Walking through our hallway today you may have wondered which of these children have special needs.

Our kiddos want you to know

"You might not be able to tell just by looking at me that I have special needs. but if you spend some time with me you will see that I need some extra help from the DHC therapy team with my fine and gross motor skills and speech too."

DHC serves a wide variety of children with special needs but over the last few years our center had an influx of children on the autism spectrum and co existing behavior disorders

The newest numbers from the CDC released just two weeks ago are 1 in 68 this is a 30% increase from two years ago

There is little argument on any level but that autism is baffling, even to those who spend their lives around it. The child who lives with autism may look “normal” but his
behavior can be perplexing and downright difficult.

The earlier a child is diagnosed with autism, the better their chances of overcoming the difficulties that come with the disorder.

"It's not a cure, but it changes the trajectory," says Dr. Gary Goldstein, president and CEO of the Kennedy Krieger Institute and professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University.

what makes DHC stand out

Our hope it to be able to serve all of the children who come to us requesting our assistance. However, our order of priority is: 1) children with an already diagnosed disability and their siblings; 2) Children who are currently enrolled with ELC due to their low income and whose child is at-risk for developmental delay or disability due to such things as pre-mature birth, a close family member with autism, spectrum disorders or inheritable disabilities; or low birth weight; and 3) children not currently identified with a delay or disability but who are in family situations which may pre-dispose the child to developmental delays such as homelessness or unstable living arrangements; currently in foster care and/or have a parent in prison or hospitalized; have experienced multiple primary caregivers; or other issues causing domestic stress putting the child at risk.

Research has shown that high quality preschool programs improve school readiness and provide children with the social and emotional skills required to be successful in school. The research also shows that the benefits acquired during the years in quality preschool programs result in higher high school graduation rates (Gilliam, 2005). On the other hand, children with serious emotional disturbances, spectrum disorders and delays have the highest drop-out rates of any group of children.
The quality of early childhood programs vary wildly. The cost of child care for low-income families can be a substantial portion of their income, placing additional stress on these families. Some children (up to 20%) are spending up to 10 hours a day in child care environments that do not provide even a minimally safe and healthy environment (Institute of Medicine, 2000). They may spend their days without organized activities, wandering around the center with limited stimulation and social supports. Their fears, problems with peers, and accomplishments go unnoticed. Children who struggle with regulating their emotions and behaviors may not receive appropriate supports while their behaviors intensify.

Developmental delay is identified through two types of play-based assessments: Developmental Screenings and Developmental Evaluation. A developmental screening test is a quick and general measurement of skills. Its purpose is to identify children who are in need of further evaluation. A screening test is normally a questionnaire that both the Dick Howser Center teachers and the parent completes. If the results of a screening test suggest a child may have a developmental delay, the child is referred to our onsite therapists for further developmental evaluation.

A developmental evaluation is a long, in-depth assessment of a child's skills. The results of a developmental evaluation are used to determine if the child is in need of early intervention services and/or a treatment plan. These “treatments” are administered first under the direct supervision of the therapists. They are then incorporated into the classroom and implemented by our trained classroom teachers.

"My autism is only one aspect of my total
character. It does not define me as a person.
I am first and foremost a child. I have disability. I am not primarily “diabled.”I am a person with thoughts, feelings and many talents, "

We also help the families of our children to become resilient by giving them access to resources. We provide a parent resource library and encourage parents to use it, especially when learning about a disability or delay. We work to develop trusting relationships with parents and encourage them to keep us informed of home life changes that could affect the child such as moving to a new home, the addition of a sibling to the family, parental job loss, etc. Through these discussions, we work to engage parents facing barriers in our parent services in order to help them through or prevent crisis with the least amount disturbance on the child as possible.
We host regular parenting educational meetings for our families. Our meetings are a strength-based approach to family support that is founded on the belief that parents are knowledgeable about their families and communities and can provide valuable insight into programmatic and community changes to benefit children and families. Parent involvement, awareness, and acceptance of responsibility begins when a parent enters a program. As parents learn and practice new skills, they gain a sense of empowerment. The positive self concept developed through empowerment may help individuals manage stress, maintain high self-esteem, feeling control of their lives or improve their sense of competence in parenting” Research, Evaluation, and Systems Unit, Ounce of Prevention Fund of Florida. (2006, October).

By making an investment in our staff, we are able to minimize the negative effects of multiple transitions on our children and build lasting relationships with the families we serve. One of our greatest strengths are the teachers and therapists who provide direct services to our children. We must retain quality staff that is capable of meeting these children’s needs. Equipping those around our children with simple understanding of autism’s most basic
elements has a tremendous impact on their
ability to journey towards productive, independent adulthood. We accomplish this by first providing a competitive pay scale and a benefits package and second by providing ongoing support and career development. Maintaining consistency in the classroom is a benefit for both students and our parents. According to the Administration for Children and Families research has shown that children have better educational and developmental outcomes when they have continuity in their child care arrangements. Unnecessary disruptions in services can stunt or delay socio-emotional and cognitive development because safe, stable environments allow young children the opportunity to develop the relationships and trust necessary to comfortably explore and learn from their surroundings. Since the early years are the most dramatic for brain development, constant adjustment to new surroundings and routines can have long-term negative consequences on the child’s cognitive development.

DHC actively recruits & retains educated and experienced teachers by providing a competitive pay scale and a benefits package and secondly provides ongoing support and career development. 60% of our teachers have degrees or maintain a national child care professional certificate.

Our teachers using the Creative Curriculum were able to facilitate improvements in developmental domains for 82% of children screened last year.

According to the Voluntary Pre Kindergarten assessments given to our 18 VPK students by the Early Learning Coalition 15 of our 18 students are on track to enter a typical kindergarten class with no additional ESE services needed.

Parents are excited about the services we are able to provide for their children and we have seen a significant increase parent involvement, sixty seven parents participated in parent meetings last year. This exceeded our goal by 22 parents!

Goal 1. 90% of children enrolled and attend at least 30 consecutive days have a completed ASQ
Outcome: 115 out of 112 were children enrolled and attend at least 30 consecutive days have a completed ASQ (97.3%)

Goal 2. 85% of the children identified with a delay will be evaluated by a therapist
Outcome: 100% of the children identified with a delay have been evaluated by a therapist

Goal 3. At least 65% of children will be documented as meeting a developmental milestone.
Outcome: 82% of children showed improvements on developmental screens. Of the 89 children screened 73 showed measurable progress in meeting developmental milestones.

Goal 4. At least 45 parents will participate in Parent Meetings or with other support service provided by the Dick Howser Center
Outcome 67 parents participated in parent meetings