December 6, 2025 • 13 mins
We spoke with Ashley McClain, director and founder of Beyond the Horizon, about the organization's adaptive and sensory-friendly programming for individuals with disabilities and their families to make everyone feel supported, empowered, and understood.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. I'm
Alison de Murz. My guest this morning is Ashley McLain.
She is director and founder of Beyond the Horizon. Good morning,
Good morning. So for those who don't know about Beyond
the Horizon, how did it come about?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
So it kind of came about very unintentionally. I have
a son that's on the spectrum. His name is Colton.
He is eight years old, and I started to see
that there was really not a lot of opportunities, if
you will, for kids like him to attend various events.
So my husband and I got together. You know, we
have a pillar program of Beyond the Horizon called Linked
(00:41):
Autism Safety Project, where we reached out to our local
police department just to make them aware that my son
was on the spectrum. That kind of took off much
bigger than I ever expected, and then helped us create
the program Beyond the Horizon, where we host sensory friendly, adaptive,
inclusive event vents for our community and surrounding areas, as
(01:03):
well as training for first responders, family support programs. We
just kind of continue to grow with what the needs
are of the community.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
And let's talk about all of those programs and services,
events and activities. Did you ever think you would be
doing all of this?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Never? My background is in higher education. I'm a dance
instructor as well too, So never in my life did
I think I'd be doing this work. And now I'm
a nonprofit director that works with first responders around the country.
Really we've grown into a national program at this point.
I'm a certified trainer for police, fire and ems around
(01:42):
the state and I'm meeting just so many wonderful families
through the programming and the work that we're doing, and
it's really building an amazing community of support, not only
for my son, but for my daughter as well through
siblings that she meets, and for our family as well.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Are you in a particular area of the state.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So, we live in North Bramford, Connecticut, and we do
a lot of our programming in the New Haven County area.
We're really lucky that the North Bramford Parks and Recreation
Department provides space to us to host much of our programming,
but we also host various events throughout the states with
the partnerships and collaborations that we have.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
What is your web address for those who would like
to check you out.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
It's www. Dot Beyond the Horizon, Inc. Dot com.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Wonderful. All right, let's talk about adaptive events and activities absolutely.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
You know, our organization really works with our families to
hear what they want and what their needs are. And
we have a regular adaptive dance class that we teach
to individuals that are interested, and we have a number
of performances with our dance troupe, if you will. We
call that the Embrace Dance Troupe because we embrace all
different disabilities. Dancers will be performing at a show this
(03:02):
week in a holiday show. They're also going to be
performing with the Bridgeport Islanders during a break at one
of their hockey games this coming March. You know, we
host inclusive community events where we try really hard to
spread awareness and education to the community about individuals with differences.
(03:22):
We have a couple holiday events coming up, a Sensory
Santa coming up. We're hosting a sensory space at our
tree lighting in town this weekend. We're also going to
be starting an adaptive basketball league. We host a number
of different events throughout the year that are really catering
to the needs of our community.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
What kind of feedback have you received from the children
and their families.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
You know, they love it and they're building friendships, which
is really what is the most important thing. Being able
to see, you know, individuals with different communication abilities and
sometimes there's no verbal language there, you know, but just
the smiles and the gestures and the hugs with one another,
knowing that they can be in a safe, inclusive environment
(04:06):
with no judgment, both for the individuals and their families.
It's it's just as a parent, it honestly leaves me
speechless because you know, our kids are a little different
at times and people don't understand them. But being able
to have the safe, inclusive place where everyone gets you,
there's no judgment, it's it's just heartwarming.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Honestly, those are the operative words get you. It's wonderful
when somebody gets you because you get it, You've walked it,
you've talked it, you've lived.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
It, absolutely and truly. You know, it's just understanding everyone
is different, regardless of a diagnosis or not. So, you know,
as much as we provide the adaptive and sensory friendly programming,
it's really important for the community to understand, you know,
the differences among some of the individuals that we work with,
and although there are differences, they're just like everyone else.
(04:59):
They have some really amazing skilled, really amazing talents, you know,
and it just looks different. Sometimes. We're really excited that
we were just able to implement communication boards in our
community parks here in our town. So it's really providing
exposure to the community about understanding that communication looks different,
(05:20):
and we're really excited and we've got some really great
feedback about that recently as well.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Do what advice would you offer to a parent whose
child was recently diagnosed on the spectrum.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
I think the first bit of advice, and I wish
someone told me this when my son was first diagnosed,
is just take a deep breath. You know. The best
advice I've been given was by another mom of a
child on the spectrum who is older than my son,
and she said, it's not going to get easier, but
you're going to get tougher. And that has stuck with me,
(05:52):
and I really truly believe that my son has changed
the view on how I look at life, how I
do things, how I things and it's it's given me
a tough skin, but it's made me a better person.
So for those parents that are you know, having children
that are getting diagnosis. It's going to be okay. You're
going to get through it, and you're going to grow
(06:13):
a tough skin and you're going to become someone you
never thought you possibly would be. But it's not a
bad thing. Kids are there to support us the whole way.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
I have faith in my life, and I've always believed
that there was no coincidence that whatever you believe, the
creator of the world, God, whatever, chose you as this
child's parent because they he knew that you would be
perfect for them. I always look at it that way.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
I one hundred. We are very much a faithful family
as well too. And you know, I will say Colton
was a surprise for us, but I say God knew
exactly what he was doing, and he completed our family,
and he's made us a better family, a better understanding family.
As much as my son learns from my daughter, my
(07:01):
daughter does not have a diagnosis. My daughter learns so
much from my son about just being a good person,
being patient, being caring, being kind, And he truly has
made us the family that we are. And I know
God knew what he was doing when he put him
in our lives.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
So you have a family and siblings support group that
you offer as well.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
We do. Yes. I noticed that we were doing, you know,
various events for the individuals with varying diagnoses, and what
was happening is we were having siblings come to those
events and they kind of just flocked together, if you will.
And there is a program, an international program called sib
Shop that actually the director of our park and rec
(07:45):
in town, Carrie Haynes, received the certification and she's our
official sib Shop facilitator, if you will. And the siblings
get together pretty much quarterly and they have their own events.
We just had one around Halloween where they decorated pumpkins,
they talked about what they were grateful for. It was
kind of a mixture of Halloween and Thanksgiving. And through
(08:08):
the events that they're doing, they're realizing that some of
the things that make their families different other people are
experiencing as well too. So as the individuals within our
community are building bonds, the siblings are being able to
do that too and making connections so that they're forming
relationships and friendships and understanding, you know, it's not my family,
(08:32):
not just my family that's going through this, and they're
being able to find people that they can connect with,
they can share stories with, that they can rely on
in times of support, if you will very nice.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
I mean, sometimes kids on the spectrum can be the
squeaky wheel and the other children have to take a
back seat. And then other times the child on the
spectrum takes a back seat because you have to take
care of those other children. So it's wonderful that everybody
can learn from each other and also support each other.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Absolutely, it's really been rewarding. And I see the friendships
that my daughter is forming as well through these groups,
and it just it makes me happy to see that
she has those relationships now.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Earlier, you mentioned the autism safety project with first responder training,
et cetera. Let's talk about this autism safety project. What
is it exactly?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Absolutely, so, there's a number of different components. Through linked
to autism safety projects, we provide a number of resources
to both the families and to the first responder community.
And it's not limited to just those individuals with autism.
It's encompassing all disabilities and differences. Essentially, it's building a
(09:44):
bridge between the first responder and the disability community. And
how we do that is by sharing the resources. So
we have a voluntary registration form that's provided to municipalities
and they can have residents in their community fill out
these forms and those forms are then kept at the
police department, fire department's EMS providers, so if they're ever
(10:05):
dispatched to a home, they have significant information that is
provided to the first responder before they even arrive to
the scene, so they might know of differences that the
person has, whether it be communication, whether it be behavior,
and they can use that information to tailor how they
respond to the call, if you will. We also provide
(10:28):
sensory kits for police cruisers, fire trucks, and ambulances that
have a wide variety of sensory toys, if you will,
or tools I like to call them, everything from communication
tools to body socks to noise canceling headphones, like sensitivity
glasses that the first responders can keep in their apparatus
(10:49):
so that they can use at the time that they're
interacting with a person potentially with a cognitive, intellectual, or
physical disability. We host sensory friendly events with police departartment's,
fire departments EMS providers where we're introducing the communities to
one another before there is an emergency situation, so it's
a safe, caring environment. And I think the biggest thing
(11:12):
is that we provide trainings to first responders. As I mentioned,
I'm certified through the State of Connecticut as a Police
Officer Standards Training instructor as well as the Department of
Public Health. So I provide trainings at the Fire Academy,
the Police Academy with EMS providers throughout the state on
how to understand recognize behaviors, differences within individuals, and how
(11:37):
they can respond to calls and use the information that
they're learning to make it a more calming, positive interaction
for both parties.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Oh my goodness, I think that is absolutely brilliant. It
just blesses my heart in so many ways because it
could go so wrong and now you're going to make
it so much easier on everyone.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Absolutely, and it's really just a little bit of understanding
for both sides, if you will, and you know, allowing parents.
We have parent workshops where we talk to parents about
the roles and responsibilities of first responders and what the
role that parents can do to make this situation more comfortable.
It's not always just on the first responders. We as
family need to take initiative as well too, and it's
(12:21):
again bridging that gap so that we don't have any
more scarier awful situations happen, and there's really just a
better understanding of each other's community.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Ashley, Do you need volunteers? How about donations?
Speaker 2 (12:36):
We'll never say no to volunteers or donations for sure.
You know, we're actually hosting a fundraiser right now where
there's a two hundred dollars lottery scratch ticket raffle basket
that people can purchase tickets and we're going to be
you know, selecting that winner in I think it's December fifteenth,
if I if I have my calendar correct, you know,
(12:57):
but we always are open to various donations a lot
of our events, most all of our events we don't
charge any fees for the attendees as well too, because
we don't want that to be a hindrance in them coming.
So being able to receive donations and have volunteers there
for our Sensory Stance event, we're very excited. We have
various high school groups that are going to be coming
(13:18):
in and volunteering with us as well as well as
some special education staff from our district, and you know,
we're just really excited to be bringing the community together
to have a good time. But yes, we'll never say
no to volunteers or donations for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
I'm speaking with Ashley McClain. She is director and founder
of Beyond the Horizon. Again. If you'd like to volunteer,
make a donation, or find out more, go to Beyond
the Horizon Inc. Dot com. Ashley, thank you so much
for being here today and for the amazing work that
you're doing.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Thank you, Alison, I appreciate it.
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. I'm
Alison de Murz. My guest this morning is Ashley McLain.
She is director and founder of Beyond the Horizon. Good morning,
Good morning. So for those who don't know about Beyond
the Horizon, how did it come about?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
So it kind of came about very unintentionally. I have
a son that's on the spectrum. His name is Colton.
He is eight years old, and I started to see
that there was really not a lot of opportunities, if
you will, for kids like him to attend various events.
So my husband and I got together. You know, we
have a pillar program of Beyond the Horizon called Linked
(00:41):
Autism Safety Project, where we reached out to our local
police department just to make them aware that my son
was on the spectrum. That kind of took off much
bigger than I ever expected, and then helped us create
the program Beyond the Horizon, where we host sensory friendly, adaptive,
inclusive event vents for our community and surrounding areas, as
(01:03):
well as training for first responders, family support programs. We
just kind of continue to grow with what the needs
are of the community.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
And let's talk about all of those programs and services,
events and activities. Did you ever think you would be
doing all of this?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Never? My background is in higher education. I'm a dance
instructor as well too, So never in my life did
I think I'd be doing this work. And now I'm
a nonprofit director that works with first responders around the country.
Really we've grown into a national program at this point.
I'm a certified trainer for police, fire and ems around
(01:42):
the state and I'm meeting just so many wonderful families
through the programming and the work that we're doing, and
it's really building an amazing community of support, not only
for my son, but for my daughter as well through
siblings that she meets, and for our family as well.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Are you in a particular area of the state.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So, we live in North Bramford, Connecticut, and we do
a lot of our programming in the New Haven County area.
We're really lucky that the North Bramford Parks and Recreation
Department provides space to us to host much of our programming,
but we also host various events throughout the states with
the partnerships and collaborations that we have.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
What is your web address for those who would like
to check you out.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
It's www. Dot Beyond the Horizon, Inc. Dot com.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Wonderful. All right, let's talk about adaptive events and activities absolutely.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
You know, our organization really works with our families to
hear what they want and what their needs are. And
we have a regular adaptive dance class that we teach
to individuals that are interested, and we have a number
of performances with our dance troupe, if you will. We
call that the Embrace Dance Troupe because we embrace all
different disabilities. Dancers will be performing at a show this
(03:02):
week in a holiday show. They're also going to be
performing with the Bridgeport Islanders during a break at one
of their hockey games this coming March. You know, we
host inclusive community events where we try really hard to
spread awareness and education to the community about individuals with differences.
(03:22):
We have a couple holiday events coming up, a Sensory
Santa coming up. We're hosting a sensory space at our
tree lighting in town this weekend. We're also going to
be starting an adaptive basketball league. We host a number
of different events throughout the year that are really catering
to the needs of our community.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
What kind of feedback have you received from the children
and their families.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
You know, they love it and they're building friendships, which
is really what is the most important thing. Being able
to see, you know, individuals with different communication abilities and
sometimes there's no verbal language there, you know, but just
the smiles and the gestures and the hugs with one another,
knowing that they can be in a safe, inclusive environment
(04:06):
with no judgment, both for the individuals and their families.
It's it's just as a parent, it honestly leaves me
speechless because you know, our kids are a little different
at times and people don't understand them. But being able
to have the safe, inclusive place where everyone gets you,
there's no judgment, it's it's just heartwarming.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Honestly, those are the operative words get you. It's wonderful
when somebody gets you because you get it, You've walked it,
you've talked it, you've lived.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
It, absolutely and truly. You know, it's just understanding everyone
is different, regardless of a diagnosis or not. So, you know,
as much as we provide the adaptive and sensory friendly programming,
it's really important for the community to understand, you know,
the differences among some of the individuals that we work with,
and although there are differences, they're just like everyone else.
(04:59):
They have some really amazing skilled, really amazing talents, you know,
and it just looks different. Sometimes. We're really excited that
we were just able to implement communication boards in our
community parks here in our town. So it's really providing
exposure to the community about understanding that communication looks different,
(05:20):
and we're really excited and we've got some really great
feedback about that recently as well.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Do what advice would you offer to a parent whose
child was recently diagnosed on the spectrum.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
I think the first bit of advice, and I wish
someone told me this when my son was first diagnosed,
is just take a deep breath. You know. The best
advice I've been given was by another mom of a
child on the spectrum who is older than my son,
and she said, it's not going to get easier, but
you're going to get tougher. And that has stuck with me,
(05:52):
and I really truly believe that my son has changed
the view on how I look at life, how I
do things, how I things and it's it's given me
a tough skin, but it's made me a better person.
So for those parents that are you know, having children
that are getting diagnosis. It's going to be okay. You're
going to get through it, and you're going to grow
(06:13):
a tough skin and you're going to become someone you
never thought you possibly would be. But it's not a
bad thing. Kids are there to support us the whole way.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
I have faith in my life, and I've always believed
that there was no coincidence that whatever you believe, the
creator of the world, God, whatever, chose you as this
child's parent because they he knew that you would be
perfect for them. I always look at it that way.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
I one hundred. We are very much a faithful family
as well too. And you know, I will say Colton
was a surprise for us, but I say God knew
exactly what he was doing, and he completed our family,
and he's made us a better family, a better understanding family.
As much as my son learns from my daughter, my
(07:01):
daughter does not have a diagnosis. My daughter learns so
much from my son about just being a good person,
being patient, being caring, being kind, And he truly has
made us the family that we are. And I know
God knew what he was doing when he put him
in our lives.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
So you have a family and siblings support group that
you offer as well.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
We do. Yes. I noticed that we were doing, you know,
various events for the individuals with varying diagnoses, and what
was happening is we were having siblings come to those
events and they kind of just flocked together, if you will.
And there is a program, an international program called sib
Shop that actually the director of our park and rec
(07:45):
in town, Carrie Haynes, received the certification and she's our
official sib Shop facilitator, if you will. And the siblings
get together pretty much quarterly and they have their own events.
We just had one around Halloween where they decorated pumpkins,
they talked about what they were grateful for. It was
kind of a mixture of Halloween and Thanksgiving. And through
(08:08):
the events that they're doing, they're realizing that some of
the things that make their families different other people are
experiencing as well too. So as the individuals within our
community are building bonds, the siblings are being able to
do that too and making connections so that they're forming
relationships and friendships and understanding, you know, it's not my family,
(08:32):
not just my family that's going through this, and they're
being able to find people that they can connect with,
they can share stories with, that they can rely on
in times of support, if you will very nice.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
I mean, sometimes kids on the spectrum can be the
squeaky wheel and the other children have to take a
back seat. And then other times the child on the
spectrum takes a back seat because you have to take
care of those other children. So it's wonderful that everybody
can learn from each other and also support each other.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Absolutely, it's really been rewarding. And I see the friendships
that my daughter is forming as well through these groups,
and it just it makes me happy to see that
she has those relationships now.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Earlier, you mentioned the autism safety project with first responder training,
et cetera. Let's talk about this autism safety project. What
is it exactly?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Absolutely, so, there's a number of different components. Through linked
to autism safety projects, we provide a number of resources
to both the families and to the first responder community.
And it's not limited to just those individuals with autism.
It's encompassing all disabilities and differences. Essentially, it's building a
(09:44):
bridge between the first responder and the disability community. And
how we do that is by sharing the resources. So
we have a voluntary registration form that's provided to municipalities
and they can have residents in their community fill out
these forms and those forms are then kept at the
police department, fire department's EMS providers, so if they're ever
(10:05):
dispatched to a home, they have significant information that is
provided to the first responder before they even arrive to
the scene, so they might know of differences that the
person has, whether it be communication, whether it be behavior,
and they can use that information to tailor how they
respond to the call, if you will. We also provide
(10:28):
sensory kits for police cruisers, fire trucks, and ambulances that
have a wide variety of sensory toys, if you will,
or tools I like to call them, everything from communication
tools to body socks to noise canceling headphones, like sensitivity
glasses that the first responders can keep in their apparatus
(10:49):
so that they can use at the time that they're
interacting with a person potentially with a cognitive, intellectual, or
physical disability. We host sensory friendly events with police departartment's,
fire departments EMS providers where we're introducing the communities to
one another before there is an emergency situation, so it's
a safe, caring environment. And I think the biggest thing
(11:12):
is that we provide trainings to first responders. As I mentioned,
I'm certified through the State of Connecticut as a Police
Officer Standards Training instructor as well as the Department of
Public Health. So I provide trainings at the Fire Academy,
the Police Academy with EMS providers throughout the state on
how to understand recognize behaviors, differences within individuals, and how
(11:37):
they can respond to calls and use the information that
they're learning to make it a more calming, positive interaction
for both parties.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Oh my goodness, I think that is absolutely brilliant. It
just blesses my heart in so many ways because it
could go so wrong and now you're going to make
it so much easier on everyone.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Absolutely, and it's really just a little bit of understanding
for both sides, if you will, and you know, allowing parents.
We have parent workshops where we talk to parents about
the roles and responsibilities of first responders and what the
role that parents can do to make this situation more comfortable.
It's not always just on the first responders. We as
family need to take initiative as well too, and it's
(12:21):
again bridging that gap so that we don't have any
more scarier awful situations happen, and there's really just a
better understanding of each other's community.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Ashley, Do you need volunteers? How about donations?
Speaker 2 (12:36):
We'll never say no to volunteers or donations for sure.
You know, we're actually hosting a fundraiser right now where
there's a two hundred dollars lottery scratch ticket raffle basket
that people can purchase tickets and we're going to be
you know, selecting that winner in I think it's December fifteenth,
if I if I have my calendar correct, you know,
(12:57):
but we always are open to various donations a lot
of our events, most all of our events we don't
charge any fees for the attendees as well too, because
we don't want that to be a hindrance in them coming.
So being able to receive donations and have volunteers there
for our Sensory Stance event, we're very excited. We have
various high school groups that are going to be coming
(13:18):
in and volunteering with us as well as well as
some special education staff from our district, and you know,
we're just really excited to be bringing the community together
to have a good time. But yes, we'll never say
no to volunteers or donations for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
I'm speaking with Ashley McClain. She is director and founder
of Beyond the Horizon. Again. If you'd like to volunteer,
make a donation, or find out more, go to Beyond
the Horizon Inc. Dot com. Ashley, thank you so much
for being here today and for the amazing work that
you're doing.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Thank you, Alison, I appreciate it.
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