Waiver). This is only the beginning, but we wanted to let you know that the information was now available for your review at https://bdshelps.com/the-autism-waiver/.

If you have further questions, feel free to send them in to [email protected], or give us a call at 1-855-255-5270 (this is a toll-free number). You can also post your question in the comment section of our blog.

Hugs!

Barbara Erby

President; Education & Behavioral Consultant

Breakthrough Developmental Services, LLC

Visit us on the web at www.BDSHelps.com

April 2013 Events

This is the list of events we have located for April 2013. The events below are not sponsored by BDS and the organizations holding the events are not connected with Breakthrough Developmental Services, LLC. If you are interested in attending any of the events listed below, please contact the event’s sponsor. If you know of other area events, or are having an event, send them to [email protected].

 

Date: April 2, 2013

Time: 7 pm

Event: Understanding SSI/Medicaid and SSDI/Medicare

Location: TLC – The Treatment and Learning Center

For more information: Click here

Information received from:

Maedi Tanham Carney, CFP

M&L Special Needs Planning, LLC

[email protected]

 

Date: April 13, 2013

Time: 12 – 4pm

Event: Children’s Festival (Autism Awareness Month Event)

Location: Judah Temple AME Zion Church
14500 Mt Oak Rd, Mitchellville, MD

Free food and fun activities (moon bounce, music and movement, sensory activities, etc.) for the entire family. Children with special needs are welcome to attend. There will be a quiet room where families can take a break, if needed.

For more information: Visit www.judahtemple.net or call 301-390-2900.

 Flyer for this event

To register for this event, visit http://www.judahtemple.net/form14140.htm

Date: April 13, 2013

Time: 5 – 8 pm

Event: 2013 Fashion & Talent Show Extravaganza

A charitable event to benefit Barstow Acres Children’s Center (A non-profit, 501 (c) 3 United Way agency providing mental health services, parent education and therapeutic summer camp to Southern Maryland children and families)

Location: Huntingtown High School

Theme: “Live Life in Color”

Tickets: $15 adult/ $7 children ages 3-12/ $50 VIP

Information received from: Barstow Acres Children’s Center

*Interested in participating as a model, performer, vendor, advertiser, or sponsor? Call 410-414-9901 or email [email protected]

 

Date: April 15 – 17, 2013

Time: All day

Event: The Disability Policy Seminar

Location: The Grand Hyatt, Washington, DC

For more information: http://www.DisabilityPolicySeminar.org

Information received from: The Autism Society of America

 

Date: April 27, 2013

Time: 2 pm

Event: Veggie Tales Live: Happy Birthday Bob & Larry

Location: Hylton Memorial Chapel, Woodbridge, VA

http://www.veggietales.com/live/tickets/

http://www.eventtickets.net/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=62

BDS Winter Holiday Camp

We are happy to announce that our 2012 Winter Holiday Camp Registration is now open! Camp will take place on December 24, 26, 27, 28, and 31 in Bowie, MD. The camp hours are 9 am to 6 pm each day, but parents can arrange for an early drop off/late pick up if needed.

The BDS Winter Holiday Camp will give your child a chance to generalize all of the skills that you have worked so hard to teach them as well as learn and practice the social skills that are needed in life. BDS offers a safe environment for your child to spend their time away from school with our caring and professional staff of Behavioral Technicians and Consultants.

Register your child for the BDS Winter Holiday Camp today!

Click here to download your registration form.

What to do with all these applicants?

As mentioned in a previous blog post, we received over 80 resumes in for a handful of positions in DC, MD, and VA (at the time the blog was posted it was 70).We thought long and hard about what to do with the additional resumes. Many of the people who applied were more than qualified and were very eager to start. They had a variety of background experiences and we really didn’t want this pool of potential staff members to just disappear as many parents have often told me that they can’t find potential staff members for their program. So what were we to do?

Firstly, we created a new blog site to post new job announcements for the people who had sent in their resumes. This provided us with a central location to have potential staff members look for positions without us needing to constantly email all of them and potentially having our emails marked as spam. Current staff members will continue to be notified via our staff newsletter about open positions.

Secondly, we created a Potential Behavioral Technicians page on the Breakthrough Developmental Services, LLC homepage. The address to the new page is https://bdshelps.com/Pages/BehTechs.aspx. On Thursday, August 16, 2012 the Human Resources Department sent an email requesting an information update from all persons who previously applied for a position. As these updates are received from the applicants, they will update the information that is posted on the page. Parents, if you are interested in having a potential applicant join your team you may feel free to contact the Human Resources Department at [email protected] or 240-355-0834.

As a reminder, all staff members must complete our 4 basic training classes before beginning with a client. Additionally, with each new client there is training specific to their individualized program. All Behavioral Technicians also received ongoing training and supervision.

If you have any questions about this correspondence, please feel free to contact our offices at [email protected] or give us a call at 240-355-0834.

Sincerely,

Barbara Erby

President

Breakthrough Developmental Services, LLC

www.BDSHelps.com