The K.I.T.E. Center (Autism, Jackson, TN)

The K.I.T.E. Center
Jackson, TN
www.thekitecenter.com
thekitecenter@eplus.net

The KITE Center is designed to provide individualized educational programs for students with learning differences, language delays and Autism so each student can achieve the height of their potential.

The KITE Center offers individualized skill level curriculum and therapy programs for development of language, socialization and behavior.

The K.I.T.E. Center offers developmental therapy and individualized educational services including: curriculum, language, social skills and behavioral development. The ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) approach is utilized in conjunction with the discrete trial protocol for a comprehensive and individualized program using multi modalities, reinforcing each child's strengths and improving areas of weakness.

This method of teaching has been proven effective for teaching a variety of skills in small, incremental steps that give students credit for any advancement in level of performance.

Our low student/teacher ratio allows for a truly comprehensive and individualized curriculum and therapy program and the added component of practicing skills in a hands on environment makes The KITE Center a revolutionary program designed to meet the needs of a variety of students with special attention given to each student's needs and each families concerns.

Visit the Kite Center here.

The Highlands Center for Autism

The Highlands Center for Autism
Highlands Center for Autism
5080 Ky. Rt. 321
Prestonsburg, Ky. 41653
(606) 889-6115
http://www.highlandsautism.org

The Highlands Center for Autism is a private, year-round day school serving children from the earliest diagnosis through school age. The educational foundation of our program is based on ABA, which is an approach that is grounded in decades of research. We offer the only center-based program in Kentucky using ABA in a clinical educational setting. We are a mirror program of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Autism.





Related:
Governor Tours Highlands Center for Autism

Palm Beach School for Autism Implements Apple iPads in Curriculum

Using funds received from a TD Charitable Foundation grant, The Palm Beach School for Autism purchased 15 Apple iPads to be implemented in both the general curriculum and with the speech and language therapists. Studies have shown that the use of Apple iPads can extend short attention spans, demonstrate understanding, and improve communication skills. Applications like Proloquo2Go provide a full-featured communication solution for people who have difficulty speaking. It brings natural sounding text-to-speech voices, up-to-date symbol, powerful automatic conjugations, default vocabulary of over 7,000 items, full expandability and extreme ease of use to the iPad.

"The Apple iPad fosters improvement across a wide area of skills such as visual and auditory memory, independent functioning, social/emotional, receptive/expressive language, pragmatic/social language and cognitive skills,” said Paula Perretz, speech and language pathologist. “Children with autism have different styles of learning, and the iPad addresses both auditory and visual learning styles. The iPad has apps which help increase desire and motivation to learn, attention to task, short and long term memory, and enables the interaction and development of communication as it is truly a revolutionary high tech dynamic display AAC device.”

The Palm Beach School for Autism, a charter school located in Lantana, Florida provides a developmentally appropriate intense behavior intervention program for children with autism and related disabilities. It addresses the learning needs of its students through individual educational plans, a highly trained teaching staff and choice of curricula to suit the individual needs of the student.

For more information about The Palm Beach School for Autism, please contact Josh Hirsch at (561) 533-9917 or via e-mail at JoshH@pbsfa.org. You can also find us on the Web at www.pbsfa.org
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About The Palm Beach School for Autism:
The mission of The Palm Beach School for Autism is to provide a developmentally appropriate education using intensive behavioral strategies for students with autism spectrum disorder and related disabilities..

The vision and purpose of The Palm Beach School for Autism is to demonstrate that all age students with autism spectrum disorder can learn to lead successful & fulfilling lives through a structured educational program using strategies tailored to each student’s needs.

We address the learning needs of the students that we serve through individual educational plans, a highly trained teaching staff and the choice of curricula to suit the individual needs of the student. Each student’s program will be designed with their unique behavioral traits in mind to overcome their cognitive weaknesses and emphasize their strengths. Behavioral modification is critical to reach academic success for the child with autism spectrum disorder.

Former Sheffield school bought for children with autism

A former girl's private school in Sheffield is to become a school for children with special needs.

Brantwood School, in Nether Edge closed in February 2010 after the Royal Bank of Scotland said it was no longer financially viable.

The building has been bought by Freeman College to become a residential school for seven to 18-year-olds with autism.

David Huff director of Freeman College said he was "delighted" and hoped the school would open in September.

... More at BBC

Adding More Schools for Autism Just Might Defeat the Purpose - National Autism & Parenting | Examiner.com

Adding More Schools for Autism Just Might Defeat the Purpose - National Autism & Parenting | Examiner.com

More Autism Schools Proposed in New Jersey - Good or bad thing?

More Autism Schools Proposed in New Jersey

Gov. Chris Christie has proposed creating additional specialized public schools for educating children with autism in New Jersey, a departure from the current practice in many communities of integrating those children into neighborhood schools.

The governor proposed creating “centers for excellence” in every county, suggesting that such schools could save money for districts and ensure a higher quality of instruction. He told the audience at a town-hall-style meeting in Paramus on Thursday night that “the start-up costs of these programs, if you do it district-by-district, are mind-blowing and the quality is variable.”

Parents and advocates are split over the idea of creating specialized schools for children with autism, reflecting a larger debate nationally over whether those children are best served in separate programs or in general-education classes.

Critics of the idea say that children with disabilities gain valuable academic and social skills from interacting with their peers without disabilities, and also develop closer ties to their communities.

“We’re horrified at this suggestion to have another segregated setting for children with autism in every county in New Jersey,” said Diana Autin, executive co-director of the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network, a nonprofit group that assists families. “It would also send a message to parents that children with autism can’t be included.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE NEW YORK TIMES HERE

Soaring Eagle Academy

Soaring Eagle Academy

8320 S. Madison Street
Burr Ridge IL 60527

Phone: 630-323-2900

Email:contact@soaringeagleacademy.org

Website:http://soaringeagleacademy.org

The Mission and Vision of Soaring Eagle Academy

Our Mission
To provide a social and academic learning environment for students with special needs supporting their individual strengths and learning styles while integrating learning and interaction within a Developmental Individual-Difference Relationship (DIR®) Based Approach.

Our Vision
Soaring Eagle Academy is a safe and nurturing environment where each student and family, teacher and therapist, and other professionals from the community have the opportunity to work together to honor the abilities of the whole child. Together we will respect, embrace and empower students to guide, learn and teach. Students are cared for physically, intellectually, socially and emotionally while engaged in meaningful learning.

• Our learning environment will reflect each child’s interests by integrating their ideas and thoughts into the learning curriculum to develop a joy for learning.
• Student’s need for emotional support will be recognized and supported for maximum learning.
• Spontaneous developmentally appropriate interactions will be facilitated throughout the day.
• Student directed learning will be encouraged and expanded by school staff.
• Learning experiences will support sensory/motor, auditory and visual spatial skill development.
• Semi-structured problem solving experiences will be facilitated and supported in both academic and social situations.
• Assistive Technology tools will be embedded within the learning environment to facilitate communicative and academic success.
• Support treatment including, Therapeutic Listening® and Samonas® Auditory Intervention, and Interactive Metronome® will be utilized support learning.
• Our school philosophy and methodology reflect a Developmental Individual-Difference Relationship (DIR®) Based Approach by which students move through developmental levels for relating, communicating, thinking and learning. Student’s educational goals incorporate the student’s developmental levels, individual learning/sensory profile and Illinois Learning Standards.
• Students develop and practice the ability for regulation and shared attention needed for the foundation of relationships and learning.
• Students develop and practice engagement and trust needed for building relationships and learning.
• Students develop and practice two-way purposeful verbal and gestural communication, opening and closing circles of communication, needed for relationships, problem solving and learning.
• Students develop and practice communicating and problem solving, to create a continuous flow of interaction, needed for learning and relationships.
• Students develop and practice the ability to functionally use ideas to create and expand learning and relationships.
• Students develop and practice building bridges in order to connect ideas and learning logically, facilitating problem solving, imagination, learning and relationships.
• Our student’s will be respected for their individual profile of strengths and weaknesses in 1 on 1, small group and classroom environments.
• Student’s emotions will be respected, verbally acknowledged and validated.
• Students will be encouraged to develop and use strategies for coping and self-regulation.
• Student’s emotional capacities will be developed, expanded and modulated for a range of emotions.
• Student’s ideas and learning choices will be viewed as sacred while respecting and maximizing each child’s potential.
• Students learning opportunities will encourage self-expression, creativity, self-image and an excitement for the school experience.
• Student’s social interactions with peers and staff will be facilitated and supported in all learning environments.
• Our school staff is a comprehensive team of professionals working together to facilitate and support student learning.
• Our staff is a dedicated, caring, compassionate group of individuals who appreciate and respect each child’s challenges and accomplishments.
• Teacher to student ratio is closely monitored to maximize each students learning.
• A core team of related services that may include Speech/Language Pathologist, Occupational Therapist, Social Worker, Psychologist, Relationship-Based Practices Consultants and Program Facilitator will support all classroom teachers and teacher assistants.
• All staff will participate in initial and ongoing training in the Developmental Individual-Difference Relationship (DIR®) Based Approach.
• Parents will be respected as active partners in their child’s education through observation, training, support, and classroom visits.
• Parents will become knowledgeable in the DIR® Based Approach utilized in our school.
• Parents will be empowered by learning skills for advocacy for successful participation in their child’s educational plan.
• Parents will be given opportunities for continued training and coaching in DIR® Based Approach implemented in our school.
• Parents will be encouraged to be involved in scheduled weekly classroom activities.
• Parents will be given opportunities to learn about community resources.
• Our school hopes to expand individual student growth by creating additional opportunities for learning.
• Students will have opportunities for typical peer interactions through reverse mainstreaming.
• Students will have the opportunity to continue in a DIR® Based Approach through high school/vocational program.
• Our program plans to serve as a model school implementing a DIR® Based Approach.
• Our program will serve as a training site for parents, professionals and school districts, searching for knowledge in the DIR® Approach.
• Our program plans to develop a DIR® Based Curriculum to be utilized within our school and shared with other interested programs.
• Our program hopes to gather information regarding implementation and results of DIR® based educational intervention for research purposes.