The Strategic Learning and Special Education Institute of Trinidad & Tobago is hosting a walk-a-thon and family day on Friday to raise funds to pay for its new curriculum. The venue is the Eddie Hart Grounds in Tacarigua.
The event will feature games, rides and face-painting for the children. Parents and other interested parties will have an opportunity to find out more about Autism Spectrum Disorder programme.
The event will feature games, rides and face-painting for the children. Parents and other interested parties will have an opportunity to find out more about Autism Spectrum Disorder programme.
Dave Nelson, a specialist from the Community College in Atlanta, will also be present to share insights and answer questions.
The Trincity-based Strategic Learning and Special Education Institute attends to the needs of children with a range of learning disabilities, and in particular those who have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
It is generally accepted among educators and care-givers of children with special needs that it is possible for each child to reach full academic, social and linguistic potential, with proper care and guidance – regardless of the severity of the disability.
The Principal of the Institute, established in 2000, Susan De Freitas, believes that disabilities manifest differently in each child, and as such, it would be a grave injustice to attempt a global approach to treating with any one disability.
In a media release she explained that the teaching model used at the school known as the Developmental, Individual- difference, Relationship-based (DIR) Floortime Approach, is based on an approach developed by the late Stanley Greenspan, former clinical professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at George Washington University Medical School in the US.
“Each child’s unique challenges are pinpointed through a comprehensive assessment to determine the milestones that he may have missed”, said De Freitas.
It is generally accepted among educators and care-givers of children with special needs that it is possible for each child to reach full academic, social and linguistic potential, with proper care and guidance – regardless of the severity of the disability.
The Principal of the Institute, established in 2000, Susan De Freitas, believes that disabilities manifest differently in each child, and as such, it would be a grave injustice to attempt a global approach to treating with any one disability.
In a media release she explained that the teaching model used at the school known as the Developmental, Individual- difference, Relationship-based (DIR) Floortime Approach, is based on an approach developed by the late Stanley Greenspan, former clinical professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at George Washington University Medical School in the US.
“Each child’s unique challenges are pinpointed through a comprehensive assessment to determine the milestones that he may have missed”, said De Freitas.
“We then create a programme specific to that child, to address these deficiencies and gain mastery of the milestone, thereby enabling the child to successfully climb the developmental ladder”.
The Institute has been applying the DIR Floortime Approach for the past six years, during which time it also partnered with DIR specialist Dave Nelson, faculty at the Community School in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Institute has been applying the DIR Floortime Approach for the past six years, during which time it also partnered with DIR specialist Dave Nelson, faculty at the Community School in Atlanta, Georgia.
In addition to spawning the creation of a mentoring programme inclusive of periodic visits from teams specializing in conducting individual student assessment, staff and parent training workshops, the collaboration with the Atlanta school also led to the design of specialized curriculum aimed at educating local students aged 13 to 18, diagnosed with ASD.
De Freitas is confident about the positive impact the new curriculum will have on those with ASD in Trinidad and Tobago, and maintains that education for children with special needs should be a right and not merely an entitlement.
De Freitas is confident about the positive impact the new curriculum will have on those with ASD in Trinidad and Tobago, and maintains that education for children with special needs should be a right and not merely an entitlement.
(For more information please contact Susan De Freitas at (868) 640-5437)
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