Adirondack Helping Hands is also proud and excited to offer the Play Project to children with Autism.  The Play Project is a research based, intensive program for young children with Autism that promotes engagement in a playful way to foster development.  Children, including children with Autism, learn best through play in their natural environment.  As Dr. Rick Solomon, the creator and founder of the Play Project says, “When you do what the child loves the child will love being with you.”   

https://www.playproject.org/

To attend one of Adirondack Helping Hands’ classrooms, a child must present with very specific needs and must be approved by the child’s school district’s Committee on Preschool Special Education.

Our classrooms provide instruction from a Special Education Teacher, Speech-Language Pathologist, Occupational and Physical Therapists, and a School Counselor, along with a Teaching Assistant. All services are received during the five-hour classroom day. Our school has two Integrated classrooms, each of which have up to 8 children with IEP’s are integrated with up to 6 neurotypical children from our community. Currently, Saranac UPK has a contract for the community placements. This setting provides children the opportunity to engage with peers while having the support of a special education teacher and other staff members to help the child meet their developmental milestones. Our school also has two self-contained classrooms, each of which has up to 13 children with IEP’s receiving all of their services. In this setting a child who benefits from repeated, small group instruction would be best suited for this classroom.  A child in this classroom may need additional support to solidify their developmental goals.  Adirondack Helping Hands utilizes the Creative Curriculum in both classrooms to help meet children’s needs. The Creative Curriculum encompasses academic and cognitive growth while the teachers and staff members alike follow the child’s lead.  Research has proven time and again that when we follow a child’s lead, the child’s foundation for learning is enhanced making higher level skills more attainable and carryover more probable.  

All staff at Adirondack Helping Hands are trained in a child-first format, where getting to know the child and building on his/her strengths is expected to help the child meet his or her developmental goals.  Adirondack Helping Hands is also proud and excited to offer the Play Project to children with Autism.  The Play Project is a research based, intensive program for young children with Autism that promotes engagement in a playful way to foster development.  Children, including children with Autism, learn best through play in their natural environment.  As Dr. Rick Solomon, the creator and founder of the Play Project says, “When you do what the child loves the child will love being with you.”   

Evaluations and Services can address needs in the following developmental domains:

• Physical skills include Fine and Gross motor, along with Sensory Function and Processing.

   ○ Fine motor skills are those skills that require small muscle movements, such as pinching, grasping, and writing. Sensory Function and Processing refers to the way the nervous system receives messages from the senses (messages relating to touch, sound, sight, smell, temperature, movement, etc.) and turns them into appropriate motor and behavioral responses. These needs would be addressed by an Occupational Therapist.

   ○ Gross motor skills are those skills that require large muscle movements, such as jumping, walking, running, and throwing. These needs would be addressed by a Physical Therapist.

• Communication skills include receptive and expressive language skills. Receptive language is how a child understands language, including things such vocabulary, directions, questions, and grammatical structures. Expressive language is how a child uses language, including things such as vocabulary, asking and answering questions, and using grammatical structures. These needs would be addressed by a Speech-Language Pathologist.

• Cognitive skills include attention, thinking, problem solving, and playing. These needs would be address by a Special Education Teacher.

• Adaptive skills include those skills needed to take care of ones’ self, such as feeding, dressing, and toileting. These skills, depending on the significance of your child’s needs, would be addressed by either a Special Education Teacher or an Occupational Therapist.

• Social-Emotional skills include how a child interacts with others and expresses and understands emotions. These skills, depending on the significance of your child’s needs, would be addressed by either a Special Education Teacher or a School Counselor.

○ Parent Training- This service is available should your family feel you could benefit from additional support.

These services, depending upon a child’s age and specific needs, can be provided in a child’s home or daycare, in a community setting, or in one of our four special education classrooms.

Evaluations and Services can address needs in the following developmental domains:

•Physical skills include Fine and Gross motor, along with Sensory Function and Processing.

   ○Fine motor skills are those skills that require small muscle movements, such as pinching, grasping, and writing. Sensory Function and Processing refers to the way the nervous system receives messages from the senses (messages relating to touch, sound, sight, smell, temperature, movement, etc.) and turns them into appropriate motor and behavioral responses. These needs would be addressed by an Occupational Therapist.

   ○Gross motor skills are those skills that require large muscle movements, such as jumping, walking, running, and throwing. These needs would be addressed by a Physical Therapist.

•Communication skills include receptive and expressive language skills. Receptive language is how a child understands language, including things such vocabulary, directions, questions, and grammatical structures. Expressive language is how a child uses language, including things such as vocabulary, asking and answering questions, and using grammatical structures. These needs would be addressed by a Speech-Language Pathologist.

•Cognitive skills include attention, thinking, problem solving, and playing. These needs would be address by a Special Instruction Teacher.

•Adaptive skills include those skills needed to take care of ones’ self, such as feeding, dressing, and toileting. These skills, depending on the significance of your child’s needs, would be addressed by either a Special Instruction Teacher or an Occupational Therapist.

•Social-Emotional skills include how a child interacts with others and expresses and understands emotions. These skills would be addressed by a Special Instruction Teacher.

   ○Parent Training- This service is available should your family feel you could benefit from additional support.

These services, depending upon a child’s age and specific needs, can be provided in a child’s home or daycare, or in a community setting.