A: RBT certification is a paraprofessional certificate that is in the behavioral analyst field, and you work under the BCBA or BCABA treating and providing services to our kids.
Q: What are the requirements?
A: What it takes to become an RBT here at MetroEHS is you must be 18 years old, a high school diploma, you need the 40 hours of training, and then take a competency test with the supervisor, and then you apply at the BACB website, and take a test, and become an RBT.
Q: What does the training consist of?
A: The RBT training consists of like an interactive and comprehensive 40-hour training that you work in a small group or one on one with other technicians or your BCBA. You’re out in the clinic, hanging out with the kids, learning and watching how they run programs. That could be at the table time or out in natural environment and once you understand the new words in the ABA field, you take your competency test and take the test at the website.
Q: What is the competency test?
A: The competency test is when the supervisor comes out the clinic with you and they watch how you run programs, they interview you, ask questions about the terminology and it’s pretty much just one on one time or you and the supervisor and your client to make sure you understand the terminology and what you’re actually doing and it’s highly encouraged to actually take your RBT test within 90 days of your 40 hour training. It is free of charge. You take the test at the BACB website.
A: To maintain my credentials as an RBT here at MetroEHS, I track all my supervision hours, and I retake my competency test at the year mark or year anniversary of my RBT testing date.
Q: What are the benefits if earning an RBT certification?
A: MetroEHS offers two benefits for becoming an RBT. One is a raise and two, once you become an RBT, you have more opportunities to move up the ladder and become admin or fun stuff.
We love working in Southeastern Michigan as we get to work with hard-working families and amazing businesses like Emagine who intentionally create special experiences for members of the community that can get overlooked.
Join Emagine For A Sensory Friendly Movie!
Sensory Friendly Screenings provide modifications to the theatre atmosphere without modifying the film for those who experience sensory issues.
Sensory Friendly Film Screenings
Select Emagine locations will host a unique, sensory friendly screening twice a month, with specific modifications made to ensure an enjoyable experience for individuals with sensory needs and their supporters. Their sensory friendly programing makes going to the movies a more enjoyable experience for families, children, and teens with sensory needs. All sensory friendly films will be shown in 2D. *Note there are no modifications made to the film.
What does Sensory Friendly mean?
First, it means sensory friendly experience (lights up a bit, sound down a bit). Second, if your child needs to get up, move, dance, sing…No problem. Third, guests are welcome to bring a safe snack for any food allergies or food avoidance/restrictions.
First Showing of the Day. On-Sale dates vary. Check the website or Emagine app for theatres and showtimes.
The Little Mermaid Saturday, June 3, 2023
Elemental Saturday, June 17, 2023
Where
Tickets are available at the box office, online at Emagine-Entertainment.com or through the Emagine App. To purchase tickets and for a full list of showtimes visit Emagine-Entertainment.com On-Sale dates vary. All films, locations, dates, and times are subject to change.
Film Synopsis
The Little Mermaid (Rated PG) The Little Mermaid is the beloved story of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. The youngest of King Triton’s daughters and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea and, while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric. While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, which gives her a chance to experience life on land but ultimately places her life – and her father’s crown – in jeopardy.
Elemental (Rated Pg) Follows Ember and Wade, in a city where fire-, water-, land- and air-residents live together.
In addition to Sensory Friendly Movies
Join Emagine Entertainment For A Variety Of Specialty Screenings
Providing Open Caption, Sensory Friendly, Dementia Friendly, Breakfast & a Movie, and Lunch & a Movie Screenings
Join Emagine Entertainment this June as they host a variety of specialty screenings for their guests. Each month guests can watch some of the newest film releases with an enhanced experience. Open Caption screenings provide subtitles for those with hearing impairments. Sensory Friendly Screenings provide modifications to the theatre atmosphere without modifying the film for those who experience sensory issues. Dementia Friendly screenings provide exclusively selected classic movies and musicals and encourage audience participation while providing guests with special door-to-door service. The Breakfast and a Movie and Lunch and a Movie allow guests to enjoy a full meal and concessions while they enjoy their film.
Open Caption Film Screenings
Select Emagine locations will host Open Caption showings of some of the newest film releases on Sunday and Wednesday afternoons all month long. Guests who experience hearing impairments will be able to enjoy the movie-going experience with audio subtitles displayed on the big screen for all to see. All open caption movies are shown in 2D. *Note: there are no modifications made to the film.
Locations: (Michigan) Novi, Rochester Hills, Royal Oak, Hartland, Woodhaven, Quality 10 Powered by Emagine, (Minnesota) Eagan, Lakeville, Monticello, Rogers, White Bear, Willow Creek, (Wisconsin) Geneva Lakes, (Illinois) Frankfort, (Indiana) Noblesville, Portage
Films: On-Sale dates vary. Check the website or Emagine app for theatres and showtimes.
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Sunday, June 4, 2023 Wednesday, June 7, 2023
Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts Sunday, June 11, 2023 Wednesday, June 14, 2023
Elemental Sunday, June 18, 2023 Wednesday, June 21, 2023
The Flash Sunday, June 25, 2023 Wednesday, June 28, 2023
Dementia Friendly Screening
Dementia Friendly Screenings include exclusively selected classic movies and musicals presented in a unique setting with softer sound and ambient lighting. Guests are able to interact during the presentation and encouraged to talk back, clap, tap their feet, sway, sing along and get up and dance. Emagine works with Dementia Friendly Saline to provide guests with a special door-to-door experience guided by a team of dementia friendly “Purple Angels.” These staff and volunteers act as guides for the guests beginning the moment they arrive until the moment they leave. More information can be found on Emagine’s website. Tickets can be purchaseddirectly through Dementia Friendly Saline.
Location: Emagine Saline
Films: Showings are the second Wednesday of each month.
Meet Me In St. Louis Wednesday, June 14, 2023 Pre-Show Mingling: 1:15-2:00PM Film Begins: 2:00PM
Breakfast And A Movie Screening
Each month, Emagine hosts a Breakfast and a Movie showing, at select theatres, of one of the newest family-film releases. Tickets are $24 each and include a full breakfast buffet, a 44oz. popcorn, and a 21oz fountain drink as well as a ticket to the showing.
Location: Emagine Royal Oak, Emagine Palladium, Emagine Canton
Film: On-Sale dates vary. Check the website or Emagine app for more information.
The Little Mermaid* Sunday, May 28, 2023
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Sunday, June 4, 2023
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Sunday, June 4, 2023
Senior Lunch And A Movie Screening
Each month, Emagine Royal Oak hosts a special Senior Citizen Lunch and a Movie. Tickets are $24 each and include a full lunch buffet, a 44oz. popcorn and a 21oz. fountain drink as well as a ticket to the showing. This offer is valid for guests aged 55 and up.
Location: Emagine Royal Oak
Film: On-Sale dates vary. Check the website or Emagine app for more information.
About My Father Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Where: Tickets are available at the box office, online at Emagine-Entertainment.com or through the Emagine App.
Film Synopsis
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (Rated P) Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar®-winning Spider-Verse saga, an epic adventure that will transport Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man across the Multiverse to join forces with Gwen Stacy and a new team of Spider-People to face off with a villain more powerful than anything they have ever encountered.
Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts (Rated P-13) Returning to the action and spectacle that have captured moviegoers around the world, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will take audiences on a ‘90s globetrotting adventure with the Autobots and introduce a whole new breed of Transformer – the Maximals – to the existing battle on earth between Autobots and Decepticons. Directed by Steven Caple Jr. and starring Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback, the film arrives in theatres June 9, 2023.
The Flash (Rated P-13) Worlds collide in “The Flash” when Barry uses his superpowers to travel back in time in order to change the events of the past. But when his attempt to save his family inadvertently alters the future, Barry becomes trapped in a reality in which General Zod has returned, threatening annihilation, and there are no Super Heroes to turn to. That is unless Barry can coax a very different Batman out of retirement and rescue an imprisoned Kryptonian… albeit not the one he’s looking for. Ultimately, to save the world that he is in and return to the future that he knows, Barry’s only hope is to race for his life. But will making the ultimate sacrifice be enough to reset the universe?
He Little Mermaid (Rated PG) The Little Mermaid is the beloved story of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. The youngest of King Triton’s daughters and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea and, while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric. While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, which gives her a chance to experience life on land but ultimately places her life – and her father’s crown – in jeopardy.
Elemental (Rated PG) Follows Ember and Wade, in a city where fire-, water-, land- and air-residents live together.
About My Father (Rated PG-13) The hottest comic in America, Sebastian Maniscalco joins forces with legendary Italian-American and two-time Oscar® winner, Robert De Niro (Best Actor, Raging Bull, 1980), in the new comedy ABOUT MY FATHER. The film centers around Sebastian (Maniscalco) who is encouraged by his fiancée (Leslie Bibb) to bring his immigrant, hairdresser father, Salvo (De Niro), to a weekend get-together with her super-rich and exceedingly eccentric family (Kim Cattrall, Anders Holm, Brett Dier, David Rasche). The weekend develops into what can only be described as a culture clash, leaving Sebastian and Salvo to discover that the great thing about family is everything about family.
Meet Me In St. Louis St. Louis 1903. The well-off Smith family has four beautiful daughters, including Esther and little Tootie. 17-year-old Esther has fallen in love with the boy next door who has just moved in, John. He however barely notices her at first. The family is shocked when Mr. Smith reveals that he has been transferred to a nice position in New York, which means that the family has to leave St. Louis and the St. Louis Fair.
Teletherapy, also called tele-practice or tele-speech, has become more popular during the uncertain circumstances and stay at home orders of COVID-19. Teletherapy can bring a sense of familiarity in uncertain times, as your child can have a weekly live speech therapy visit with a consistent speech language pathologist (SLP). A relationship is built, and the therapist and child share smiles and laughter in between working on their goals. With teletherapy, children can continue to receive continuity of care even as they stay safe at home! But does this foreign method of attending speech therapy really work?
Research is largely in agreement: Teletherapy is a very effective way of teaching kids speech and language!
With teletherapy, speech therapy is provided via a video chat platform that is secure. MetroEHS’s online platform includes fun games, a box for clients to watch applicable videos and talk through worksheets or read stories, screen share, practice cards, and, of course, a live-streaming video SLP guiding them through all of it. All of these features engage most children, including those on the Autism Spectrum. This 1:1 teletherapy has been proven effective: according to a review of 7 studies of school-aged children, “telehealth is a promising method for treating children” (1). Another study looking specifically at children with ASD stated, “All [14] studies reported high levels of programme acceptability and parent satisfaction with the telehealth component of the intervention” (2). And another states, “Emerging research in telepractice treatment for ASD clients already shows success in both direct and indirect interactions” (3).
If a child is too young or difficult to engage, the SLP may opt for a parent training approach. The parent will receive a list of supplies to gather from around the house, and the SLP will teach the parent how to target the child’s goals. The parent is encouraged to ask questions, and the SLP coaches as the parent engages their child and completes their goals. This has also been proven effective for children learning language! Evidence suggests, “that parent-mediated intervention training delivered remotely can improve parents’ knowledge in [autism spectrum disorder] ASD, parent intervention fidelity, and subsequently improve the social behavior and communication skills of their children with ASD (4).
Feeding Therapy can be provided with a similar model. The SLP guides the caregiver during the session, and talks through strategies and techniques for children accepting the food, chewing, and swallowing. Providing feeding therapy online can be beneficial because the SLP can see where the child typically sits, the types of eating utensils that are used, and overall family dynamic- all of which play a major role in carryover of skills to the home environment. What better way to support generalization to home, than having therapy in the home! Feeding Teletherapy, too, is an excellent and effective substitute to in-person therapy, according to research (5)!
As you can see, teletherapy is a powerful alternative to in-person therapy, especially during situations when receiving in-person therapy is difficult or impossible for families. If you would like more information about teletherapy, to enroll your child, or a free “Teletherapy Tour” to see our platform, please contact MetroEHS today!
Resources
2017. Wales, D., Skinner, L., et al. The Efficacy of Telehealth-Delivered Speech and Language Intervention for Primary School-Age Children: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Telerehabilitation, 9(1), 55-70.
2018. Sutherland, R., Trembath, D., et al. Telehealth and Autism: A Systematic Search and Review of the Literature. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 20(3), 324-336.
2017. Parsons, D., Cordier, R., et al. Parent-Mediated Intervention Training Delivered Remotely for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Living Outside of Urban Areas: Systematic Review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19(8), e198.
2008. Clawson, Seldon, Lacks, Deaton, Hall, Bach. Complex pediatric feeding disorders: using teleconferencing technology to improve access to a treatment program. Pediatric Nursing, 34(3): 213-6.
Greetings, fellow guardians of childhood! Today, we embark on an epic quest to uncover why early intervention in pediatric therapy is the ultimate secret weapon in the battle for our little heroes’ futures. Grab your capes, as we delve into the extraordinary world of neuroplasticity!
What is Neuroplasticity?
Imagine your brain as a high-tech superhero headquarters, constantly adapting and evolving with every new challenge and adventure. Neuroplasticity is the brain’s superpower that allows it to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. This means that even if our tiny champions face developmental hurdles, with the right support and early intervention, their brains can reroute and expand like an elastic superhero — ready to tackle any villain that stands in their way!
The Sidekick Advantage: Why Early Intervention is Key
Just like every superhero has a trusty sidekick, children thrive when they receive early intervention in therapy. Research shows that the earlier kids receive therapeutic services, the more they can harness the powers of neuroplasticity to strengthen their skills, build resilience, and achieve their personal goals. Waiting too long can mean allowing obstacles to grow larger than life, much like letting a villain strengthen their force field!
Fighting Supervillains: Common Developmental Challenges
From speech delays, motor skill challenges to difficulties in feeding, utilizing early intervention means therapists swoop in like The Flash, delivering focused support to help children navigate these hurdles. With specialized tactics, our tiny heroes can battle their challenges and emerge triumphant, all whilst building confidence and unlocking their hidden potential!
The Dynamic Duo: Parents and Therapists Unite!
In this superhero tale, parents are the ultimate allies, teaming up with skilled therapists to devise personalized action plans tailored to each child’s unique needs. The synergy created by early intervention turns this duo into an unstoppable force—ready to level up skills in communication, socialization, and physical abilities. Together, they create a supportive environment where our little champions can flourish!
MetroEHS prioritizes early intervention in pediatric therapy because it isn’t just best practice; it’s a superhero saga ready to unfold with amazing successes! Using the incredible force of neuroplasticity, our little ones can script a future filled with hope, happiness, and triumph.
