Surprise!

The highlight of Discover Summer is always a big road trip to Mackinaw Island that Children’s Services Managers Derica Scribner and Christine Morabito plan for clients.  This summer, they decided to surprise the kids with a trip to Niagara Falls, but kept the trip destination a big secret until it was time to hit the road.  Looks like this was one surprise worth the wait.  As one client put it, “This has been the best trip EVER!”  The Discover Summer program wrapped up Friday, August 17^th

A view of the falls taken by our Discover! Summer Team

Aphasia Awareness Month

Clients from Special Tree’s Day Treatment Services hit the road to enjoy a Toledo Mud Hens game on June 25th and to raise awareness for aphasia, a condition that affects one’s ability to communicate verbally following a TBI or stroke.  The game had special meaning for DTS Manager Neal Dregansky whose mother, Melodie Dregansky, helped plan the event through the DaZy Aphasia Centre, a speech therapy clinic she helped co-found that specializes in treating aphasia.   Special Tree Medical Director Dr. Dregansky also joined his family for the event.

A view of Fifth Third Field from the seats of the Special Tree Team

Stephen's Italian Sausage & Pepper Hoagie

Outpatient client Stephen M. is especially passionate about his vegetable garden where he grows a cornicopia of crops.   When he isn’t tending to his plants, Stephen loves to cook -- turning the bounty from his garden into delicious dishes like his Sausage & Pepper Hoagie which always gets rave reviews. 

RECIPE - serves 2

2 mild & sweet italian sausage
1 Tbs olive oil
1 clove crushed garlic1 vadelia onion sliced
1 banana pepper (Steve uses the Hungarian Hot Wax variety), halved
1 red bell pepper sliced
2 hoagie buns
spicy brown mustard

Grill sausages until thoroughly cooked and no pink remains
Place an iron skillet on grill; heat olive oil on low heat, add garlic, cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds), add onions and peppers and sautee until plyable.  Grill hoagie buns and fill each with sausage, onions, peppers, and then top it all with spicy brown mustard.

Reel TV

Outpatient client Carroll P. thought his fishing days were over after he sustained a spinal cord injury in 2008, but all that changed with some help from the "Fishing Doc." The Fishing Doc is a cool new adaptive fishing pole that Carroll recently tried out at a charity fishing tournament put on by bass pro Kevin Vandam and the Detroit Lions. Michigan Out of Doors TV, which airs on WTVS-TV, was at the event and filmed Carroll using the fishing pole which he maneuvered through the joy stick on his power chair. The event brought out some of the world’s greatest bass pros to fish alongside Lions players and sponsors at Kensington Metropark on June 12^th.

Carroll was invited to the event by sponsor Harbor Light Health, a local home healthcare company that also provides adaptive sporting gear like the Fishing Doc to help people with disabilities enjoy the great outdoors. The Fishing Doc was such a hit with Carroll that the company is providing some for clients to try out at the fishing ponds on the NeuroCare Campus. You can watch the Michigan Out of Doors episode which aired July 19^th by visiting www.michiganoutofdoorstv.com

Carroll tries out the "Fishing Doc" at the Kevin Vandam/Detroit Lions Charity Fishing Tournament

Back row (left to right): Mike Ball, Vice President of Harbor Light Health, Lions Head Football Coach Jim Schwartz and Matt Gelso, Presidet of Harbor Light Health;  Front row (right):  Special Tree client Carroll P. 

Special Tree Recreational Therapist Kristin Claerhout accompanied Carroll on his big fishing outing with the Detroit Lions and Kevin Vandam 

iMac Pros

Check out the cool artwork that students at the Livonia Student Center created on their new Apple iMac desktop computer for the 2012 Discover! Summer t-shirt and activity schedule cover. Even cooler, is that the students raised a big chunk of the money themselves to purchase the iMac. Their interest in getting the computer started when Livonia Job Coach and Team Leader Chris Waterman brought his personal MacBook to help student Daniel B. develop and produce the Livonia student newsletter, The Roots, which is now published every two weeks. With encouragement from Children’s Services Director Peggy Allen Boch and Livonia Manager Christine Morabito, the students began their quest to raise funds to buy the computer. “We thought it would be a great learning experience for our young adult clients to work towards getting the computer,” said Peggy.

In November, Chris and Daniel wrote a formal proposal to Peggy and CEO Joe Richert for approval to purchase the new computer using funds from the Livonia Ready to Shine carwash program and matching funds from Special Tree. Chris added a touch of humor to the whole process by vowing not to shave until the iMac was officially purchased! Several inches of facial hair later, Chris took ecstatic students to the store to buy the iMac in March. The students have been using it ever since to create the Discover! Summer slide show, the Discover! Summer t-shirts, The Roots, and a variety of other projects.

Wheely Good Job Recreational Therapists!

The Recreational Therapists from Oakland County ran a bicycle safety clinic using adaptive hand bikes for special education students at a local high school on Friday, June 1st.  The participation was great and all of the students were entered into a raffle to win a helmet. 

Unfortunately, due to the rainy weather, we were restricted to the gymnasium, but that was quickly forgotten by the many smiles and “this is sweet” comments from students, most of who had never been on a bike!  Some of the high school staff and family members of the students were able to talk with the Recreational Therapists about adaptive sports and recreational activities and enjoyed collecting some of the resources from our display table.  Go Team! 

Congrats, Grads!

It’s been a busy season of graduation celebrations for staff and clients at Special Tree's residential homes!  The Royal Oak staff held a graduation Open House for Cody M. who earned is diploma from Royal Oak High School on May 31^st.    

At Williams, staff celebrated client Stephanie H. graduation from Oakland Community College on May 12th with her associate’s degree in General Studies with a concentration in pre-pharmacy, as well as client Webb D’s graduation from Truman High School on June 7th. 

Congratulations to these hard-working graduates and a big shout out to the staff and therapists who provided the encouragement and expertise to help them accomplish their goals!  Go team!

Cody M. proudly displays his diploma at his commencement ceremony at Royal Oak High School