Going the extra mile, from home: How Seneca Family of Agencies made the most of remote learning
When Seneca’s Occupational Therapist and Speech Language Pathologist first met Eva, their first impression was, “Ball of energy!” Eva, an elementary student at one of Seneca’s partner schools, is always on the move. Joyful, loud, excitable — perhaps Eva’s most quintessential trait is that she adores any and everything to do with unicorns.
Everyone knew that distance learning would be hard, especially for young learners and students receiving special education services. In Eva’s case, accessing her education and receiving the individualized support she needs — virtually — has been a daily struggle. Eva is developmentally delayed and has trouble both focusing and staying on task. For much of her year of distance learning, Eva was accessing her three hours per day of Zoom instruction from a day care setting, surrounded by infinite distractions and without one-on-one in-person support to help her remain engaged.
Seneca’s Occupational Therapist and Speech Language Pathologist worked creatively with the other members of Eva’s support team — her mother, general education teacher, special education teacher, and other service providers — to ensure that she receives the support she needs to make progress toward her goals during a uniquely challenging school year. Much of Seneca’s work with Eva over the past year included activities to strengthen fine motor skills, self-expression, reading comprehension, and selfregulation techniques such as yoga, dance breaks, and coloring. Over time, they learned that perhaps the most effective way to engage Eva is to incorporate unicorns into therapy activities, much to Eva’s delight.
Eva’s joy and positivity are infectious and have made a lasting impression on the adults that work with her, particularly during a year marked by hardship and loss. As she has transitioned back to part-time in-person school, Eva’s progress is accelerating. She will continue to receive specialized services from her Seneca team as well as social-emotional supports and academic accommodations to help her learn and thrive at home, at school, and beyond.
Seneca Family of Agencies (Seneca) was founded in 1985 as a small Bay Area residential and day treatment program with a simple but powerful mission: to help children and families through the most difficult times of their lives. Since then, Seneca has expanded to provide a broad continuum of permanency, mental health, education, and juvenile justice services, which today reach over 18,000 youth and families throughout California and Washington state each year.
Seneca’s growth has been guided by a commitment to a revolutionary Unconditional Care model — doing whatever it takes to help children and families thrive, even when faced with tremendous challenges. Seneca offers each child and every family a profound promise: You will be supported at every step of your journey, no matter what obstacles you face along the way.
Seneca’s impact and success as an organization is made possible by our most valuable asset: our staff. Our teams are expanding in California and Washington state as our programs evolve. We seek extraordinary individuals with diverse experience to work with the remarkable young people we serve. Create meaningful change and join us in helping children and families through the most difficult times of their lives: www.senecafoa.org/careers.