Latisha’s Story: Advocacy And Autism Three years ago, Latisha had trouble raising her son Jamal, who is autistic and prone to aggressive behavior and angry outbursts. Pam, the resident services coordinator at Ships’ Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts, was able to arrange a meeting with a child psychiatrist. Pam also made an appointment at the local parent advocacy center for autism, which provided further assistance for Latisha. Jamal completed a hospital stay and upon his return, despite occasional challenges, he was no longer having meltdowns. Jamal continues to receive psychiatric services at UMass Medical in Worcester and the family is seeing wonderful results, with social and academic skills improving greatly. An in-home therapy service, Can Do Agency, has also helped the entire family learn better strategies to support Jamal.
Summer Camp Programs The summer camp programs include both academic and healthy lifestyle components. Here, children keep their minds and bodies active, decreasing and even eliminating the possibility of summer learning loss, while staying physically fit. From pre-test to post-test, according to the Brigance Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills, the goal of Operation Pathways is that children will show no signs of summer learning loss in math and reading. In 2017 • 96% of children participating in Operation Pathways’ summer camps showed no signs of summer learning loss in math • 97% of participating children in Operation Pathways’ summer camps showed no signs of summer learning loss in reading
Where you live matters.
FISCAL YEAR 2017 ANNUAL REPORT 7
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