Programs - Therapeutic Day School Opening
2008
The Alexander Leigh Center for Autism is a year-round therapeutic day school that will provide
multi-disciplinary services to children with ASD that are between the ages of 5 and 10. The
maximum enrollment at present will be 10 children. The children will attend a year round program
Monday thru Friday 9:00am – 2:30pm. There will be several breaks during the year for staff
in-service, family workshops, continuing education as well as for vacations and holidays. A full
calendar will be given to each family upon acceptance into Alexander Leigh Center for Autism.
Para-Professional:
Each child will be assigned a Para-Professional (Para). Each Para will participate in all therapy
sessions with their child to learn specific therapy techniques, provide continuity, follow-through and
on going training specific to their child. The Para will follow and implement the child’s program,
maintain a daily communication log between home and Alexander Leigh Center for Autism and
attend all team meetings.
Occupational Therapy:
Each child will have a sensory diet created specifically for them by the Alexander Leigh Center for Autism Occupational Therapist. Focus will be on gross and fine motor skills, regulation,
increasing independence in daily living skills, improving sensory processing and carryover into the
overall individualized program. The Occupational Therapist will also incorporate group activities to help develop
relationship and play skills.
Speech/Language Therapy:
Each child’s different communication style will be taken into account. The focus of therapy will be
on communication and interactions, understanding language and one’s environment. Visual supports
and other cues will be used as needed. A Speech Language Pathologist will facilitate peer
interactions and group activities.
Education Therapy:
Each child will have an individual developmental learning program. There are many different
treatment approaches that may be used to help support and strengthen the child’s individual learning
style. The Alexander Leigh Center for Autism Special Education Teacher will recommend and
implement the appropriate teaching styles as well as establish and monitor the goals that have been
set for each child. Each child will receive the level of pre-academics or academics found appropriate
by the Alexander Leigh Center for Autism Special Education Teacher. The academic environment will be adapted to the child’s individual communicative and sensory needs.
Creative Arts
Each child will participate in creative activities such as art, music, symbolic play and supervised “free play”. The goal is to foster independent thinking, initiation of ideas, exploration and the
generalization of skills. Activities to foster social and emotional development will also be included.
An emphasis will be placed on building each child’s self esteem, self-confidence and independence
in a flexible but structured environment.
Family Support
Alexander Leigh Center for Autism believes that teamwork between staff and family provides the
foundation for each child’s individual development. In order to have a cohesive program, we
believe that there needs to be strong carryover across environments. Therefore, we will offer parent
workshops, home visits, consultations with teachers and therapists and a wide referral network.
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