Empowering Strides

This is a great opportunity!

Yes! Spots are available for our October 17 Wings for® All event at SeaTac International Airport

Want to participate? https://bit.ly/Wings_participant
Want to volunteer? https://bit.ly/Wings_volunteer

Questions? Email Stacia at [email protected]

Wings for All® is a practice program to help reduce stress for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities, such as autism, cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome. The experience includes checking in for boarding passes, going through TSA security screening, waiting in the boarding area, and boarding an aircraft.

Please note: Participants 18 and older will need a Real ID. You must be registered to participate.

University of Washington Autism Center Seattle Children's Autism Center
The Arc - Washington State The Arc of Snohomish County
Highline Special Needs Parent Teacher Association Shoreline Special Education PTSA Northshore Special Education Community PTSA Seattle Special Education PTSA Bellevue Special Services - PTA Council Committee Lake Washington PTSA Special Education Group Federal Way Special Education PTA Issaquah Special Education PTSA Snoqualmie Valley PTSA Special Education and Disabilities - SED Committee

Thank you so much to the Star Spangled Classic for hosting the 8th annual CHAMPS class (Challenged Horsemen and American Paints class). We also want to give a huge thank you to Patty Baker for organizing the WSPHC and including the CHAMPS class. Five of our riders were able to attend the show and ride horses who were loaned to us for the class. Thank you to each and every horse and owner for always making this a fantastic experience for our riders! This event is always the highlight of their year.

We were so excited to receive our first Stateline Tack Donation! Thank you to an anonymous donor for these new items. If you would like to donate items from our wish list, check out this link below!

https://www.statelinetack.com/pages/rescue/empowering-strides

🏈 It's Football Season ! 🏈

We’re opening applications for an opportunity to be chosen to attend a Seattle football home game at Lumen Field! 💚💙

Eligibility: Washington State resident with a child or young adult, ages 0–25, with an autism diagnosis.

One application per family. One family will
be chosen for each home game.

Application spaces are limited, so apply early!

Happy Labor Day from Empowering Strides! We hope you have a safe and fun long weekend!

We are excited to announce that we are hosting our annual Empowering Strides merch fundraiser! We have both child and adult sizes of our iconic Empowering Strides maroon shirts and navy hoodies available. Please have your order placed by Sunday August 30th so we can send the order for printing. To order a shirt, fill out the Google forms linked below.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeqlWd9bYNuu9a_GJwyqbefxYhgEsOjvA7rC5SGfGB9dQ9PjQ/viewform

Prices
Child Shirt
$18
Adult Shirts
$25
Child Hoodie
$38
Adult Hoodie
$45

We accept most payment types but prefer cash or check to avoid transaction fees. Please plan to pick up items from the barn after you have paid. Our instructors can accept cash or checks but other payment types will need to be organized with Laura.

We can’t wait to see everyone in their new ES gear!

We love when research shows the impact equine assisted services have!

Exciting new research from CSU Equine Sciences is highlighting the potential for horses to support social-emotional learning in youth!

Published in the Journal of Experiential Education, the study evaluated Changing Leads, an 8-week equine-assisted social-emotional learning program delivered through a partnership with Hearts & Horses Therapeutic Riding Center. Thirty-one middle school students from six schools participated in the randomized, waitlist-controlled study.

Following participation in the program, both parents and teachers reported significant improvements in students’ overall social-emotional competencies. Improvements included skills such as social awareness, self-management, relationship skills, decision-making, and optimistic thinking. Importantly, teachers were masked to the purpose of the study, providing an additional measure of the program’s impact beyond parent-reported outcomes.

These preliminary findings provide promising evidence that equine-assisted learning can be a valuable targeted resource for students who may need additional social-emotional support beyond traditional school-based programming.
Congratulations to lead author Sarah Matlock and the entire collaborative team from CSU Department of Animal Sciences, the CSU-School of Education, the Temple Grandin Equine Center, CSU Department of Occupational Therapy, and Hearts & Horses Therapeutic Riding Center on this important contribution to the growing science behind equine-assisted services!