New Growth Family Centre
Latest Success Story May 2023

Our son Lucas (10 years old) attended Aletha’s services since fall of 2022.  Lucas was diagnosed with ADHD, OCD and ODD.  Lucas began seeing a Pediatrician and went through multiple Therapist who ended up telling us there is nothing they can do after realizing they could not help us.  We were given Aletha’s information from Lucas’s school teacher and we thought we would try again to get the help Lucas needed. 
Without Aletha, we don’t know how our family would have overcome the emotions of helping Lucas through everything.  Aletha met with Lucas weekly and taught him life lessons in a way he understood.  After a month of sessions, we started seeing a difference in Lucas and we noticed how much he enjoyed going to Aletha’s as he began to look forward to the day each week.  Not only did Aletha work with Lucas, but she also worked with our entire family to better educate us on ADHD behaviors and how to deal with a variety of situations.  She met with our family multiple times including our daughter and even met with us in our own home.  When we had situations that were out of our control to deal with, Aletha was one phone call away to help us all through the situation not matter the time of evening. 
Lucas was struggling through school and his grades on his report cards reflected that.  After working with Aletha, Lucas is now getting A’s for the first time ever and seeing a drastic improvement in all school subjects.   Friends, family and his teachers are now seeing a positive change in Lucas. 
When we first met Aletha and we were describing Lucas, she said “I am up for a good challenge” and she sure meant it as she did a great job and helped us all.  Most importantly she did not give up on Lucas through all the hard times. 
We would definitely recommend Aletha and her services she offers to anyone.  If you have been to numerous people for help with no outcome, call Aletha and let her take you down the positive journey she led us through. 
Thank you Aletha!
Dan, Megan, Emma and Lucas

                                  

A Success Story

I’ve know TJ all of his life.  He was an independent, active child.  The whole town knew who he was.  At a young age, he was seen around town with no supervision, biking without a helmet, darting from place to place.  The police were sometimes called and they just shook their heads and smiled.  That’s TJ.  Such a cute little imp.  Family and Children Services were called too but they too, just shrugged their shoulders.

When TJ started school, he had trouble settling down, had anger outbursts, had trouble  getting along with the other kids.  The police were called.  CAS was called.  He was suspended.  What to do with this out of control child?

And then the decision was made to send him to New Growth Family Centre in Mount Forest.  Never in his life was he treated so well and respected and loved unconditionally.

Besides school work, he was taught manners, nutrition, hygiene, and how to get along with others.   He had lots of exercise in their gymnasium.

Aletha and Bob earned the parents trust, which was a big plus in this situation.  Aletha had regular meetings with the parents and listened to the their concerns and involved the parents in his progress.

She worked with the parents to ensure that TJ saw a pediatrician and that he was on the proper medications.  He is diagnosed with ADHD. She also encouraged him to have a complete physical and dental surgery.  He was so afraid of needles that Bob took TJ for his blood test when he himself needed a blood test. 

TJ remained at New Growth Family Centre for a little over a year.  In September when he was nine, he started back to his regular school.  He’s needed extra attention (a teacher’s assistant).  He seems to be adjusting remarkable well.  He’s much calmer and has had no suspensions. 

Last month, he accompanied me to see my ninety-seven year old mother.  He was such a little gentleman.  He was respectful and talked to her like an adult.  He said that she had such a nice view out of her window and discussed the weather.  The staff at the nursing home thought that he could get a volunteer job there some day.  It warmed my heart.

His progress is due almost entirely to the tireless efforts of Aletha and Bob at the New Growth Family Centre.  They were such good roles models and worked so hard to understand and educate this child.

My only wish would be that more children could have the same opportunity that TJ had.  The wonderful learning, life changing experience at New Growth Family Centre.

Rhoda Seibert

Friend of TJ

(I was TJ’s mother’s “Big Sister” through the Big Sisters Association, matched with his mom in 1990 when she was 12.  I’ve kept in touch with the family over the years.   TJ is the youngest of 4 children. The kids are like my grandchildren.)

Teacher Placement/Training

 " As part of my practice teaching requirements for teacher's college, I was able to spend a month with Bob and Aletha McArthur at the New Growth Family Centre.  At the Centre, I gained experience in supporting the learning of students with academic and behavioral  exceptionalities , as well as insight into how to help them succeed both in school and in life.  My time there was extremely valuable, as it helped to strengthen my abilities for helping students with exceptionalities in my future classroom.  The Centre is interested in developing all aspects of a student, including his or her academic, social, and emotional growth.  In addition to helping me improve my teaching skills, working with the McArthurs and the students at the Centre also strengthened my classroom management strategies, conflict resolution skills, and communication skills.   As students with exceptionalities are now in every classroom, the Centre gave me invaluable experience in helping these students, and I am incredibly grateful that I had the opportunity to be a part of their organization."

Megan Pickett, OCT 

Summer Staff
"At the New Growth Family Centre, children are treated with respect and are given the responsibility of making their own choices. Staff members do not dictate choice of activity or how time is spent.  The children are free to interact normally in a setting where they learn how to effectively deal with conflict and form healthy relationships. The youth are encouraged to develop their communication skills as well as their practice of common courtesies. The atmosphere of the New Growth Family Centre is comfortable and supportive; a child is not punished for getting in a disagreement with another, or sent away for a time out when they don’t follow instructions. There is enough structure and stability that the kids aren’t running free and behaving disorderly. If a problem occurs, there is no question who is the authority.

One strategy I have seen to be most effective when dealing with behaviour problems was staying calm. The classic practice of fighting fire with fire is not effective. I noticed that the kids responded more positively when the staff kept calm and didn’t yell. I know from personal experience that kids tend to stop listening when a person in the position of authority starts to nag or lecture. When lecturing was avoided, the kids were more attentive and were better able to recognize the problem. A second useful strategy I saw implemented was to be vocal about how you feel about a problematic situation. Instead of being angry and telling everyone to stop what they’re doing because they aren’t following instructions, just state that there is a problem and say how you feel in the situation due to the disorganization. After trying this myself, I discovered its effectiveness.

With these strategies being implemented, and the children being given the freedom to make their own choices, I saw a huge difference in more than one child right before my eyes. They were more comfortable trying new things, and embraced their new confidence. These results proved that when children are given the right tools and support, they can be or do anything.

Seeing these strategies successfully put in to practice will help me in my future career in psychology. This program has enhanced my understanding of the material studied in my first year of university.  I am majoring in psychology and the explanations Aletha provided about the conditions each child deals with and the underlying causes that bring forth their difficult behaviour really helped solidify what I was learning from the textbook and in lectures. Reading about the causes and effects of a disorder like FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) does not necessarily help you to recognize it or teach you how to respond to it when you see it in a person. Dealing first hand with someone who has been diagnosed with a mental health condition gives you an invaluable look at how the condition affects his or her day-to-day life.

I found Aletha to be very approachable when I had a question about anything, including whether I handled a situation in the best way. If I wasn’t sure I made myself clear, or I needed some background information on a child’s behaviour, Aletha was more than willing to give me what I needed to do my job properly and effectively.

One thing I think that could be done better for the purposes of the student staff would be being helped to understand when it becomes appropriate to step in and take charge of a situation. I found it difficult to know the difference between kids being kids and allowing the freedom to explore, and when the situation was really getting out of hand. For example, in the gym playing basketball and one child starts to not follow the rules and takes random shots at the basket, how many times do you ask them to play by the rules and give the others a chance before you take action? What kind of action is appropriate and not too extreme for the situation? These questions frequently crossed my mind in situations where one or more of the kids were displaying behaviour that posed a challenge to my authority. Any basic strategies to determine the line between playing and creating a potential problem would definitely be helpful.

I would certainly recommend this program to anyone, especially students. I learned strategies that were relevant to my schooling, but to my life in general. Learning how to communicate effectively and allowing people to feel what they feel were simple implementations I made in my own life. Through this program, I learned a lot about myself including my emotional boundaries, my coping skills and my views about those who are dealing daily with mental health conditions."
Nicole, University of Guelph Student
Majoring in Psychology

This letter is provided in support of the services provided by the New Growth Family Centre.
 This agency and the local school board (Wellington Catholic), jointly funded the placement of a ten year old boy within the day program at the New Growth Family Centre for the school year. This boy had previously been unable to cope and manage himself within a regular classroom setting, and was frequently suspended for his behaviour. Within the New Growth Family Centre setting, a therapeutic alternative learning environment, this student was able to grow and develop to better regulate himself emotionally and socially while improving his school skills. This boy’s presentation and coping skills have significantly improved within the last year, and he is now able to move forward, returning, much better equipped, to his community school.
It has been tremendous to see this young person feel good about his progress. His focus, and level of self esteem and confidence reflect this.

I look forward to using the services of New Growth Family Centre again for clients who are students experiencing difficulties within the regular classroom, and would certainly recommend it to others.

Sincerely,
Cindy Trodden, BSW
Social Worker

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Testimonial from a parent on first week of school.  This 8 year old child (we will call Billy) attended our Summer Activity Program which included calming and regulation training.

"Dear Aletha --You will never believe it! Billy had a terrible day at school yesterday. He was in a "I'm not doing it!" mood and refused to do anything the teacher asked-that's not the unbelievable part. What happened after school is the amazing part. When I picked him up I asked how his day was. He hung his head and said not good. Now usually at this point is when Billy would start crying and get angry, today he did start to cry and when I prompted to him to calm himself he immediately closed his eyes and started to take long slow breaths.
When he felt calm he looked up at me and was able to talk to me, explain what made him angry, what happened and what the teacher did. That has never happened! EVER! He was also calm enough to go with me to the Principal and discuss it again. THEN he sat with the principal and came up with a plan to make today better. They are meeting with the teacher so Billy can tell him what Billy needs from him.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
 
We were so very proud of Billy yesterday! More importantly, Billy was proud of himself! He told me it felt good to talk about it and work it out.
 
Billy's father and I are so very grateful to you and your staff! This may not happen again but we have seen he CAN do it and we have hope now that he will learn to do it more often!
 
Thank you to all of you"
 

Letter from a parent who came seeking help for his daughter who was struggling in school .

I know that we haven't talked for awhile, so I am going to take advantage of this opportunity and express my gratitude. We are coming to the end of another school year and my wife and I would like to thank you for all that you have offered the children, in particular, to our our daughter. She is a girl with a new confidence and she has made some significant strides as a result of your approach to teaching. She loves going to your lessons and it is often a highlight of her school week. I would like to apologize for losing touch with you over these last few months and I hope that we can talk before the end of the school year to review what our daughter has accomplished and how we continue.
Thank you!

BM