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From all the childhood stories that I have ever heard from my mother, this particular one stands to be one of my personal favorites.

Why?

Because it inspires me to stand up against all odds when things are looking down in life.

This is why I decided to share it with you all today.

I was a dyslexic child.

My mother, who wanted to teach me a few things before I joined school discovered my problem when she was trying to get me accustomed to the English alphabets.

She was very perturbed by the turn of events and starting losing hope for the bright future she had envisioned for me.

She always discussed her problems with my aunt, and this, being a major issue for her had to be talked about.

My aunt is one of the most well-informed and knowledgeable women I have known in my life.

She consoled my mother, citing examples of her neighbor’s child who had dyslexia.

The child, after joining a special needs school in NYC had been able to overcome his learning challenges and is now the topper in his class.

Like all mothers, my mother too was protective about me and saw a ray of hope with this discussion.

She searched for the leading special needs school in NYC and immediately got me enrolled in the one she deemed was best for me.

Apart from confidence building and the other creative exercises we did in school, the teachers at my special needs school advised my mother to take care of a few things at home to help in my learning.

They suggested my mother to ignore some of the errors I made while writing and pay more attention to getting the oral part correct first.

There were days when I clearly remember my mother and my aunt attending classes and therapy sessions with me, just to get a hang of the things that take place at the special needs school in NYC I was enrolled in.

Now that I am about to start practicing as a clinical psychologist, I would give full credit to my mother, my teachers at school and my aunt for believing in me.

Every time I feel bogged down about anything in life, I love having these sessions with my mom wherein she reassures me of my strength and capabilities through the story of how I conquered dyslexia.

The aim of special education schools in NYC is to provide special students with equal opportunity to acquire the appropriate skills and knowledge, give them a chance to stand on their own feet, and maximize their potential as an individual and as members of the greater society.

The goal is to develop a suitable learning environment for special students as per their learning needs at an individual level.

It should be mentioned here that special education is an umbrella term that offers services to students suffering from physical, mental, learning or any other social-emotional challenges.

Special education considers every student with special needs as capable individuals with a multitude of talents and skills, around which a unique educational program is structured.

Thus, the focus is on individual progress and challenges rather than group-oriented studies and various measures are taken to ensure the same. It involves forming a certain educational plan for each student, keeping in view their different learning needs. It also includes exemption from common educational norms not suitable for students with special needs or the allotment of extra time and favorable exam locations.

Special education schools in NYC provide appropriate support and structure to students with special learning needs and also make efforts to improve their communication and emotional processing capabilities. It involves conducting music, occupational and psychological therapies.

Another important aspect of special education schools in NYC is the active involvement of parents in the education of their children. Their progress is discussed with parents at weekly scheduled meetings and in informal discussions from time-to-time.

Such meetings are also vital in helping parents overcome the challenges they might be facing in providing a wholesome upbringing to their children.

Some schools also assign a social worker who works as a mediator between parents and the school.

The aim is to provide special students with the apposite support and guidance in school as well as at home and help them succeed in various fields of their life.

Special Education in America

Just a few decades ago, children with special needs faced many difficulties in learning. There were no specific courses for special learning. These problems significantly affected their lives as well as the way they went about their regular activities.

But that is no longer the case as the present state of special education in NYC, and the US in general, is an indication of how good the future is for special children.

The Rise of Special Education Awareness

Although Braille and hearing aids helped children with visual and auditory challenges, there was no legal program in place to standardize special education. In 1961, the President’s Panel on Intellectual Disability was established which gave its recommendations on the state of special education and the ways to improve it. As a result, President Kennedy, in 1963 introduced legislations to fund special healthcare and to train special education teachers, which was the start of mainstream special education in NYC.

Historic Acts Pertaining to Special Education

The Bureau of Education for the Handicapped was established in 1965, which was later renamed to Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Although its early efforts did not include special programs for public schools, that was soon about to change.

In 1972, the Supreme Court took a big decision – It stated that students with disabilities have equal education rights as regular children. This served as a catalyst for the passing of the “Education for All Individual with Special Needs Act” in 1975, which made it mandatory for regular schools to provide education to children with special needs.

In 1990, establishment of “Americans with Disabilities Act” and “Individuals with Disabilities Education Act” prohibited discrimination based on disabilities and made it compulsory for public schools to pay individual attention to special children.

With the American government playing a crucial role in improving special education in the US, the conditions of special children in the US have greatly improved, and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future.

There is no dearth of behavioral models that target the developmentally deficient areas in children and adolescents who are on the spectrum. However, no model has come as far as the DIR Model in terms of efficacy and popularity. The popularity came only because this model, which was developed by Dr. Stanley Greenspan was sufficient and was able to effectuate noticeable improvements to the deficient areas as well as the challenges faced by autistic children.

Some of the key strategies of the DIR model which can be implemented very conveniently by the parents at home are-

Enumerate some real life experiences of your child’s life which he/she enjoys and play out those experiences using appropriate aids and toys.
Responding to the wishes and desires of your child by pretend play.
Role playing using props, puppets and costumes
Using figures and dolls in games to represent family members
Assigning symbolic definitions for objects in games
Replacing an object with another while using props in games and activities
Suggesting alternative ways to do a particular task/activity and when your child successfully completes the same using the alternate method, praise him/her for coming up with a new idea.
Using obstacles and break downs in the game.
Using figures of your child’s favorite cartoon character or superhero in the games
Employing unconventional ways to help your child overcome his/her fears like introducing the topic or idea gently in a game.
Focusing on the process as you play with your child by identifying the beginning, middle and end.
Reflecting on ideas, themes and feelings in a story and relating them with real life experiences.

These are some simple steps which are a part of the DIR Model that can be implemented by parents of children on the autism spectrum to help the children overcome all sensory, social, verbal, cognitive and intellectual challenges.

Floortime therapy is a treatment model that's widely used to help kids with delayed developmental disorders come out of their shell and bring out the best of their potential. This therapy method encompasses of a series of steps that may be followed by parents to understand their kids with special needs better.

Observe

The key to understanding your kid is observance. Young kids usually behave in confusing and eccentric ways. Every parent ought to recognize that kids communicate through behaviors. To ascertain an excellent communication channel with your kid, you must observe, document and analyze their behaviors. By being attentive to your kid and keeping an eye on them every time, you can verify whether there's a pattern in your child’s behavior. Parents are instructed to make notes upon the assessment of behavioral patterns of your kid for future references.

Approach

Once the assessment is finished, you must approach your kid with appropriate words and gestures if you suspect that there's a natural reason to do so. To develop communication and connection with your child, you must not emphasize sensory stimuli as kids with developmental delays can react very strongly to them. You’ll bond with your kid better by acknowledging the emotional tone and focus on whatever keeps your child partaking.

Follow

Parents must follow the child’s lead. Following the lead in this reference merely implies that you must allow your kid to “take charge” and construct a learning and understanding of the things around them in their own pace. Your role should be of a facilitator in disguise while enjoying providing assistance to the child. This offers parents an understanding about what activities and topics spark the child's intrests.

Extend and expand play

Once you're alert to what is interesting and exciting of your child, you can tailor special exercises for them that don’t feel like they're being forced onto them. Participating in play sessions can provide them the opportunity to express their ideas. After making certain that they are comfortable in a play setting, you can ask those questions to stimulate their creative thinking abilities.

Closing the two-way communication

Parents open the circle the communication with the use of this approach, and the child closes it on the basis of their feedback on your queries and exercises. This may act as a string mechanism as more doors open for communication subsequently. This may also help a child realize the importance of communication.

Schools that specialize in imparting education to kids suffering from Autism offer programs that are highly beneficial to students that are o the spectrum. While these benefits are many, we will focus on a few of them in this post.

A Loving and Caring Environment

Teachers in these schools are specially trained and the infrastructure of the school is specially designed to handle and work with autistic kids. The focus here is to handle mental and social developmental issues that are known to be associated with autism. These can include having the kids perform repetitive tasks such as stacking or arranging items in a particular order. These activities help students understand and hone their organizational skills which prove to be beneficial to them throughout their lives.

Emphasis on Interaction

These kind of special education programs focus mainly on the student’s ability to interact. As most kids suffering from autism find it difficult to interact, they can easily feel discouraged or defeated. This is the reason why in such schools, lessons are fragmented so as to allow individual learning at an individual pace. Over time, students develop better social skills and find it much easier to interact with their teachers, parents and friends.

A Different Approach

The overall well-being of the child must be taken into account when evaluation each child's progress. Academic levels can also tank when a student may be having a hard time emotionally. In such situations autism schools can be highly beneficial as they are specifically trained to handle these type of situations and be aware of each student’s emotional condition on a regular basis.

Lastly, talking to family and friends who know may have had to deal with similar situations can be highly beneficial. Other related resources can be found online as well as in specific autism related centers. Keep an open mind and always make sure you are listening to your child for feedback, as well as inspiration!

My friend lives in NYC. Her son has a learning disability and needs to be enrolled in a special needs school in NYC as his preschool days are almost over. Unlike my daughter who was really excited about her new school, this child was terrified. Seeing him fret and fume over this transition, I realized this change is challenging for children with special needs. Therefore, I decided to write about it and provide a few possible solutions for this situation.

Break the Ice as Early as Possible

It's important that parents to children with special needs inform their child of the upcoming change as early as possible. Let your child know at least a month in advance before the transition is supposed to take place. It will be easier for your child to accept the fact that he/she has to leave the preschool and head to a special needs school. They may get excited about it (which would be great), but if the child faces anxiety, sadness, or any kind of discomfort, you will have enough time to help him/her deal with the upcoming transition and paint the event in a positive light. You can make it more exciting for them by engaging them in special, related activities such as creating a photo book documenting their time at the preschool or putting together a list of all of the wonderful activities they will be able to take part in once they start attending their new school.

Visit to the New School

Although special needs schools in NYC are very friendly, it is important to tour the school personally at least once or twice with your kid in advance. Helping them gain an insight into the environment that he/she is going to spend the coming years in will help them get comfortable with the place on his/her first day at school. It will also help them deal with any ”first day jitters” and allow them to develop a positive outlook into their future in the new school.

Set Your Expectations

Having unrealistic expectations regarding your child's first few days at the new school is not beneficial for you or for your child. You know your child best and hence your expectations from his/her must be set while keeping in mind both their strengths as well as their weaknesses. Discuss these expectations with your child and engage them into sharing their own expectations from the upcoming transition with you.

Last but not the least, teach your child that transition is an indispensable part of their lives. Help them develop into becoming someone who welcomes any kind of change with an open heart and an open mind.

For special needs children, the world can be a rather crude and incongruent place. At times it may feel like the world does not understand them nor do they understand the world. Various types of disorders can be found in children, one of which is Autism. People seem to have a number of preconceived notions about Autism. This is partly due to lack of knowledge and infrastructure when handling such special children. Hard work and loads of patience on the part of both the teachers and parents go a long way in bringing such children into the folds of the so called “conventional” society. While there are some who refuse to accept the fact that such children can be greatly assisted when dealing with their ailments, there are many who believe the opposite to be true, and work day and night towards making the lives of such children a better, brighter one.

Causes of Autism

A lot of research has gone into finding the causes of Autism but as of yet no conclusive findings have been realized. Some of the reasons that have been supposed to be causes of Autism include genetic, cognitive and neurological. The most common symptoms of Autism include repetitive behaviors, difficulties in communication both verbally and non-verbally and problems pertaining to socializing be it within the general society or as part of peer groups. Yet, this does not in any way mean that these children cannot grow up to realize their full potentials, make their own identities and shape their own careers.

Autism Schools in NYC

A number of schools in NYC offer special care and professionally curated programs that cater to children who suffer from Autism. These schools cater to the unique needs of autistic students, are run like conventional schools and are open for both boys and girls. To find which autistic school in NYC is best suited for their children, parents can take tours of potential schools, talk to teachers and therapists, and get a better idea of which program is the best fit for their child. These autism schools in NYC provide a plethora of activities, some of which include obstacle courses and sensory experiences. Emphasis is also put on the creative arts as many autistic children tend to display heightened creative interests and abilities. The teaching methods employed by these schools offer as emphasis on thinking based skills rather than routine learning and memorizing.

As a parent to a child who suffers from Autism, it's important that you thoroughly research the various academic options available for your child. Visit as many Autism schools as possible, do your research and make sure that the programs offered to your child compliment their unique needs and interests.

Yesterday in the subway, I met a special child. His cute smile, quirky eyes and the lovely voice he spoke in.. He was indeed special. After coming back home, I thought of children like him and realized that we so-called ‘normal’ humans, in chasing what is called a ‘normal life’, have somewhat forgotten about them. Regrettably, some members of our society perceive them as a burden, a problem. But I believe that children with special needs are not a problem at all. In fact the problem lies within our own society who perceives them as abnormal. I feel that all of us have the responsibility to make this world a better place for everyone, including them. A world where they can shape their own lives the way they want. For that, we need to help people become educated and aware of the major developments that are happening in the world of special needs services. Specifically, I recently learned about the DIR model (developed by Dr. Stanley Greenspan) that can help them become the best version of themselves that they can be. Many highly successful members of our society suffered from developmental delays. One example that comes to mind is Stephen Hawking, the famous physicist who became a leader in his field despite his disability.

‘D’ stands for – Developmental. According to the DIR model, there are six developmental levels that are quintessential for a child’s emotional as well as intellectual growth. These include two-way communication, complex communication, emotional and logical thinking, self-regulation and interest in the world, emotional ideas, intimacy, engagement and falling in love. So, ‘D’ denotes the method to identify the developmental stage the child is in and accordingly design his education plan.

‘I’ stands for - Individual differences. The model believes that there are certain unique qualities and talents that every child possesses. Each child is different in the way he/she responds to any given situation. The model thus recognizes and gives due significance to the individual differences that all children have. Hence, their way of learning should also be designed differently. Each child must be dealt with individually and should not be compared to others.

‘R’ stands for - Relationships based. It is an integral component because if you want to be helping a child with their emotional or cognitive development you first need to know how much he/she are comfortable with other children, their parents, caretakers, therapists, etc. This approach focusses on increasing self-esteem as well as the confidence of the child.

Floortime is very crucial element in the DIR model which is used for applying the model into practice. It accredits a greater role to the parents and family members in the development of the child as he/she have an emotional relationship with them. In the words of Stanley Greenspan, “Floortime is the cornerstone; the engine that drives the DIR model and drives the developmental process.

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