ABOUT OUR PROGRAM

Comprehensive Treatment Program

The comprehensive program is specifically designed for children who may have delays in more than one area of development and require an interdisciplinary team approach, birth through kindergarten level of functioning. Services are provided by an interdisciplinary team that may be composed of a behavior analyst/specialist, speech therapist, occupational therapist, physical therapist and developmental specialist staff. Licensed clinicians work directly with your child and provide direct hands on training to the family and developmental specialist.   All services are provided at a one-to-one ratio. Therapy takes place in the clinic, home, school and community environments. Intensive collaboration among all team members occurs on a daily basis to ensure the integrity of the child's program.

The Learning Connection Treatment Program

This comprehensive program is specifically designed for children who are "at risk" for an autism spectrum disorder or who have a diagnosis, birth through kindergarten level of functioning. The program paradigm includes three components: behaviorally based teaching methods (ABA), developmental curriculum, and an intensive focus on teaching key learning strategies that underlie the development of cognition and language. Services are provided by an interdisciplinary team that is composed of a behavior analyst/specialist, speech therapist, occupational therapist and developmental specialist staff. Licensed clinicians work directly with your child and provide direct hands on training to the family and developmental specialist.  All services are provided at a one-to-one ratio. Heavy clinician involvement is supported by intervention provided by highly trained developmental specialists. Therapy takes place in the clinic, home, school and community environments. Intensive collaboration among all team members occurs on a daily basis to ensure the integrity of the child's program.

The Infant-Parent Program

This program is designed for infants who are "at risk" for an autism spectrum disorder or other developmental disorders, 3 to 18 months of age.  Many children in this program are siblings of children with autism; some are showing some signs of delay, others are enrolled in the program as a preventative measure.  The program paradigm includes three components: behaviorally based teaching methods (ABA), developmental curriculum, and an intensive focus on teaching key learning strategies that underlie the development of cognition and language.  Services are provided by a small, specialized team that may include a speech therapist, behavior analyst/specialist, occupational therapist, physical therapist or developmental specialist staff.   Interdisciplinary team members work directly with the parent/caregiver and the child, providing hands-on training to the family.  Treatment hours are more heavily weighted towards parent training, approximately 75-100% of sessions.  All services are provided at a one-to-one ratio. Therapy takes place in the clinic and home environments. Intensive collaboration among all team members occurs on a daily basis to ensure the integrity of the child's program.

CLC program design

CLC utilizes a developmental sequenced curriculum taught through behaviorally based teaching methods (ABA), combined with an intensive focus on teaching the child key learning strategies which underlie the development of cognition and language (CLC Learning How to Learn Curriculum) which will allow the child to learn from the environment on his/her own.

CLC's interdisciplinary team addresses deficits in all developmental domains. Our interdisciplinary team design overlaps each of these domains to ensure a more cohesive and comprehensive program:

• Cognition and learning style
• Speech-Language-Communication
• Sensory-Motor Domain
• Social-Emotional-Behavioral
• Self-Help and Feeding

Goals within each domain may address the following deficits, based on the individual needs of the child:

Cognitive and Learning Style Domain:

• Learning readiness (attention, memory, motivation, responsiveness)
• Learning strategies that underlie speech, language and communication
• Play skills
• Problem solving
• General knowledge and comprehension

Speech-Language-Communication Domain:

• Develop and improve speech skills
• Motor speech disorders including Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)
• Articulation/Phonological Disorders
• Increasing initiation of communication and range of reasons to spontaneously communicate*
• Receptive and Expressive Language Disorders (comprehension and formulation of language)
• Auditory and language processing
• Social language skills/Pragmatics

* A strong emphasis is placed on communication skills. The development of these skills gives a child power to control his/her environment. In the beginning stages of therapy, the treatment focuses on how to get the child to understand communicative intent. When the child understands how to use communication, the focus turns to developing receptive language, building vocabulary, and use of the language to control his/her environment.

Sensory-Motor Domain:

• Fine motor skills
• Gross motor skills
• Visual-motor integration
• Development of coordination and motor planning skills
• Sensory-motor integration therapy that allows the child to a more active participant in the learning process.

Social-Emotional-Behavioral Domain:

• Relationship attachment, engagement, and interaction*
• Behavioral Management **
• Self Motivation
• Self Regulation
• Self Monitoring
• Stress Management
• Peer and social skills
• Perspective taking/social thinking
• Developing friendships

* Before a child is able to learn, he/she must become aware of what the world has to offer. At CLC, we believe that programs must focus on attachment, engagement and interaction in the early stages of therapy. When teaching a child any new skill it is our belief that it is not enough for the child to simply generate a correct response. The response must occur in the context of engagement, attention, positive affect and ultimately in context of reciprocal interaction. Our goal is to build reciprocal interactions between the child and the people in the world around them.
** Each child's program includes an individualized Positive Behavior Management program based on a functional analysis of behaviors.

Self-help and Feeding Skills:

• Age-appropriate functioning within daily life
• Sleeping and Feeding issues
• Independence
• Reducing rigidity and increasing flexibility within daily living routines.

Programming Tailored For Infants/Toddlers, for Preschoolers, and for Kindergartners

The abilities of the typically developing child to gain your attention and engage you in communication are amazing! Infants and toddlers share their thoughts by gesturing and verbalizing. They reference you and engage you in reciprocal communication. They are captivated by your facial expressions and react to them. They are social little beings. The skills developed during this first year of life are foundational to learning how to learn. As such, CLC has based our core curriculum for infants and toddlers on typical development. We have extensive experience working with children as young as 3 months.

In our work with infants and toddlers, we have been able to pinpoint key "learning how to learn skills" that prepare a child to move into more typical methods of learning. Preschoolers who exhibit these foundational skills are better learners and are able to use these skills successfully in a preschool setting, as well as to continue learning on their own. This is the time period when treatment in the social setting is introduced. Children may continue to receive one-to-one services in addition to attending their local preschool with support services. CLC continues to use a curriculum that follows the model of typical development in this phase of treatment.

The Kindergartner is at an exciting stage of development! In many cases the child will be entering a typical Kindergarten classroom, with or without some level of support. CLC uses a developmental curriculum, allowing the child to become an independent learner and to establish pre-academic skills. More importantly, this is the phase where earlier developed skills come together to allow the child to establish friendships, take others' perspectives and to problem solve.

Parent Collaboration

In all CLC programs, parents are considered to be an integral part of the team. Parents are encouraged to attend and actively participate in treatment sessions. Parent education is heavily emphasized, allowing the parent to employ successful strategies to help their child make progress.

What is ABA?

Best Practices

A Review of the Research
Many parents are looking for the correct 'formula' treatment program for their child. The amount of information a parent must filter through is overwhelming. The National Research Council has published an excellent review of the research (National Research Council (2001) Educating Children with Autism. Committee on Educational Interventions for Children with Autism. Catherine Lord and James P. McGee, eds. Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.). The following is an excerpt describing characteristics of effective intervention per the committee's position statement:

"There is general agreement across comprehensive intervention programs about a number of features of effective programs. However, practical and, sometimes, ethical considerations have made well-controlled studies with random assignment (e.g., studies of treatments that systematically vary only one dimension) almost impossible to conduct. In several cases, features have been identified through correlational or comparative analyses and then assumed to be factors of importance in intervention programs, without further direct evaluation. The consensus across programs is generally strong concerning the need for: early entry into an intervention program; active engagement in intensive instructional programming for the equivalent of a full school day, including services that may be offered in different sites, for a minimum of 5 days a week with full-year programming; use of planned teaching opportunities, organized around relatively brief periods of time for the youngest children (e.g., 15- to 20-minute intervals); and sufficient amounts of adult attention in one-to-one or very small group instruction to meet individualized goals. Overall, effective programs are more similar than different in terms of levels of organization, staffing, ongoing monitoring, and the use of certain techniques, such as discrete trials, incidental learning, and structured teaching periods. However, there are real differences in philosophy and practice that provide a range of alternatives for parents and school systems. The committee recommends that educational services begin as soon as a child is suspected of having an autistic spectrum disorder. Those services should include a minimum of 25 hours a week, 12 months a year, in which the child is engaged in systematically planned, and developmentally appropriate educational activity toward identified objectives. What constitutes these hours, however, will vary according to a child's chronological age, developmental level, specific strengths and weaknesses, and family needs. Each child must receive sufficient individualized attention on a daily basis so that adequate implementation of objectives can be carried out effectively. The priorities of focus include functional spontaneous communication, social instruction delivered throughout the day in various settings, cognitive development and play skills, and proactive approaches to behavior problems. To the extent that it leads to the acquisition of children's educational goals, young children with an autistic spectrum disorder should receive specialized instruction in a setting in which ongoing interactions occur with typically developing children."

A good program should:

1. Consider parents to be active members of the therapy team
2. Establish baselines through the use of standardized and non-standardized testing before making recommendations for your child for level and type of services needed
3. Address each developmental domain area (e.g., cognition, speech-language-communication, sensory-motor, social-emotional-behavioral, and self-help and feeding)
4. Employ specialized staff with expertise in each developmental area, rather than a specialist from one discipline to program for all areas.
5. Be behaviorally-based and data driven
6. Have clinician-level staff (e.g., speech therapist, master's level behavioral specialist, occupational therapist) work directly with your child on a weekly basis, rather than providing only "supervision" to paraprofessional staff on a bimonthly or monthly basis
7. Consider developmental norms when determining appropriate programming
8. Develop individualized programming for your child based on the current body of research.
9. Teach your child to utilize learning strategies so they can take in information on their own (e.g., not simply relying on direct imitation and rote memory).
10. Teach skills in a manner that will allow for immediate generalization
11. Teach curriculum to functional, fluent, spontaneous use
12. Evaluate progress and adjust programming on an ongoing basis (e.g., through clinician sessions with your child, team meetings, team communication and collaboration)
13. Make individualized level of service recommendation based on both the current body of research and your child's individual needs

Individual ST, OT, PT and ABA Services

Speech Therapy
CLC offers individual speech therapy services for children birth through adolescence. Services are provided in a clinic setting and include direct treatment, assessment and consultations. Home and school visits may be a part of the intervention that is provided if it is determined to be appropriate by the treating clinician. Therapy may focus on articulation/phonological disorders, oral motor/feeding, developmental verbal dyspraxia, auditory processing, receptive and expressive language skills.

Occupational Therapy
CLC offers individual occupational therapy services for children birth through adolescence. Services are provided in the clinic setting and include direct treatment, assessment and consultations. Home and school visits may be a part of the intervention that is provided if it is determined to be appropriate by the treating clinician. Therapy may focus on fine and gross motor delays, oral motor/feeding, visual motor integration, development of coordination, motor planning and sensory-motor integration therapy that allows the child to become a more active participant in the learning process.

Physical Therapy
CLC offers individual physical therapy services for children birth through adolescence. Services are provided in the clinic setting and include direct treatment, assessment and consultations. Home and school visits may be a part of the intervention that is provided if it is determined to be appropriate by the treating clinician. Therapy may focus on functional mobility, gait, gross motor development, motor skill performance, balance, postural control and alignment, strength, endurance, coordination, motor control, motor learning, flexibility, and muscle tone. 

ABA Services
CLC offers individual ABA services for children birth through adolescence and their families.  Assessment services include Functional Behavioral Assessments and Behavioral Evaluations.  Treatment services include behavioral services designed to support or supplement a child's educational program; and, Parent Training and individual behavioral services focused on needs in the home and community environment.  Individual behavioral services designed to supplement or support a child's educational placement may  take place in the home, school or clinic environments and include direct treatment with the child provided by Direct (ABA) Staff under the supervision of behavior analysts/specialists.  Therapy may focus on a wide range of skills including learning readiness, learning style, play, problem solving, general knowledge and comprehension, academic readiness, maladaptive behaviors, self-motivation, self-regulation, self-monitoring, stress management, developing relationships, social skills, and perspective taking.  Parent Training and related individual behavioral services  may include direct treatment with Direct (ABA) Staff under the supervision of behavior analysts/specialists along with intensive parent training sessions.  Therapy may focus on functional communication, social skills, maladaptive behaviors, and individual learning needs.  This Parent Training program ultimately focuses on providing parents/caregivers with the appropriate skills to address their child's challenging behaviors and individual learning needs. 

Social Skills Groups

Some children require an additional intervention which will allow them to interact with their peers and be successful in a social setting. CLC offers small groups with appropriately matched peers so children are able to meet their goals. Social skills groups are offered for children ages 3-12 years.

Mission Statement and CLC’s approach to Social Skills Therapy

Our mission is to facilitate the development of social skills that relate to communication, problem solving and play that influence performance in the home, community, and school environments by systematically guiding the child along the hierarchy of skills necessary to navigate the social world. 

Individual treatment goals may be developed from the following resources:

•    Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills – Revised (ABLLS-R)

•    Hawaii Early Learning Profile (HELP)

•    Think Social! A Social Thinking Curriculum for School-Age Students (by Michelle Garcia Winner)

Treatment goals may address the following social skills:

•          Problem solving/Planning

•          Communication Skills and Social Pragmatic

•          Inference and perspective taking skills

•          Cooperative Group Behavior

•          Emotions

•          Interactive Play Skills

•          Establishing and Maintaining Peer Relationships

•          Observational Learning

Prerequisite skills required for children to benefit from social skill instructions:

•    Infrequent demonstrations of disruptive/problem behaviors

•    Responds to prompting strategies provided by adults

•    Responds to directions provided by adults

     Strategies utilized for teaching social skills:

•    Role play

•    Social Stories

•    Video Modeling

•    Video Feedback

•    Positive Practice/Rehearsal

•    Self-Monitoring

•    Behaviorally based teaching strategies to include task analysis, various prompting and reinforcement procedures (including but not limited to peer to peer prompting, group incentives, etc.

Session Structure:

All sessions will last one clinical hour.  Sessions will generally include the following elements:  Group greetings, share or story, lesson targeting identified skills, cooperative play time and parent briefing via discussion or notes.