By Pauline Meridien | Director, BITS ETC
I have to admit, I am late with this report. Donations have lagged behind our expectations, and summer (our busiest time of the year) does not leave me with much time to sit in front of the computer. But just today, another donation was received, from someone I do not know, and this drove me to the website to say "thank-you".
This latest donation brings our current funding over $500.00, and I realized that Dylan had an outstanding bill that would be hard for him to pay. One of the reasons I am behind on my fundraising, is that it is so fascinating to watch the progress made by our clients. Dylan's grandmother was good enough to send me an email describing what she noticed in his riding this year.
"My grandson Dylan is currently 23 years old and was originally diagnosed with autism when he was 3. He is a wonderful young man who has some strengths such as fun to be with, likes music, loves to do anything active especially with the family, holds a part time job, is a fairly flexible eater (as long as there is ketchup near by), can follow a daily schedule, and is a coordinated but unfocused athlete. Some of the areas he struggles with are communication, trying new things, attaching easily to new people and situations, as well as focus and following directions for an unfavored activity.
Dylan took horse back riding lessons when he was younger so when he came to NH to stay with me for much of the summer last and this year we decided to put riding on our schedule. Dylan really enjoyed riding at BITS ETC. last year. He knew when Tuesday rolled around and he got up early, into his jeans and was ready to roll well before riding time. It was as if everything was new though ... the barn, horses, instructor, routine of grooming, tacking, leading, mounting, walking, trotting, voice commands, reining .... the list goes on and on. The most difficult skills for Dylan were listening, staying focused and following directions. Dylan did well and showed great enjoyment - the most memorable was openly laughing when he would trot.
As they say what a difference a year makes. I can't attribute Dylan's big gains in riding this year to maturation. Personally, I think he had gotten the hard "getting to know you" stage of learning over with and he was ready to fully participate this year. Having Melissa, the same instructor, for both years was huge. She knows how to communicate with students with challenges, keeps the lessons active and engaging and knows the value and comfort of routine for the autistic population. Dylan would go through his calendar verbally during the week and stop at riding day just to get verification that he truly was going. While at BITS he followed directions, participated in reining and steering his mount, more consistently verbally cued the horse, could groom with minor reminders ..... the list of improvements is really quite long. This was speech and language, OT, PT, and learning skills all rolled into one blissful hour with the horses at Back In the Saddle Equine Therapy Center."
Sandy Davis
So here is my report, and why we keep raising funds for our clients....next year I hope all clients can be as successful as Dylan, with funding from our Global Giving Partners. We can't do it without your help! Thank You
Links:
By Pauline Meridien | Executive Director
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