Team Ashley!!!! First Meeting & Training - Sat. May 30, 2015

We had our first team meeting and training on Saturday to get ready for Ashley's program this summer! God has blessed us with an amazing team of volunteers that are eager to help and we are so grateful for each one! We are seeing the progress Ashley is already making with a part-time program so we cannot wait to see what happens this summer!

Last week I was able to talk with Lori, our Program Advisor, and she gave us so much encouragement and great advice to prepare our team members! We have new toys and even household items that we have planned into fun interactive games to start Ashley's program! Side note: Ashley said "baffles" Friday night for waffles which was AWESOME!!!!

Here is our AMAZING TEAM and relationship to Ashley:

Abbie Payton (Mom)
Jeremy Payton (Dad)

Becky McBride (Grammy)

Doug McBride (Papa)

Miranda McBride (Aunt)

Chris McBride (Uncle)

Wendy Kohman (church)

Haley Burson (church "buddy")

Tracy Burson (church)

Kellie Walker (church)

Brogan Edwards (CBS)

Back left: Tracy, Wendy, Becky, Jeremy, Abbie, Miranda
Front: Ashley, Brogan, Kellie, Haley,
Doug (pictured below) and Chris (not pictured yet!)

 Normally when there are a lot of people in our house or we go to someone else's crowded house, Ashley will retreat to a corner and rock making noises also because she is overwhelmed. We always have a really hard time at Family Holiday gatherings and normally have to take Ashley outside or to a quiet room.

   Well Saturday at the Team Meeting there were 9 of us sitting in the living room. Jeremy brought Ashley into room the last 20 minutes so she could see everyone again and take team picture. We were not sure how she would do with this large crowd and in her domain....Well she shocked us all. I think it helped that we were all sitting, smiling at her and very quiet. She came into the center of the circle and made eye contact with almost every person. Then she started laughing like she was loving being the center of attention!

  We also had Uncle John and Cousin Shelby come Sunday afternoon to stay the night before heading on vacation. Ashley did really well with this adjustment too even though it changed up routine. She was super interactive and hardly did any stemming. She enjoyed having Shelby run with all of us around downstairs! The next morning John and Shelby were in the living room and it changed up her morning routine before bus came. She was okay with that and super happy! Wow!!!! I love how this program will help with her flexibility!