Our curriculum targets

• Communication
• Problem Solving
• Coping, Adaptive, & Self-Regulatory Skills
• Instructional Control
• Play and Social Skills

We target these essential areas of your child's development due to their impact on learning.

Communication:  A deficit in this essential developmental skill often manifests intense maladaptive behaviors.  When children are able to communicate their wants and needs, the need for tantrum and other unwanted behaviors decreases.  We teach communication to children by promoting the use of spoken language, picture exchange, and signs/gestures.  Skinner’s analysis of Verbal Behavior is the foundation of all our communication training programs.  CLICK HERE for "Communication Enhancement Stratagies*"

Problem Solving:  This developmental skill enables the child to engage in unknown situations.  We begin teaching the child how to adaptively protest in a controlled environment.  We then expand the child's ability to request help, identify problems, and develop/implement solutions.

Coping, Adaptive, & Self-regulatory Skills:  Transitions, changing environments, unexpected events, and demands can escalate a child’s frustration.  Heighten levels of frustrations can impede the child’s ability to learn and function in his environment.  We support the child to cope/self-regulate during these difficult times.  For example, providing presets and visual supports (i.e. picture schedules) generate an increased success tolerating these frustrating events.  As a result, the child’s learning and functioning in his enviornment may continue throughout the day without interruption.

Instructional Control:  Active engagement on instructional tasks - A child’s ability to engage and participate during instructional tasks directly correlates with rate of skill acquisition.  Improving this area of need can also be referred to as compliance training; however, our programming should not be confused with teaching the child to complete meaningless or nonfunctional tasks.  We begin by teaching the child to engage an adult with clear contingencies that are within the child’s skill sets.  Then, build those relevant skills to improve the child’s instructional experience and participation in a group setting.  As a result, the child can increase her participation in instructional settings and can further her inclusion into a natural environment.

Play/Social Skills:  Children typically develop social skills during their early years through a series of enriched experiences.  During play, children develop social skills such as sharing, cooperation, and turn taking.  More improtantly, relationships are enriched through play while developing cognition and emotional growth.  Stanley Greenspan, M.D. (Floor Time / DIR Model) and Steven Gutstein, Ph.D. (RDI), developed programming to address these developmental needs.