Program areas at ACA
The largest program is an 853 residential school funded by the new york state office of children and family services and is certified by the nys office for people with developmental disabilities. This program provides room and board to 135 children with Autism between the ages of 5 and 21 years. The program operates 365 days a year in a 24 hour a day atmosphere. The children are enrolled and referred to the program by the chairperson of special education associated with their local family school district and county. The program incorporates behavioral teaching methods and structured learning experiences to increase and enhance skill development in areas such as personal care, communication, social interaction, recreation/play and community integration. Support strategies identified by speech language therapists, occupational therapists, a recreation coordinator and behavior specialists/analysts are an important program component. These can include visual and environmental supports such as activity schedules with picture/word icons, communication boards, task analysis strips and sensory activities. Children's houses are based on age and level of functioning (communication, social interaction, daily living). Unique to Anderson, our new design allows for most students to live in individual bedrooms, while also offering one added swing bed per location allowing rapid placement for new students needing emergency placement residence. Managers create house specific routines (such as bed times, chores and activities) that are age appropriate while supporting an individual's growth and development. While the residential program is focused on providing consistent learning and growth opportunities for all children in order to develop skills, it also recognizes the importance of providing a variety of typical childhood experiences that are necessary to each individual's development. These include community activities such as visits to museums, parks, swimming, movies and dining out. The program also provides opportunities for participation in an after-school program that can include sports activities, arts and crafts, computer games, cooking experiences, dance and relaxation classes.
This program provides room and board to 115 adults, 21 years of age and older, with Autism and other developmental disabilities. The program operates 365 days a year, providing medical, clinical and direct support services in a 24 hour a day atmosphere. The program is certified by the nys office for people with developmental disabilities. This unique program supports and promotes the successes of Anderson's adults in homes, located in communities close to the Center's main campus. Based on the principles of applied behavior analysis (aba) and positive behavioral supports, the program is aimed at development in the areas of communications, daily living skills, leisure time activities and more.
The second largest program is children's education program funded by the new york state education department for children with Autism and other developmental disabilities. The children in this program are between the ages of 5 - 21. The children are enrolled and referred to the program by the chairperson of the special education associated with their local family school district and county. Aca students exhibit a wide range of functional levels, skills and abilities, often with moderate to severe learning, communicative and behavioral disorders. The education program incorporates teaching and learning methodologies that are based in a positive behavioral supports model, utilizing proactive and support strategies to assist students as they learn and grow. In addition, behavioral analytic teaching strategies, interventions and evaluative data review are embedded into the school's infrastructure. Direct instruction, discrete trial teaching, visual and environmental supports, sensory supports and communication supports are utilized as appropriate. The continuum of services varies among classrooms as the focus of classroom instruction is aligned with the age and ability levels of students. The program for students in elementary age classrooms addresses school readiness behaviors (sitting, listening to a speaker, taking turns, etc), academic functioning and social skills development. Middle school age classroom programs focus on academic and functional academic development, social skills and vocational learning opportunities. Programs for students 16 and over focus on functional academic and/or life skills development as well as the inclusion of transition/vocational learning and training opportunities. All classrooms strive to provide a communication rich learning environment where communicative supports are readily available to all students. Working within a collaborative interdisciplinary model, behavior specialist/analysts, speech and occupational therapists provide consultative and direct services within the classroom environment. Certified special educators then embed appropriate student specific supports into ongoing classroom, lessons and activities. Individualized goals and objectives are identified for each student and target pivotal skill areas such as communication, social interaction, organization and independent life skills. Special educators plan content based lessons using a curriculum that reflects ny state learning standards. Student progress and learning is shared with families in a variety of ways including quarterly individualized education program reports, quarterly report cards, meetings, phone conversations with case managers or teachers and email correspondence.
The pine plains pre-school serves young children with an Autism diagnosis, children who display behaviors of Autism but who have not yet received a diagnosis, as well as neurotypical children. In addition to educational services, to improve outcomes for these children we offer parent and family education groups and individual trainings to support families, providing consistency in interventions implemented across both the school and home environments for these children.