Contents: (click on the links below)

Director's Message  

A Day in the Life of HMS

Staff Profile: Meet Dawn Rainey, Assistive Technologist

Staff Achievements

Join us for Parents' Evening

The Parents Corner 

Designer Clothing Sale Posts Fabulous Results

HMS Photo Gallery 

In late February I attended winter meetings of the Alliance for Approved Private Schools (AAPS). During one session, we met with Joe Gaskin, parent of a child with disabilities, who brought suit against the State Department of Education. After 10 years of legal process, a settlement agreement was reached at the end of 2005. Dr. Linda Rhen, Director of Pennsylvania’s Bureau of Special Education, who oversees implementation of that agreement, also sat in.

Mr. Gaskin is a passionate spokesperson for the stance that local school districts must welcome and include all children with disabilities, and he believes that most of these children should attend their local school.

AAPS sympathizes with the basic goal of inclusion and local school district responsibility. We also believe strongly that specialized schools can offer children with severe disabilities opportunities that are virtually impossible to replicate in an inclusive setting. In addition to finely targeted programming and therapies, students enjoy the benefits of peer support, as well as full participation in the school experience that an APS environment can provide. Student government, dances, sports events, the school store—our children are in the thick of things. 

We shared our point of view with Mr. Gaskin. Together with Dr. Rhen, we also provided examples of how the State Bureau of Special Education relies on the expertise of APSs to assist local school districts in strengthening their efforts at inclusion. We are committed to providing outreach--training, consultation and support for individual students whose parents determine that remaining in the local school program is the appropriate option. We transition students back to included settings when possible. And, we do turn away students who do not need our level of specialized services.

At HMS we need to look at each child’s universe--his abilities, age, local school, family and neighborhood and we consider the potential advantages of our program. Parents need to have options and to weigh the question of what program will best foster their child’s development. There will always be a need for APS programs for individual students.

HMS is a complex mechanism that functions smoothly through tight structure, tempered with flexibility. Every child’s day is carefully scheduled, yet no day is quite like another. It’s a rare day when we don’t need to adjust for situations like a special event, a field trip or a staff member’s absence.

 A staff sick day can be considerably more complicated at HMS than in many other school settings. A speech therapist’s absence affects more than her one-on-one sessions. She also carries out therapeutic feedings at lunch time for youngsters who can be fed only by someone with her level of expertise. When we learn that she will be out, we immediately juggle schedules to accommodate her students’ needs. Our staff team also steps up to fill in and to facilitate students’ care, recognizing that one change generates an overload elsewhere.

 Someone passing through the dining room offers to transport a student back to his room after lunch to get ready for class, enabling the therapist who is covering for her absent colleague to feed another student. Someone else notes his colleague’s absence and asks how he can help to keep the day moving smoothly for students.

 In this way, together with administrative planning, we regularly make the appropriate adjustments to meet all of our students’ essential needs--feeding, medical attention and personal care. A complex set of factors goes into reworking our schedules so that every student continues to receive the appropriate care. And we utilize regular staff meetings to discuss and plan for these contingencies.

 But along with the unexpected, our staff intentionally build change into the schedule. On any given day we may host a guest reader talking about himself and his work, a theater production or Ringling Brothers clowns, a science fair or a scavenger hunt. There is a continual infusion of interesting visitors and stimulating activities that motivate students to reach out, to use their communication devices, to feel pride in their accomplishments—another effective way of reinforcing our students’ individual goals.

 So, no day is like another. Change is part of our routine, and we embrace it.

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Join us for a lively day at HMS School. Follow two students through their activities. Watch staff and administration behind the scenes. Experience the buzz. Feel the energy.

Staff/Administration

8:45am School buses arrive but HMS has been awake for hours. Plant operations and dietary staff have been preparing for the day—cleaning rooms, setting up for special activities, making breakfast and lunch. Nursing changed shifts at 7, bringing new shift up to date. Morning shift wakes students, prepares them for breakfast and school day.

8:45-9:00 Interdisciplinary rounds--3 days a week. Representatives from classroom, therapies, nursing, social work and the student services coordinator report on status of each student. Facilitates communication around issues and integration of services.

9:00 Recreation therapy staff leave with three students for therapeutic horseback riding.
Nurses assess students, give medication and treatments, supervise feedings and check communication books.

9:30 Dietitian Heidi Kechskemethy conducts in-service with speech therapy staff.

10:00 Morning announcements from Dee Avignon. Students and staff who are absent; lunch menu; field trips, visitors and special events; scheduled meetings; inspirational thought for the day.
Student’s Pre-IEP meeting with full team in Sarshik Library.
Diane Gallagher and committee of the board meet to plan 125th anniversary celebration.
Morning hydration drinks ready from dietary.

11:00 Ellen Scharff tours school with family of prospective student.

11:15 Housekeeping called to classroom to clean up spill.

12:30-1:00 Program staff bi-weekly meeting with Diane Gallagher and Chris Coia to share information about the school, upcoming events and interdepartmental matters.

1:15 Informal meeting of one student’s teachers and therapists to evaluate efforts to modify child’s acting-out behavior.

1:30 Director of nursing meets with a student’s education team to prepare for his return following surgery.

2:00-5:00 Medical director, Dr. Steven Bachrach at HMS--sees students and meets with nursing to discuss students’ care and medical management.

2:00 IEP meeting in Sarshik Library with family and student’s full team.
Diane Gallagher tours school with prospective foundation donors.

2:30 Plant operations set up Assembly Room for after-school activity.

3:00-4:00 Speech therapy department meeting.

Andrew, age 19
5-day residential student

6-6:30am Andrew’s CNAs greet him in the dorm. Morning routines begin--nursing unhooks his night-feeding tube, administer medications and water. CNA conducts activities of daily living and begin first tube feeding of day. Social time with his CNA—talk about family news, his day’s schedule, lots of laughing. Time to relax with friends and TV in dorm room before school.

8:45 Class has brief morning check-in with teachers, then head to Functional Living Skills with Occupational Therapy Assistant Millie Connelly. Their education and therapies focus on preparing for life after graduation. Today includes riding a SEPTA bus to the University Museum. Second tube feeding.

11:00 Typically power mobility training--today Andrew attends a Guest Readers Program with Wings player from Philadelphia’s professional Lacrosse team.

Noon  Tube feeding, socialize with other students and CNAs, joke around about this week’s American Idol episode.

1:00 Physical therapy with PT Kate Paul. Work on power mobility skills and controlling the environment—Andrew has learned to tilt his chair back using his head-array system, can give himself a change of position.

1:45 Back in classroom. Andrew signals teacher, Kevin Rafferty that he’s having breathing difficulty. Kevin calls the nurse. CNA accompanies Andrew to nurses station for more detailed assessment. Andrew receives a nebulizer treatment for his asthma.

2:30 Andrew arrives late to art with Eiko Fan but has time to work on a painting project for annual Art Show.

3:15 Occupational therapy with Judy Lynch. Helps Andrew maintain computer skills. Andrew opts for Edmark Reading, literacy software--is motivated to improve his letter recognition skills and to learn a few words. Day students leave for home—Andrew has quiet time alone with OT.

4:00 Andrew heads to the residence, wants to get out of his chair and stretch. Enjoys some TLC from CNAs.

4:30 Walnut Street Theatre project for older resident students—learn about developing skit ideas and dialogue, adopting a role, creating costumes, rehearsing and performing. One of Andrew’s favorites.

5:30 Dinner tube feeding; hang out in dining room with resident students, CNAs, recreation therapists and nurses for relaxed “family time.” Catch up on everyone’s day.

6:15 Bath time with relaxing rub down, chat with CNA. Cruise halls in power chair, check out what’s going on and head to Assembly Room for game night.

7:00 Daily phone call from Dad—talk about the day, nieces’ and nephew’s latest antics.

8:00 Andrew loves the activity of resident life and the relaxed pace compared to his long commute as a day student. Last night was wheel chair dance class, tomorrow night a hoedown with Peter Taney. But tonight he feels tired, leaves games early to relax in bed with a movie. Night feeding begins.

9:00 Dorm quiets down; CNA/nurse will check Andrew for respiration and repositioning every two hours through the night.

9:00-10:00 Circle time, Working on early communication skills, engaging with others, taking turns and developing cognitive concepts like time and days of the week. Sean very social but tends to observe.

10:00-11:15 Something Magical weekly project with Germantown Friends School. Sean comes alive with his GFS partner—loves this interaction, is smiling, head up. Rehearsal for “On the Other Side of the Fence” performance in May.

11:15-11:45 Class time. Receives tube feeding Teachers emphasize cause and effect activities with Sean—want him to initiate more, make choices, have more power and control in his life.

Noon-1:00 Personal care and medication.

1:00-1:30 Adaptive physical education activities in Assembly Room with recreation therapist Bill Hunter. Sean gets out of his chair and rocks on therapy balls for stretching, relaxation and fun.

1:30-2:15 Occupational therapy with OT Janice Barbour. Works on using a switch to operate the computer, power chair, toys—that he can use it to cause something to happen.

2:15-3:15 Class time, tube feeding. Today is a classmate’s birthday. Two staff members with same birth date join the class for birthday fun, singing and festivities. Lots of smiles. Celebration a happy way to end the day. Teachers prepare Sean for bus departure.

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 Mary DeLuca, speech therapist, earned a Clinical Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Widener University in December 2006.

 Classroom teacher Nicole Miller earned a Masters in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Assistive Technology from Fort Hayes University in Kansas in December 2006.

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“I love what I do!” says Dawn Rainey, HMS assistive technologist. “I get to work on a new problem every day.”

Ms. Rainey’s role has been evolving--with the technology--since HMS created her position in 1999. In 1997 while still in college, she came to HMS as an assistant teacher. After completing her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Boston University, she chose to apply her training to technical problem-solving at HMS.

Ms. Rainey is the “connector” for all assistive technology devices at HMS. She works in a consultative role with everyone on the therapy and teaching staff, helping them to make software selections, to integrate equipment and to facilitate interdepartmental communication around technical issues. She says that trouble-shooting constitutes a huge part of her day.

A student may already drive a power chair, using a successful switch site. When his speech therapist introduces a communication device, Ms. Rainey says, “We want to be able to run the device through the chair’s electronics, we want the two to interface so he can use the same switch. The staff know how to do this, but will call on me if a problem develops.”

She is responsible for upgrading student computers and keeping them in good working order and spends a lot of time getting students’ communication devices to “talk” to their classroom computers for school work. She also provides staff training on new devices, translating technical-specs documentation for staff use.

If a family acquires new adaptive equipment at home, Ms. Rainey can provide training at HMS or make a home visit, as needed, to orient them to the equipment.

Ms. Rainey recently earned the Assistive Technology Practitioner (ATP) credential from RESNA, the Rehabilitative Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America. This credential gives her recognition to make recommendations regarding power mobility. Starting in April of 2008, Medicare will require that an ATP sign off on all power-chair orders, a requirement that may well expand to other assistive- technology devices.

Ms. Rainey, who also holds an Assistive Technology Applications Certificate from California State University at Northridge, authored The 5 Ws of Assistive Technology: What Every Family Needs to Know, an article that appeared in the January issue of Exceptional Parent Magazine. Later this spring, “Closing the Gap” Newsletter will feature another of her articles, Technology Integration: How to Start and When to Stop.

After school, Ms. Rainey problem solves with her three children, ages three to six months. Despite their hectic household, she and her husband manage to remain avid Phillies fans and will soon look forward to using their season tickets.

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 HMS is supremely grateful to the CCC ladies! The Community Clothes Charity, this wonderful group of hardworking, devoted women, organized and ran a four-day sale of new and gently used designer clothing that raised $180,000 for building improvements at HMS.

The annual CCC sale has benefited numerous Philadelphia charities and nonprofits. HMS thanks the CCC committee for selecting the school as this year’s beneficiary and for the intensive preparation and work that made the sale so successful. A hearty thank you also goes to parents who donated clothing items and to staff members who gave time to work the event.

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Join us for Parents’ Evening

Thursday, March 29, 3-7pm

Fun with Technology -- HMS staff

HMS: Future Expansion Plans – Diane Gallagher

Dental Needs for Children with CP – Dr. Robert Lloyd

Life Planning for Your Child – Bruce Sham

Library Open House

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As Melea gets closer to graduation, her HMS team are spending more time on her ability to communicate her needs clearly, to ease the transition to her post-HMS environment. Over the years, we have evaluated various communication devices; but now, the pressure is on. What is the best communication device for Melea?

As her parent, I am often guilty of communicating for her, anticipating needs without giving her the opportunity to let me know what she wants. I make choices instead of giving her a chance to choose. With her time at HMS getting shorter, it is very important that I encourage Melea to use the communication devices we are evaluating at home and at school. 

Part of the evaluation process has included regular phone calls home where the speech device is programmed with phrases for Melea to use during our conversation. I love these calls; Melea enjoys telling me about her week and asking me questions. Thanks to Melea’s dedicated team, we are having a great time exploring the devices.

When Melea was much younger, I wondered whether I would rather have her walk or talk. With the help of HMS staff, Melea has accomplished both: mobility via a power wheelchair and communication through a speech device. She has grown in so many ways!

On another note, the past few months have shown me just how important it is to register your child for services with your office of Mental Health and Mental Retardation.

In January, I learned I would need surgery on my shoulder--unable to care for Melea for several months. I was in a panic; I do not have family in the area to help. What was I going to do about Melea’s care? I immediately contacted her MH/MR caseworker—who was very helpful--to explore available services. We worked with HMS, Melea’s father and Melea’s home aide, Deb, to arrange care for Melea during my recuperation. 

If Melea had not been registered with the MH/MR office, we would not have had access to these invaluable services. I am thankful I took the time to make the appointment. Consider making the call. You never know what’s going to happen and what services will be available in a time of crisis.

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