The A4A program was super busy for the Summer of 2024! We were able to increase the number of diagnostic evaluations performed through our partnership with the Psychology department. We absolutely loved having our Psych intern this summer! Likewise, we worked with 2 DNP students on a team project to enhance cultural connectedness among providers who refer children to our program. That study will occur over the next 12 months and we cannot wait to see what the results will be! We also included EMDR in sessions when indicated, and we found EMDR was easily incorporated into AAT sessions. Lastly, we submitted two manuscripts of our studies; one on AAT and another on caregiver satisfaction predictors for a hybrid diagnostic program.
This was the first time for us to use the new Sensory room located in the clinic to improve emotional regulation in our participants. The Sensory room was definitely a hit and parents enjoyed learning how to incorporate many of the sensory processing strategies we use in the clinic so they could maintain the therapy at home.
The summer ended the year long Snuffles study, and one participant got to take Snuffles home at the end of his session. He was the only participant who liked Snuffles, and we know Snuffles will be well taken care of by this little boy.
In addition to the new Sensory room, we utilized our outdoor space and set up two soccer goals for participants to play soccer with Gryffin. He can play soccer two ways. One way is to run in front of a participant and playfully block the participant while he or she is trying to score a goal. The command for this is “No mouth”. The other way he plays soccer is to actively steal the ball from the participant and drop it in his goal. That command is “Score a goal”. Gryffin is really good at scoring goals!
We have a full list of AAT participants for the Fall 2024 semester and Gryffin is more than ready to meet them!
