Over the past week I’ve been getting in touch with all of ILO’s families. What an amazing group of people we have!

Here’s what I learned during these calls:

• ILO is truly a community of parents and self-advocates.
• Parents are grateful for the opportunity for their self-advocates to participate in ILO’s virtual meetings and activities.
• Parents agree that all the work the ILO staff is doing to stay connected with self-advocates is helping ease their social isolation.
• The parents also feel there may be stronger connections between the self-advocates when the pandemic is over.
• The peer-to-peer connection is such an important part of the virtual support. The self-advocates are coming out of their comfort zones to help one another especially with relieving anxiety.
• All the parents are aware of the extra effort the ILO staff is making with the self-advocates. (The community builders make sure they connect with all the self-advocates in their pods whether it is on GroupMe, FaceTime or one-on-one phone calls.)

From ILO’s inception our families have been integral to our supportive communities. They have helped define our community framework and continue to be actively involved in each POD’s viability.

To carry on our established Family POD Meetings, over the next three weeks we will be hosting Virtual Family POD Meetings via Zoom. Not exactly the same . . . but no one will have to vacuum or clean-up!!

Discussion will include:

• Family Sharing
• Community Builder Updates
• Overview of ILO Virtual Meetings
• ILO Measurables and SA Schedules
• New Self-Advocate Resource webpage
• A virtual project with local fire departments
• VOTE REMOTE Campaign
• Dealing with the COVID-19 Outbreak

Please join us, see date and time for each POD below.

Zoom Link Will Be Sent By Email

Zoom Link Will Be Sent By Email

We Love to Celebrate!

May
Happy Birthday!

• Darina
• Matt G
• Robert S
  
• Ellie
• Ella

Hello Olive!

Olive continues to share her wisdom with us on social media:

• The value of routine in reducing anxiety
• The importance of wearing a mask
• Using yoga to de-stress!
• Learning to relax
• Finding ways to ease social isolation

Group Emotional
Wellness Check-In

• Dealing with social isolation
• Managing anxiety, stress, and worry
• Sharing and caring!

Weekly Virtual POD
Meetings

Including some life skills training:

• April – Safety
• May – Relationship Building

Physical Activity

• Yoga
• Exercise
• Walks Healthy Eating

ALL POD

Touch and Feel Virtual Meeting

Sharing our suggestions with each other for coping techniques for feeling anxious, stressed, or worried:

• Taking Walks, Exercise & Yoga
• Listening to Music ü  Coloring
• Playing Video Games
• Zoom Calls
• Talking on the phone with loved ones

During this ‘new normal’ ILO is here to help YOUR family and SELF-ADVOCATE in every way possible.

• Overwhelmed and don’t know where to go for assistance?
• Lost your support (day programs, etc.), and need alternatives?
• Running out of ideas for dealing with social isolation?

ILO is here to help! Please reach out to me directly. Maedi Tanham Carney, ILO Executive Director at maedi@ilonow.org.

• Getting Fresh Air
• Exercising
• Social Distancing from Others

Social Distancing and Hygiene

Masks

Calling 911 & Asking for Help

Handling an Emergency & Kits

Using a Fire Extinguisher

Learning to Deal with Stress & Anxiety:
Routines

All three ILO PODs met last week for virtual Zoom TRAINING & SHARING sessions.

All three sessions were well-attended and Self-Advocates did a great job of participating and actively engaging with the group. We learned we need to include the following in making a schedule:

• Eating
• Sleeping
• Physical Activity
• Connecting with Others

• Learning Something New
• Doing Something Fun
• Helping Someone Else
• Talking to a Family Member, Friend or Therapist About Our Feelings

Learning to Deal with Stress & Anxiety:
Gratitude

ILO’s self-advocates had a chance to express themselves and their feelings during the safety meeting. As a group, we took the time to acknowledge the things that we are grateful for. Here is a list of questions that we asked:

• What am I grateful for?
• Who am I checking on?
• When am I going outside?
• How am I staying active?

The self-advocates all agreed that they were grateful for each other. Staying connected via zoom has strengthened the Rockville pod in so many ways.

Dealing with Anxiety:
Making a Schedule

Please check the ILO website calendar for upcoming virtual and rescheduled events. Our calendar (https://ilonow.org/calendar) is updated on a weekly basis.

We have made the decision to postpone most of our special events to a later date in 2020 – this includes Social Sundays, Parent Presentations, Hike, Bike & BBQ (rescheduled for October 10), and our Beers and Cheers Fundraiser.

SPECIAL NOTE: Regarding Social Sunday Bowling Bowlero – we hope to be able to start Bowling up again soon but at this point it may be the Fall. We are looking at other options like virtual BINGO, trivia, etc. We’ll let you know within the next week.­