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Disability Awareness

July 25, 2023

Disability Does Not Mean Inability

Having a child with a disability can be challenging and expensive. Sometimes it’s hard to find the right resources to help financially, emotionally, and physically depending on your child’s diagnosis and needs. Knowing the resources available to you can help ease some of the burden from your shoulders. PMC has put together a list of resources in our area that can help you and your family.
Resources:

Local Resources:

Community Resources:

  • Apples for Children

Offers a computerized listing of all regulated forms of child care (licensed family child-care providers, licensed center-based and school-age programs, certified camp programs, certified nursery schools, kindergartens, and Head Start programs). Group Details: Facilitated by the Alliance for Parent, Provider, and Local Employer Solutions, website: www.applesforchildren.org, contact: 301-733-0000

  • Birth Injury Center

The birth Injury Center provides assistance to anyone who has been affected by a birth injury. They offer resources to assist the injured and their families. More information can be found online at: www.birthinjurycenter.org

  • Sargent Shriver Head Start Center

This Federally funded program offers comprehensive child development and family support services to income-eligible families. Preventative health and nutrition services are included. Children with disabilities are welcome. Part-day and full-day programming available. Group Details: website: http://headstartwashco.org, contact: 301-733-4640

Community Partners:

  • Equipped for Life
  • Ability Prosthetics & Orthotics Inc.
  • National Mobility & Seating
  • Variety Children's Charity
  • Potomac Case Management
  • Cornerstone Physical Therapy
  • Bester Community of Hope
  • NuMotion
  • Orthotic Solutions

Funding Resources:

  • Tri-State Civitan
  • Variety Children's Charity
  • The Angel Fund

Special Education Resources:

  • Washington County Public Schools Special Education

Specifically designed instruction, at no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. Additionally, once Special Education is determined, related services may also be implemented based on student need. Group Details: Facilitated by Washington County Public Schools, website: http://wcpsmd.com/special-education


  • Infants and Toddlers Program

Washington County Public School’s Infants and Toddlers Program is a countywide system of coordinated, interagency and multidisciplinary early intervention services for children ages birth to five who are suspected of having a disability. Group Details: Facilitated by Washington County Public Schools, website: http://wcpsmd.com/

Mental Health Resources:

  • Maryland Coalition of Families for Children's Mental Health

If you are caring for a child with a mental health, behavioral or education issue, a developmental disability or involvement with the juvenile justice system, you may need Family Navigator services. Any parent or caregiver can call a Family Navigator to request assistance for their child, age 0-21 years, with special needs. Group Details: website: http://www.mdcoalition.org, contact: 410-730-8267 or Youth Crisis Hotline 1-888-607-3637

 

  • Brooklane Health Services, Inc.

Offers outpatient and short-term inpatient hospitalization services, substance abuse treatment, and a variety of other services for children, adolescents, and adults. Group Details: website: www.brooklane.org, contact: 301-733-0330

 

  • Change Health Systems

Services include: outpatient mental health clinic, psychiatric rehabilitation program, therapeutic behavioral services, autism waiver services, special education services and respite services. Group Details: website: www.change-health.com, contact: 240-420-1850

 

  • The Mental Health Center of Western Maryland, Inc.

Providing outpatient treatment for children, teens, and adults, rehabilitation services, after-school programs, mobil treatment, school based treatment, medication evaluation and follow-up, monitoring, and community education. Group Details: website: www.thementalhealthcenter.net, contact: 301-791-3045

 

  • Villa Maria of Washington County

Catholic Charities provides outpatient services in Washington County. These services include individual and family therapy as well as medication management. In addition, all sites provide child and adolescent psychiatric rehabilitation services in conjunction with outpatient services. Group Details: www.catholiccharities-md.org, contact: 301-733-5858

 

  • QCI Behavioral Health

Provides mental health outpatient and mobile treatment services to children, adolescents and adults with medical assistance only. Group Details: website: www.qcihealth.com.hagerstown, contact: 301-791-2660

Local, Statewide, & National Caregiver Resources:

  • Potomac Case Management

Office provides services to families through our Mental Health Care Coordination (MHCC) serving children 5 – 18 years of age, including transportation. Potomac Case Management also provides services to adults through our Targeted Case Management (TCM) serving adults 18 and older. Group Details: website: https://www.pcmsinc.org, contact 301-791-3087

 

  • Family Caregiver/Grandparent Support Groups

Support groups meet the first Tuesday of every month from 10:00am-12:00pm and provide support to caregivers caring for seniors 60 and older or grandparents and other relative caregivers over the age of 60 who are caring for a child age 18 or under. Group Details: Facilitated by Washington County Commission on Aging, website: wccoaging.org, contact 301-790-0275 ext. 205

 

  • Cerebral Palsy Resource Guide

Cerebral Palsy Guide is a national support organization dedicated to educating individuals and families about Cerebral Palsy. They strive to provide answers and guidance to ensure that families receive the assistance that they need to help improve their overall quality of life. Group Details: Information at https://www.cerebralpalsyguide.com


  • Parenting Classes

An eight week parenting course every Tuesday from 6:00-8:00pm with open and free enrollment. Group Details: Facilitated by the Parent Child Center, website: www.hagerstownparent-childcenter.com, contact 301-791-2224

 

  • Family Support Center

Assists parents of children and young adults with special needs. Is a resource between family, school and community and offers a full range of support for families of children with special needs, from birth to 21 years. Group Details: Facilitated by the Washington County Public Schools, website: http://wcpsmd.com/special-education/family-support-resource-center, contact 301-766-8221

 

  • The Dad's Connection

Offers Fathers 101 group, individual and group counseling, job readiness and other case management services to men in the fathering role. Group Details: Facilitated at the Washington County Family Center, contact 301-790-4005

 

  • The Family Tree

The toll-free stress line provides confidential information, referrals and support for parents and other individuals in care giving roles, professionals, community members, children, adolescents, families, educators, and more. Available to families 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is Maryland’s leading child abuse prevention organization. Group Details: Facilitated by the Parenting Help Line, website: familytreemd.org, contact: 1-800-243-7337

 

  • Parent's Place of Maryland

A statewide parent-directed free resource for families of children and young adults with all disabilities.  Provides information on laws, resources, family rights, and the school system. Group Details: website: www.ppmd.org, contact: 1-800-394-5694 or 410-768-9100

 

  • Maryland Community Services Locator

A statewide, interactive online director developed to assist in locating community resources. It allows users to get organizational contact information, map resources by location and instant directions. Group Details: website: www.mdcsl.org

 

  • Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

A national healthcare insurance program. Group Details: website: https://www.healthcare.gove/medicaid-chip/childrenshealth-insurance-program.


Educational Resources:

        https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/disability-inclusion.html

Articleon CP Equipment and Adaptive Equipment:

         https://www.flintrehab.com/adaptive-equipment-for-cerebral-palsy

Statistical Resources:

Get Crafty with Christmas Food

November 14, 2024
Get Crafty with Christmas Food Tis the season to enjoy all the wonderment of the holiday! While the kids are off of school, you may be looking for projects for them. We always like to play with our food here at PMC. Check out the following list of easy-to-do activities that involve food and fun!

The Developmental Benefits of Tumbling Classes

November 13, 2024
The Developmental Benefits of Tumbling Classes Here at the Pediatric Movement Center, our recreational classes are fun, social movement opportunities for children of all ages to play in a safe and secure space. But tumbling and gymnastics classes offer so many benefits, both physical and mental, for young children. Whether you are looking at our Ninja classes or Adaptive Gymnastics, you can be assured that our approach to recreation is developmentally beneficial for all individuals. Here are 5 benefits of gymnastics and tumbling classes: Physical Fitness Physical benefits of tumbling and gymnastics include flexibility, core strength, cardiovascular health and stamina, join health, and disease prevention. Jumping, balance, leg lifts and triple flexion (ankle, knee and hip) are just a few movements that are beneficial. Tumbling and gymnastics also includes a variety of poses that are helpful for strength and flexibility, such as lunges , bicycle, butterfly stretch, and forward rolls. 2. Cognitive Development Tumbling and gymnastics can improve focus, decision making and problem solving, as well as self-discipline and mental toughness. Gymnastic routines often are similar to memorizing dance sequences, where the individual has to memorize a series of movements in a certain order and on a particular timeline. Coordination of different poses that require full body strength (such as cartwheels or forward rolls) also require particular focus and mind-body connection. 3. Social Skills One of the best things about childrens' movement classes is the social aspect. Our recreational classes are a space for children to have fun and play with other kids. Our classes are inclusive, allowing children of different sensory and behavioral needs to be part of the group, and enabling children of different physical abilities to engage with other children. Waiting for your turn on the balance beam or celebrating a friends' success when they do a handstand for the first time are just a few social benefits of tumbling classes. 4. Confidence Self-discipline and mental toughness can play an important role in self-confidence. Our play-based classes are led by instructors devoted to supporting students through positive reinforcement. When children are given the space to try new or challenging physical activity, their confidence often increases through their success in trying something that they couldn't accomplish before. 5. Injury Prevention Just like many NFL players engage in ballet or pilates to cross-train during the off-season, so too can student athletes and kids playing multiple sports use tumbling and gymnastics as a great way to benefit other sports activities. Stretching, full body strengthening balance and coordination techniques are just a few benefits of tumbling classes that will also benefit kids engaging in other sports. Interested in learning more about our recreational classes? Check out our current class schedule for more information!

What is Feeding Therapy?

November 13, 2024
What is Feeding Therapy?

What is Apraxia?

November 11, 2024
What is Apraxia? Apraxia is a motor speech disorder. Childhood apraxia of speech is a rare, but lifelong disorder that makes it difficult for individuals to move their mouth muscles in order to speak. The important thing to note about Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is that the child knows what they want to say, but may struggle with connecting the brain to the muscles that must accompany speech. Unlike other forms of childhood speech problems, CAS is not a disorder that can be outgrown. Children with CAS must receive treatment in order to make any progress with speech. Signs of CAS in children older than 3 years old include: - not pronouncing words the same way every time - putting the stress on the wrong syllable or word in a sentence or sequence of words - distortions in sounds - ease with shorter words and struggle with longer words Speech therapy for CAS focuses on strengthening the muscle groups required to speak - included facial and oral structures. This part of speech language therapy is referred to as speech motor planning and programming . SLP's will focus on techniques and activities that strengthen the lips, tongue, soft palate, jaw and vocal folds - to help the child learn when to activate and move each at the right time and in the right order, so that words are pronounced and produced accurately. Children with CAS may also struggle with fine motor skills, delayed language, and problems with reading, spelling and writing. If you have questions about CAS and want to learn more about what speech therapy services we can provide at PMC, please reach out today.

Types of Sensory Swings

November 11, 2024
Types of Sensory Swings Did you know that swinging can have a major impact on a child's vestibular system? The vestibular system is a sensory system in the inner ear that helps with balance and spatial orientation. Sensory swings, which come in many forms, are a great way to work on the vestibular system. Balancing the vestibular system can have a multitude of benefits beyond the physical - it can be a great way to practice body awareness and regulate the nervous system. Here is a quick guide to different types of sensory swings that may be utilized in pediatric therapy. 1. Bolster Swing

Why Teach Self-Regulation?

November 7, 2024
Why Teach Self-Regulation? When a toddler throws a tantrum, their reaction is usually developmentally normal for their age. Most little kids are still learning how to navigate big emotions. Most three year olds have not mastered self-regulation; the ability to control one's emotions and respond rationally to stressful or stimulating situations. But learning self-regulation can be complicated. There are many factors that impact our ability to self-regulate. Neurodevelopment, trauma and sensory differences are just a few factors in an individual's ability to self-regulate. Research shows that learning self-regulation can be life-changing for children and young adults, especially individuals who have experienced trauma. Learning emotional regulation can have a powerful impact on a person's wellbeing, So when do we learn how to navigate difficult thoughts and feelings? And how? When it comes to children and adolescents, research demonstrates that sensory-based occupational therapy may be an effective intervention to increase self-regulation. Occupational therapists are training to help individuals increase body awareness , and cope in a healthy way with stressful or demanding situations or circumstances. Children and individuals who struggle with self-regulation may express the following things: - overreactions to situations - emotional outburts - long-term negative emotions - mood swings and unpredictable moods The key to self-regulation is something called Inhibition. Inhibition is the ability to interrupt, adjust, stop or change thoughts or feelings or actions. For example, if you are sitting in traffic and start to grow frustrated, before you start shouting or getting angry about being stuck in that situation, inhibition would allow you to take a deep breath, and remind yourself that you cannot control the traffic, and that even though it is frustrating, you will be home soon. Being able to regulate emotions in this way has been proven to have a positive effect on a person's wellbeing, and can be integral to the health of children and young adults who are still learning how to deal with difficult emotions. A recent study demonstrated that adolescents who were engaging in self-regulatory behavior, reported greater wellbeing than their peers, including increased general life satisfaction and perceived social support. One way that occupational therapy can assist with learning self-regulation is through sensory input. Sensory input can include play-based activities , such as games or blowing bubbles, that help the individual navigate big emotions. Other activities that may be utilized for self-regulation in occupational therapy included music, stretching, guided imagery, colored lights, breathing exercises or large muscle activities. Occupational therapists are able to assess how certain factors may be impacting an individual on a daily basis, and implement interventions that help the person feel more balanced emotionally as they navigate day to day life.
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