We are proud to applaud our Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) in celebration of Direct Support Professionals Recognition Week. DSPs are on the frontlines, supporting the children and adults in our Easterseals family. They are caretakers, friends, companions, and help the individuals we serve live life to the fullest. They help fulfill our purpose to lead the way to 100% equity, inclusion, and access through life-changing disability services.

Easterseals Arkansas CEO Ron Ekstrand shares a special message for DSPs and highlights the benefits of working at Easterseals.

The post Celebrating our DSPs appeared first on Easterseals Arkansas Blog.

Looking for an Extra Job in Arkansas? Here’s a Side Hustle With Meaning

An extra job can always come in handy. It helps you pay those pending bills, clear your debts, or achieve retirement goals earlier.

What if we tell you that there is a job that can help you give back to society and pays you well? We’re talking about becoming a direct support professional (DSP) at Easterseals. It’s a role that comes with many perks like good hourly pay, child care, and growth opportunities.

The best part is there’s an Easterseals affiliate center in our very own Natural State! Read on to find out more about Easterseals Arkansas, the advantages of working with us, and how to apply for a job.

What Does Easterseals Arkansas Do?

In 1944, Easterseals Arkansas was launched as The Arkansas Association for the Crippled. The idea was to help individuals with disabilities achieve their professional and personal goals.

Soon, it had a speech therapy program, an in-patient facility for children with disabilities, and a rehabilitation center. By 1966, the organization moved its operations to Little Rock’s Lee Avenue vicinity. Further expansion happened with the development of HUD-funded apartment complexes, the adult day center, job-placement programs, and more.

Easterseals Arkansas chapter grew by many folds in the last seven decades. Over the years, it expanded to become one of Arkansas’s most influential organizations in the social sector. Today, it helps thousands of individuals with disabilities become more independent and reach their personal goals. The future looks bright as Easterseals Arkansas looks to expand its work-readiness programs and housing options.

5 Reasons Why You Should Work With Easterseals Arkansas

We give you not one, but five reasons why you should become a direct support professional with Easterseals Arkansas.

1. Helping Those With Disabilities

There are thousands of Americans who are striving to live, learn, work, and play despite their disabilities. This is your chance to bring about a positive change in their lives. After all, there isn’t anything more gratifying than being a personal hero/heroine to someone.

2. Childcare Benefits

The Department of Health Services has rolled out the Essential Worker Child Care Assistance Voucher. It makes eligible DSPs eligible for free childcare vouchers since they come under the essential workers’ category.

You can check with your current childcare provider if they accept vouchers. Else, these vouchers can be used to avail services at our Little Rock or Stuggart preschools. We are one of the few daycare providers accepting vouchers for preschool, after-school, and summer programs.

Remember, this facility is only for essential workers who are employed or are students. It can be a combination of both, but the weekly time spent on work/academic activities should be over 30 hours.

3. Loan Assistance

Since DSPs are frontline healthcare workers, they are eligible for many state and federal student loan forgiveness schemes.

Moreover, Easterseals is a tax-exempt organization under IRC’s Section 501(c)(3). This means that you can make use of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF). You can check your loan forgiveness eligibility criteria on the Federal Student Aid website.

4. Great Pay

At the end of the day, we all have households to take care of. With the latest round of pay scale revision at Easterseals, we have ensured that wage isn’t a concern for our DSPs.

Along with an excellent wage structure, we have a 403(b) retirement plan. This lets you secure your future and helps you save taxes at the same time.

Other expenses such as travel, vaccines, PPE kits, and training programs are covered by the organization. Employees are also eligible for a $500 bonus when their referral fills a vacant position.

5. Amazing Workplace

Our current DSPs are a happy bunch who can’t stop gushing about their managers. We believe in growing in tandem with our employees while making the world a better place.

At Easterseals Arkansas, you can rest assured that your career is heading in the right direction. With time, you will certainly make progress and open up new avenues. This includes growth opportunities, paid training, and promotion to leadership roles in the organization.

How Can You Apply for a DSP Role?

The application procedure for a DSP or similar roles is fairly straightforward. In six steps, you can send your detailed job application to us.

1. Head to the careers page for DSP roles at Easterseals Arkansas
2. Browse for suitable positions near you and click the link for a role you like
3. Go through the timings, job details, and other eligibility requirements for the desired role
4. If everything is in order, enter your contact information, attach your resume, and click on the ‘Start Application’ button
5. On the next page, you need to enter your cover letter, education information, references, and identification details
6. Finally, you can review the entered information, e-sign, and send your application

Ready to Take the Next Step?

You don’t need a certification or a diploma to become a DSP. The new joiners will be trained on the job to help them become the best caregiver possible.

Whether you’re between jobs or are looking for a part-time gig, this is a great opportunity. Working at Easterseals Arkansas comes with loads of benefits, especially if you belong to the healthcare or an allied sector.

You can also pass on this information to a friend or a family member who is looking for a job with child care support and similar benefits.

The post Side Hustle With Meaning appeared first on Easterseals Arkansas Blog.

In May, we celebrate Better Hearing and Speech Month. Each week we will bring you some pertinent and useful speech and hearing-related information from our team of fabulous speech therapists.

This week, we focus on articulation skills and developmental fluency.

Ideas for articulation skills

• According to ASHA, children should have a mastery of all English sounds by the age of 8.
• It is quite common in young children to have speech errors when learning to speak.
• An articulation disorder is when your child has difficulty creating or forming speech sounds correctly. Sounds may be omitted or improperly altered during the course of speech.
• The most common articulation disorders are ‘lisps’ when the ‘s’ sound is incorrectly produced or when a child substitutes a ‘w’ for an ‘r’ sound.
• Most articulation disorders present themselves when your child is between the ages of three and six. (ASHA.org or speechbuddies.com)

Ideas for fluency

• 5% of all children are likely to be disfluent at some point in their development.
• Between 2.5 to 5 years of age are the typical ages to see developmental stuttering.
• It is typical for children to go back and forth between periods of fluent and non-fluent speech.
• When children are expanding their vocabulary quickly and learning complex language skills, it’s natural to see and hear some disruptions along the way
• For most toddlers and preschoolers, most disfluencies go away on their own after a short period of time.
• Risk factors for stuttering include family history, boys are twice as likely to stutter, elementary school-age boys are 3-4 times more likely than girls; children will start having difficulty at age four are more likely to have a persistent stutter than those who begin at a younger age; if a child has a co-existing speech and/or language disorder increases the likelihood a child may stutter.

Typical speech patterns for toddlers and preschoolers:

• Repeating phrases (he took it-he took it from me) and whole words (But-but I don’t want to go.) Using filler words/sounds (um, uh, like)
• No tension or physical struggle when speaking No other problematic behaviors when speaking No negative reaction or frustration
• No family history of stuttering Disfluencies last less than six months Not typical (higher risk for stuttering)
• Repeating sounds or syllables (look at the b-b-b-baby) Sound prolongations (Sssssssssssometimes we stay home.)
• Blocks (child appears to be trying to make a sound but cannot) and/or physical struggle when speaking
• “Secondary” behaviors that go along with speaking difficulty (such as hand tapping, eye blinking, or throat clearing
• Negative reaction or frustration to speaking
• Family history of stuttering
• Disfluencies last longer than six months

What parents can do:

Reduce communication stress: these are techniques to put less pressure on a child in a speaking situation. Rephrasing questions as comments (You played outside today at school. It must have been fun; instead of What did you do at school?)

Talk about it: When a child is aware of their stuttering, it’s best to be open and talk about it in a positive way. Tell them it’s ok to have ‘bumpy speech.’ If the child doesn’t seem to have a problem, there is not reason to bring it up.

Practice patience: Give the child time to finish what they are saying. Don’t rush or interrupt them. Don’t tell them to ‘slow down,’ or ‘think about what you want to say.’ Phrases such as these don’t help.

Model good speech habits: parents can model speech habits that help with stuttering, such as slowing down their own speed when speaking, putting in more pauses between sentences and speaking in a relaxed manner.

The post Articulation Skills and Developmental Fluency appeared first on Easterseals Arkansas Blog.

In May, we celebrate Better Hearing and Speech Month. Each week we will bring you some pertinent and useful speech and hearing-related information from our team of fabulous speech therapists.

This week, we focus on pediatric dysphagia or feeding and swallowing difficulties.

Things You Should Know

1. Dysphagia means difficulty with feeding or swallowing.
2. It is a symptom, not a disease.
3. Oral dysphagia refers to problems with using the mouth, lips and tongue to control food or liquid.
4. Pharyngeal dysphagia refers to problems in the throat during swallowing.

Some common disorders related to swallowing problems in children include:

• Brain injury
• Birth defects
• Cleft palate
• Cerebral palsy
• Gastroesophageal disorders, including reflux
• Heart or lung conditions
• Head or neck cancer
• Neuromuscular disease
• Prematurity
• Sensory problems
• Stroke

Signs and Symptoms of Feeding and Swallowing Problems (Dysphagia)

• Problems coordinating sucking, swallowing and breathing while bottle-feeding or drinking from a cup or straw
• Coughing
• Choking
• Gagging
• Color change during or after feeding
• Lengthy feeding times (greater than 30 minutes)
• Trouble chewing
• Congestion during or after feeding
• Change of breathing rate with feeding
• History of pneumonia
• Sensation of food being stuck in the throat
• Limited intake of food or liquids
• Refusal of previously accepted food or liquids
• Failure to gain weight
• Evidence of food or liquid in a tracheotomy tube during or after eating

Treatment for Dysphagia

Treatment for dysphagia is based on the nature and severity of the child’s feeding and swallowing problem.

Treatment may include some or all of the following:

• Develop strength, range of motion, and coordination of the lips, tongue, cheek, and jaw muscles for efficient eating and drinking
• Help decrease oral sensitivity or oral aversion to foods and liquids
• Decrease behavioral resistance to feeding
• Work on strategies to decrease the risk for aspiration

The speech-language pathologist may also suggest the following after talking with the child’s medical team:

• A change in food textures or in the thickness of liquids
• A change in the feeding equipment, such as the nipple, bottle, cup or utensils
• Strategies to help with drinking and eating

Our speech therapists at Easterseals Arkansas are ready to help you navigate through feeding and swallowing challenges your child may be experiences.

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In May, we celebrate Better Hearing and Speech Month. Each week we will bring you some pertinent and useful speech and hearing-related information from our team of fabulous speech therapists.

This week, we focus on Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).

You may have seen someone write in a notebook to answer a question. Maybe you have seen people using gestures to communicate. You may have seen someone point to pictures or push buttons on a computer that speaks for them. These are all forms of augmentative and alternative communication, or AAC.

AAC includes all of the ways we share our ideas and feelings without talking. We all use forms of AAC every day. You use AAC when you use facial expressions or gestures instead of talking. You use AAC when you write a note and pass it to a friend or coworker. We may not realize how often we communicate without talking.

People with severe speech or language problems may need AAC to help them communicate. Some may use it all of the time. Others may say some words but use AAC for longer sentences or with people they don’t know well. AAC can help in school, at work, and when talking with friends and family.

Here are important things you should know about AAC:

1. AAC supports speech development.
2. AAC builds language skills.
3. There are no cognitive prerequisites to AAC use.
4. AAC can reduce the severity and frequency of challenging behaviors.
5. It’s never too late for someone to develop better communication skills with
6. AAC.

At Easterseals Arkansas, our therapists are equipped with the knowledge and technology to help your child thrive and communicate independently with the help of AAC.

AAC may help some individuals with autism communicate more effectively.

Here are some things to know about autism:

1. Autism affects an estimated 1 in 54 children annually according to 2020 data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control. Boys are four times more likely as girls to be diagnosed with autism.
2. Generally autism is seen as a different way of thinking.
3. Researchers know relatively little about autism that is considered the fastest growing developmental disability. They do know that autistic brains are larger and that they “prune” or shed excess neurons more slowly than neurotypical brains.
4. Scientists have identified that autism affects linkages between the parts of the brain that govern emotions, sensory input and executive functioning. Additional research has shown that autistic individuals are less able to pick up on some of the socially rich features of an environment. Experts simply don’t know why.
5. Multiple studies have proven that there is no link between vaccines and autism.

Easterseals Arkansas hires quality therapists and educators who are eager to help your child – whether they have been diagnosed with autism or not – reach their full potential with AAC.

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