Arbor Autism Centers

A field trip with hay rides, feeding animals, and a playground? Sign us up!

In May we went out into the community and visited Domino Farms. We couldn’t have asked for more beautiful weather or hungrier animals throughout the entire day! Thank you to The Petting Farm at Domino's Farms for a fun-filled day on the farm! 🐷🐓🐮🚜

We want to thank everyone for celebrating National Speech, Language, and Hearing month with us and giving some extra love to all of our Arbor SLPs!! Time to round out our celebrations by giving a special shoutout to the one who brought us all together, Phil! Phil is our fearless leader at Arbor Autism Centers and embodies the core values of our Arbor mission day in and day out. Phil shares 20+ years of experience in this field and continues to make strides when pursuing his passion to provide true family centered care to all families he works with. Phil is always willing to take the time out of his busy schedule to go above and beyond to educate families on the importance of treatment strategies and ensure our families are receiving the best quality of care. His all in mentality to our team and families is truly unmatched. On top of all that, Phil adds his own humor into our team meetings, creates weekly continuing education opportunities for our staff, and selflessly works to make positive changes in the lives of all those around him every day. We are so grateful for all your hard work and dedication to making Arbor what it is today, Phil! We are beyond thankful for all you do!

What a wonderful day to give a shout out to another one of our amazing SLPs, Ms. Erin! Erin makes it so easy to celebrate her as she does so much to make Arbor a better place. Erin has recently joined the “feeding squad”, started a monthly parent support group for families, and has been involved in developing new programming at our center. She adds her critical thinking skills, creative ideas, and knowledge into every room she walks into. Not to mention, she makes every room a little brighter with her contagious smile and positive attitude! Thanks for all you do for our team and Arbor families, Erin!

Next up for celebrations this month is the one and only Ms. Megan!!!!! To know Ms. Megan is to love her! Megan is funny, very energetic, and so kind. She is always willing to lend a helping hand to her colleagues and takes time out of her busy schedule to be very intentional about making plans for upcoming sessions. To her families, Megan is consistent, thorough, and a great educator to help implement strategies at home or in the community. Room 2 is a whole lot brighter because Megan is in there! Thanks for going above and beyond for the Arbor team and families, Ms. Megan!

Happy Friday everyone!! Time to celebrate our wonderful feeding specialist, Ms. Amanda! Amanda has played a key role in how Arbor has come to be, while starting our feeding program and helping many of our families overcome feeding challenges. She always goes above and beyond to help the families she is working with and is an advocate for many in the community. Her passion, drive, and dedication to being an amazing feeding specialist is truly unmatched. On top of all that, she is a great colleague, mother, and resource to all those around her. Thanks for all you do, Ms. Amanda!!

Happy National Speech, Language, and Hearing Month from our team to you! 😊 This month, we want to celebrate and tell you all a little more about our amazing Speech Language Pathologists and all they do to make an impact at Arbor. First up is the one and only...Mr. Nate!! Nate has been a core member of the Arbor team since day 1 of the doors opening! He has led many initiatives to start new programming, including Lego and video game groups, as well as been an amazing mentor to train new staff coming on. To our families, he is a great problem solver with anything you bring his way and is always thinking outside the box to develop creative evidence-based treatment sessions for his patients. He is knowledgeable, a team player, hard-working, and a natural leader as he strives to intellectually challenge and make everyone around him better. We are so lucky to have you Mr. Nate!!

Spring has Sprung at Arbor 🚲🪻🌳

We’re taking full advantage of beautiful days and sunny weather by taking our therapeutic activities outdoors! We’ve recently added a Rifton tricycle to our collection thanks to the wonderful staff at Rifton! This tricylce allows kids of any size, ability, and strength to practice the key components of bike riding. Looking forward to more sunny days and water days in the near future 🌊☀️

We loved our field trip to the Firehouse Museum in April! Our families explored fire trucks, put out simulated fires, and even got to climb aboard a few types of trucks!

Thanks to the Michigan Firehouse Museum for hosting us🔥🧯🚒

Let’s give our OTs one last round of applause for all they do for us (not just during OT month)! Their creativity, passion, care, and drive is what sets our clinic apart from others. Thank you x a million for making our Arbor team whole 💚🌳

Last but certainly not least on our OT Month shoutouts is the one and only Katelynn. She is our fearless leader in all things OT, scheduling, field trips, swim, and so much more. Families and staff members come to Katelynn in times of need because of her comforting demeanor, active listening, and her incredible advice. Katelynn is the glue that keeps Arbor together and united💚 we love you and all that you do for Arbor!

We’re excited to announce we will host a support group 1x a month on the last Friday of every month at 12:00pm! Childcare for any and all kids will be provided. Next meeting is THIS FRIDAY April 26th!

Please email [email protected] to sign up 🌳

Our next staff spotlight is the one and only Anne! Anne is the first face you see when you enter our clinic and greets each of our clients with warmth and care. Anne’s main role is mostly behind the scenes, engaging with insurance companies, advocating for our clients to get the intensive care they need, and communicating with caregivers and physicians offices with ease. On top of it all, Anne has temporarily filled the role of our front desk receptionist with such grace! Arbor would not function without all Anne does for us. We love you, Anne!

Moving right along our next OT shoutout which is Darcie! Darcie’s ability to adapt on the fly and tailor projects to match her clients needs makes her an outstanding OT! Darcie began at Arbor as a student and demonstrated a willingness and determination to soak in as much knowledge as she could. Now as a fully licensed OT, Darcie showcases the knowledge she’s gained in every session. Above it all, Darcie is committed to decorating her room for every holiday/ season and amazes us with her themed outfits for almost any occasion! Arbor would not be nearly as decorative or as cheerful without you, Darcie! 💛

Now it’s time to celebrate our next OT, Celeste! Celeste gives off a calm and welcoming presence to both our families and our staff members! She’s a go-to for many parents to confide in and provides the comfort and expertise that puts our families at ease. Celeste balances this job while also being an incredible mom with so much grace and love. Thank you Celeste for the consistent good vibes💜

Next up on our OT month shoutouts is Alison! Alison is always bringing new and creative ideas to the table to help her clients succeed. Her experiences from working in outpatient clinics and the schools makes her an incredible asset to our families and staff. On top of everything she does in our clinic, she also provides aquatic therapy for us at Big Blue! Allison’s energy, creativity, and compassion makes her a one-of-a-kind OT💚

To kick off our first week of OT month let’s give some love to our energetic, passionate, and loving OT, Alyssa! Alyssa does an excellent job adapting activities and OT goals to suit her individual clients needs. On top of that, she’s an excellent social chair coordinator, planning staff outings that allow our team to relax and destress. From the pool to our clinic, Alyssa’s experience and passion for working with her clients has impacted everyone for the better💗

It’s World Autism Day and we couldn’t let this day pass without showing love for our clients and their families! We enjoy creating connections with local businesses, educating the community on autism, and providing creative and effective care to children with autism!

Happy World Autism Day & Happy Autism Awareness Month 💚

It’s Occupational Therapy Month!

Throughout this month we’ll be honoring our wonderful OTs who go above and beyond to ensure our clients are strong, coordinated, and aware of their bodies! These 5 OTs are undoubtedly the most creative and crafty people in the office 🎨🖌️🧶 We can’t wait to celebrate the amazing work they do all month long!

We are excited to begin hosting a Caregiver Support Group here at Arbor. Our very first meeting will be Friday, April 5th at 11:30am. This group is open to all caregivers whether your child attends our clinic or not. The goal of our support group is to offer a place for families to openly share about their experiences raising a child with autism along with gaining insight from therapists, experts, and other families in similar situations.

If interested in attending, please email [email protected] !

We’ve been partnering with Delta Air Lines at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport to simulate practice flights and assist with navigating the airport 🛫💺 This partnership has allowed us to take several families through airport security, around the airport, and on a full size plane.

We are grateful for this opportunity to prepare our clients and their families for future vacations and provide them with resources to ease their worries in the process. Thank you to Delta Air Lines for providing our families this opportunity!

We are hosting our first annual Summer Camp this summer from July 29th through August 2nd! This summer camp offers a unique full day experience for children of all ages and abilities to experience to joy and fun of summer. This camp is open to all families whether you receive services through us or not!

If interested in signing up, email [email protected] !

Last week we got HANDS ON at the Ann Arbor Hands on Museum! We played in the water, made silly shapes with our shadows, created large bubbles and SO much more! It’s safe to say our favorite room was the water room 🎣💦 and the ambulance ride 🚑

Thank you to the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum for providing us with the opportunity to explore your space!

This month we are showing our love and appreciation for Mr. Nate! Nate has been with Arbor since the beginning, caring for our clients, mentoring our young staff members, and guiding our families. Nate is loyal to a degree you’ll find in few others. To his families, he is a foundation of support and knowledge. To his patients, he is consistent and caring. To his coworkers, he is encouraging and collaborative. Patient and family interactions are only half of the roles Nate has taken on. He works tirelessly behind the scene to make our note writing more efficient and interview prospective students and staff members as well. At Arbor, our staff members are like family and Nate could be considered the fun and sarcastic uncle.

Have you had the wonderful opportunity to learn from Nate in some capacity? If so, share what he means to you in the comments!

Providing treatment in the pool? Sign us up!
Last Thursday we spent the day at the Jack Kirksey Recreation Center swimming through the lazy river, going down the water slide, and providing skilled therapy in the community.

Thank you to Jack Kirksey Recreation Center for helping make this opportunity possible! 🥽🩱🌊

This week we’re headed to the pool (an indoor pool of course) which made us think of our wonderful field trip at the Fuller Pool over the summer! We had a blast playing sharks and minnows 🐟🦈, going down the water slide, and targeting our speech and OT skills in the water🥽🩳🩱 Can’t wait to be back in the pool this Thursday!

Earlier this year, our very own feeding specialist, Ms. Amanda, gave a presentation to families on pediatric feeding disorders and picky eating at Van Buren Public School early childhood center! Following the presentation, kids joined their families to participate in a cooking activity where they followed a visual recipe 🥥🍈
We are grateful for Van Buren Public Schools for granting Amanda the opportunity to share her expertise and we aim to continue providing resources in the community!

Starting this month we will be honoring our wonderful staff members who go above and beyond to make Arbor a better place for our clients and their families. To kick off our Staff Spotlight series, we are honoring our very own scheduling master, Katelynn!
Katelynn is said to be “the motor that keeps Arbor Autism Centers running” as she truly goes the extra mile for our clients and their families. A fellow colleague stated, “her tenacity to better Arbor Autism Centers and all those around her is evident by the way she gives 110% caring for our families, scheduling time to meet outside of work hours, and starting a whole swim program!”.
Katelynn is always ready to take on any case with a smile on her face and can be relied on to help problem-solve and put things into perspective. She shows her creativity and compassion through the many programs she coordinates including field trip days, swim therapy and the swim team. She shows her positivity and perseverance by forming relationships with community partners and organizing complex therapy schedules for the ARBOR program. When families and staff come to her with issues, she always knows the right thing to say to help them find a solution that will work best for everyone.
Arbor Autism Centers would not be the same or run nearly as smoothly without Katelynn’s dedication and compassion. Have you had the pleasure of working with Katelynn through Arbor? If so, we encourage you to share below how she’s impacted your life!

Wishing everyone a happy new year from our staff (plus those not pictured) to you! We look forward to another year of growth for our clients and staff alike!🌳

And a special thank you to Wiard's Orchard for hosting a staff bonding event for us in October!

As the year comes to an end, we thought we’d share one of our most unique community outings of the year. In September, we spent the day at the Aviary in Ann Arbor. We stretched our minds and body through swings, silks, and our trusty parachute 🤸 Our afternoon groups even had the pleasure to learn a few techniques on the silks and engaged in group tasks to challenge their bodies!

Thank you The Ann Arbor Aviary for helping make this opportunity possible!

Now we want to hear from YOU! Where in the community would you like to see Arbor Autism Centers in 2024? Comment below⤵️