Congratulations to Kelly Cook, our employee of the month! Kelly became a habilitation therapist this year and has immediately started making a big difference. According to AZA parent Summer Boyd, "Kelly is eager and excited to help our son Jaxson! She offers new, helpful ideas and is a real partner in helping him get where he needs to be. She is very professional, patient, kind, ambitious, caring, firm, and open to new ideas. Jax has become more cooperative since Kelly has started working with him as she is figuring out all of his little quirks and how to motivate him. On Kelly's very first visit with Jax, he wanted to watch a television commercial for Zoo Pals over and over and over because he liked the song and visuals. She saw how into this he was and soon brought the actual Zoo Pals to our house and made a game out of it to work on some of his goals! I knew they were off to a great start then and it has continually gotten better and better."

According to Kelly, "After working at a recreation center for individuals with developmental disabilities, I learned how much I enjoy working with this amazing population. My favorite part of this job is the laughs! Every day my kids do the most adorable things that bring a smile to my face! Jaxson loves looking into mirrors and one of my favorite things to do with him is take turns expressing different emotions in front of the mirror. His facial expressions are so cute, they make me laugh every time! My background is in social work and I am a strong believer in early intervention. Eventually, I would like to become a licensed clinical social worker." No doubt you are well on your way, Kelly! Keep up the good work :-)

Parents - do you have a habilitation therapist that goes above and beyond?  A great way to say thank you is to send your nominations for the next Employee of the Month to GreatWork@AZAunited.org  

Last month was a sad day in the AZA office as we said goodbye to one of our most loyal supporters, Claudia Montes. Claudia has worked with us for 3 years as a Bilingual Program Assistant. She has been instrumental in coordinating services between families and staff and support for our Spanish speaking families, among many other things. Claudia is moving on to pursue a PhD at Columbia University and we wish her the best of luck!

On the bright side, we have two new shining stars that have joined the team. Irene Van Elderen has stepped into the role of Program Coach to provide hands-on training and supervision for families and habilitation therapists participating in the Hab-M and Helping Hands programs. Irene has a degree in Speech and Hearing and has been providing habilitation and ABA for several years with AZA United. We are also excited to welcome Lindsay Davis as our new Program Administrator, to be on the front line of coordinating services between families and staff and keep program operations running smoothly and effectively. Lindsay has been an outstanding habilitation therapist for several years as well with AZA United, so she understands firsthand what it takes to deliver effective services. Lindsay, Irene, and the rest of us at AZA United look forward to helping you!