April 2018 - Issue #24

From the Desk of Patty

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Mud! I hate mud! So many of you have heard me say how much I hate mud! And then the rain came! I hate mud! There really is a reason for my obsession over no mud. Did you know that we are in the process

of becoming a premier PATH Intl center?

Separated into 5 categories; Business and Administrative Standards, Facility Standards, Equine Welfare and Management Standards, Activity Standards, and Service Standards. For each standard we have a policy and procedure that has been thought out, tried, written down, and followed!

What does this have to do with me hating mud? One of the 42 Facility Standards is: Is the walking surface in the stable area maintained so that it is dry, even and easily traversed?

So, please help me! Any time you hose off or bathe horses or clean a feed pan or water bucket or trough think about where we need to walk (in front of the stalls, by the gates, the pathway from the driveway to the stalls, …) and then avoid that area.

If you want some light reading, you can follow the link to read all of our policies! https://docs.google.com/document/d/180Hsnrh0vcmvYYENekQ4MOa-eTDl3y2_6Pm1fwSPIx8/edit?usp=sharing

Healing with Horses Ranch has the most amazingly passionate supporters and I wanted to personally

thank you for supporting our students and horses during Amplify Austin.

From the possibilities of walking for Patty to the freedom Laney experiences whenever she rides on Avalon. At risk youth learning how to self-regulate and veterans learning how to return to civilian life. As donors, you play a huge part in all of those experiences.

We raised over $7500 during Amplify Austin. Our goal to start building safe horse stalls is getting so much closer. It is so necessary as Levi recently pointed out.

The horses will feel safer and will be calmer and quieter during their lessons and while they are being fed. The stalls will provide a more private and confidential space for participants that need quiet time or need to share what’s going on in their lives.

Amplify Austin Update

So, thank you for all you do!

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Some things to know about Autism

Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is something that individuals are born with. It is best to refer to them as someone “with Autism Spectrum Disorder” or “with Autism”. Autism is not who they are, it is a

collection of neurologically based challenges they face. Those with ASD may exhibit fine and/or gross motor coordination problems, cognitive impairment or differences, self-regulation difficulties, communication difficulties or differences, social skill deficits or differences, sensory over-sensitivities, and a neurological system that can get overwhelmed with too much stimulation, all or any of which can range from severe impairment to well above average ability range. Neurologically, their brains work differently than those without ASD. They can experience better days and harder days in terms of how much neurological and sensory stimulation they can tolerate. ASD can co-occur with anxiety disorders and depression, and it frequently co-occurs with ADHD.

No matter what their level of language or intellectual development, for all those with ASD, their first language is visual imagery, meaning they typically think “in pictures”, which is why multiple meaning words, symbolic language, sarcasm and idioms are difficult for them to process. They tend to think very literally, and have to do a lot of extra processing when a word is used with them that doesn’t match their visual imagery or the first meaning they have for that word, before they understand what is being said. As a result, their language processing can be slow with their needing extra time to think or a direct explanation of what is meant. Simply repeating the same thing again does not help.

Those with ASD tend to have difficulty understanding non-verbal communications including tone of voice, body language and facial expressions, and often do not automatically learn social norms the way others do, needing to be taught social norms, conventions and skills more directly. Their communications with others may be very concrete, direct and seemingly lacking in tact because that is how they think and they do not process “tact”, which is in the realm of social norms/rules. They may avoid direct eye contact because they get confused by the facial expressions of the person talking to them, which their brains may not be able to process. Individuals with ASD may not process feelings/emotions of others or themselves very well, may have trouble engaging in emotional talk, and may struggle with empathy or understanding the perspective of others. They tend to be irritated by light touch but soothed by firm/deep touch and may be most comfortable when they initiate social touch rather than when others initiate it. Contrary to popular belief, individuals with ASD do want and form relationships/bonds with others. It is just that their sensory processing systems may interfere with their being effective in communicating that desire or ability.

Some tips for interacting with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder include:• Reduce the amount of verbiage, regardless of the person’s verbal ability, provide explanations or directions

in shorter, simplified sentences and avoid the use of multiple meaning words and idioms, or provide a direct, concrete explanation of what you mean by such terms, and provide extra think time. When not understood, don’t just repeat, but rather rephrase in more literal terms.

• Reduce the amount of chatter among people around that person, to reduce bombardment by verbal information. As much as possible, only one person should talk to the individual at a time and others should reduce conversation among themselves.

• Provide a lot of visual information, and for lower verbal individuals, pair signing or communication gestures with verbal directions/information.

• Understand that behavioral acting out or withdrawal may be the individual’s way of letting you know that their brain has been overloaded so they may need some quiet time, or the person is letting you know of being irritated by the way in which they are being touched, rather than it being naughty or oppositional behavior.

• When supporting the individual through physical prompting or other supportive touch, provide firm/deep touch, not light touch.

• No matter what level of cognitive functioning the individual at first appears to exhibit, assume that the person

.... CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

By Lauren Mikol, Retired School Psychologist, HHR Volunteer

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BIRTHDAYSSam W 4/3Eden N 4/5Mark D 4/8Lauren R 4/10 Julia P 4/10Rebecca C 4/12Emmilou C 4/15Lauren H 4/16Erica R 4/19Zoe L 4/21Hygino F 4/22Joan O 4/22Ismael M 4/26Ahn T 4/28

From the Herd

Meet Holly

Holly is the matron of our herd. She is a 31 year old Morgan horse and mother of Dawn. Patty

first acquired Holly when she lived in Illinois. Holly was boarded with her, but it turned out that her owners were allergic to her and hay and needed to sell her. Holly, being the sweetest mare ever, had already worked her way into Patty’s heart. There was no question about her leaving! Shortly after, Patty and John moved to Texas with the whole herd.

Once settled, Patty decided to breed Holly to LJ Morning Reveille and Dawn was created! Holly spent about a year at ROCK in Georgetown as a therapy horse and became the 2015 Morgan Horse Therapy Horse of the Year. She foundered pretty severely and Patty retired her back to her home. Holly spent a year in a stall, limiting the amount of walking that

she did so that her hooves could heal. She did heal, but still needs pretty constant management. Now as a senior horse, she has Cushings Syndrome (a non-malignant tumor in her pituitary gland) which causes among other things for her not to be able to regulate her temperature very well. That is why she looks like a wooly mammoth! Holly is still an active member of the team at 31, but her activity is limited to only very small riders and ground work. She loves to be groomed and loved on!

is much more cognitively capable and treat the person accordingly. Non-verbal or low verbal does not mean low intellect.

• Do not take personally seemingly rude statements or physical striking out.• Understand that engaging in a repetitive movement or vocalization, hitting their

head, screaming, pounding on something or other such behaviors are a signal that the person has become overwhelmed neurologically and needs to have reduced stimulation so their neurological system can calm.

• Do not insist on direct eye contact or interpret the absence of eye contact as disinterest or oppositional behavior. The person may listen best without eye contact.

• Understand that the individual’s attempts to initiate social interaction may be awkward or immature and just acknowledge and engage socially at that level.

Interested in learning more about Autism? A set of books relating to Autism Spectrum Disorder, with an annotated bibliography, is available at Healing With Horses Ranch for check out by parents, caretakers and Healing With Horses staff and volunteers. This is provided from Lauren Mikol’s personal professional resource collection so please be sure to check out any book borrowed and to return it in a timely fashion.

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Healing with Horses Ranch, 10014 FM 973, Manor, TX 78653512-964-0360 healingwithhorsesranch@gmail.com

www.HealingwithHorsesRanch.org

Thank you so much Kelly for all you do for the ranch! You

are always so flexible when helping out with other lessons and your prompt communication

is truly appreciated!

Volunteer Spotlight

Y outh Volunteer Spotlight

Kelly Ellis started volunteering at the ranch in May of 2017. She helps on the feed team, helps with lessons on a weekly basis and is also a member of the

conditioning. team.

Kelly is a Texan, born and raised. She attended McCallum High School, obtained her undergraduate degree in History at the University of Texas and is currently working on her Masters degree in Library Science also at UT. Horses rank right at the top for her as far as interests go, but also making the list are spending time outdoors, swimming hiking, baking and hanging out with her friends.

When Kelly was a senior in college, she started volunteering at an equine therapy ranch in Leander. She got too busy with school and eventually had to stop. About a year ago she was looking for a good volunteer opportunity and she did a google search - Healing with Horses Ranch was at the top of list!

She is quickly approaching a full year of volunteer service at the ranch. Something that has really touched her heart is that after a few months of working with the horses, she noticed that they really started to recognize her, not just acknowledge but truly recognize her and she says “it feels good to be recognized”. She loves all the horses but has a soft spot for Bo. He isn’t her first choice to ride, but Kelly says “I would like to have him as a house horse, a pet”.

Although unsure what the future holds as far as employment after her masters degree, she knows she has to find a way to keep therapy and horses a part of her weekly routine.

KELLY ELLIS

Paisley helps with lessons weekly on Tuesday and Friday and also helps on the feed team after Friday lessons are over. She is someone that is consistent and positively a joy to be around! Thank you Paisley for your hard work and dedication to the ranch.

When Paisley was 2 years old, she and her family moved to Austin, TX from San Jose, CA. Unlike her 3 older siblings, she remembers nothing of California, and considers Austin to be her only home. Paisley attends NYOS Charter School, which stands for Not Your Ordinary School and is in the 9th grade. Her hobbies and interests include: jet skiing, hunting, learning new tricks with her whip and formally basketball - but horses are currently at the top of her list. Her favorite horses at the ranch are Levi and Bo because they are so playful, fun and pretty!

Paisley has future plans of joining the Police Force, specifically employed as a Mounted Police officer. She likes the NIKE slogan of “Just do it” for anyone considering joining the volunteer team at the ranch and she truly looks forward to volunteering every week!

PAISLEY OGDEN