Brilliant Mornings at Islands of Brilliance

A quarterly meeting brings together parents and caregivers of neurodivergent children. That's right. Jeff Ganger and Sandra Lamali are here from Islands of Brilliance with their more on their Brilliant Morning check-ins. Thank you so much for coming in. Hey, thank you. Good morning. You guys do such a good job supporting the neurodivergent community in general. And this is amazing for parents. Can you share a little bit about this program? Absolutely. So Brilliant Mornings is a quarterly caregiver meeting, But caregivers are so much more than just your daily living skills, your emotional regulation. We're advocates. We are policy changers. We are researchers. A lot of caregivers are out in the community attending different conferences and quarterly meetings that are held by the state around Medicaid, whether it's around IRIS, Children's Long-Term Care Services, going to joint finance committee meetings, attending your state and local budget meetings, all to make sure that they have a voice in the decisions that are being made around services and programs that impact their loved ones. There's a lot on the plate there. So, you know, having that place to connect, I'm sure, is a huge part of keeping them going and keeping them positive. It is. And exactly that's why Brilliant Mornings exists. We take all of those bits of information. We attend those programs. We go to those policy hearings and we put it into tangible, understandable, actionable items. that the parents can then move forward with and maybe you could share a little bit because each month you guys tackle um different um you guys tackle different or the topics i would say and pressing ones when it comes to what's needed can you share a little bit more about what the next topic is and what you guys have done so far uh well the next topic is the reason we're on here because uh our next topic is basically a november wellness check-in okay and uh when i read yoga and sound bath I'm like oh Sandra's got to get on and talk about this so you know that's that's just one of the the things that we do and we're thinking about um parents and caregivers and going into the holidays and the stress related to that it's like okay well let's see if we can put on something in November where um they're not expected to do anything they can just come as they are and sort of just be there and be in the presence of other uh caregivers and parents that get it and just relax. So it's more about a caring type of meeting. And do you find that like parents and caregivers kind of almost need to be reminded that they need to take care of themselves first? Like put your oxygen mask on first, as they say, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. Every single time. And that's why actually November is National Caregiver Appreciation Month. And that's where we decided to do a opportunity to let them come in, take a moment to remember that they are human and that they deserve to have their cup filled as well uh with the sound bath no need to bring your swimsuits or your towels it's not that kind of a bath what is the sound bath i gotta ask i'm sorry i don't know i should should i know uh we have a practitioner by the name of michelle cobert that is coming in with different bowls um and tools so she will then produce different types of signals and and um waves that will help relax the nervous system and just regenerate yourself it's almost like getting a massage while seated and listening to those sounds it's very relaxing that's you know mind and body is so important to relax but also kind of uh restore that energy for gearing up for what's next because holiday times are also busy coming up too absolutely it's right around the corner so remember to fill your own cups so that you can go and fill the cups of those little ones that you care for right because if you don't take care of yourself you won't have anything left to give anybody else and i'm sure you know I can't even imagine it, but I'm sure they feel the need to always be giving when they need to occasionally receive. Exactly. I'm looking at some of the past quarters that you guys have done, and maybe we could talk about those, too, if you don't mind. Navigating the service and funding appeals, we kind of mentioned that a little bit. Understanding developmental stages, and I think that's important, too, when it comes to having this community. If you could share a little bit more about that for families out there. Absolutely. So understanding the different developmental stages is very different in each particular family, especially when you're dealing with neurodivergent individuals. What may seem like a milestone for a typical 5-year-old may be completely different for a neurodivergent individual. So coming in and working with the subject matter experts that are in a particular field, whether it is occupational therapy, whether it is related to different behavior management, whether it's related to your basic education of digesting that information and that each individual receives that information differently where some may listen and digest, others actually need a visual prompt, others may actually just need to be in the room and sense it. So we bring in, as I mentioned, those experts that can then give the families an understanding of where their particular child is in that developmental stage regardless of their age and stature and be able to move forward with that. And you guys also just have a sense of community, I feel like, at all of your programs. So not only hearing from you, but perhaps having that conversation with other families, too, and connecting in that different way, I'm sure is huge. Yes. So one of the things that we do additionally at Early Mornings is mentor caregivers with a one-on-one to navigate because every person's individual circumstance is so different. So we go and partner with them, determine what their gaps are, and then help provide them the resources that they need in order to accomplish that. yeah and being able to i would imagine connect with other parents that are going through maybe not the same thing because there's no identical path here but like something similar where they can kind of you know commiserate with nothing else and be able to kind of share experiences helps i mean even you know for those who don't necessarily have the additional challenges of raising a neurodivergent child or working with one it's their stress right to like meet these you know kids gonna walk by one and talk about it and so and even with kids that don't have additional challenges or additional you know graces and blessings there's just no real way to say this is the path so everybody gets to walk their own exactly sure and i think um we try to keep in mind that uh the the first thing we want to do is make sure to communicate to them that you're not alone in this i think that's the big thing sure um so when they come in they connect with somebody else and all of a sudden you find that they have already navigated that before and they're giving you resources and it becomes more of a sharing and it becomes a community well thank you guys for the resources for the support for the information once again this is happening on november 14th at 10:30 a.m. thank you, thank you guys, welcome up Ryan Castellaz is here with another creative and a drink that you can find on agency's menu