The Learning Center The Learning Center is comprised of curriculum areas for children. Each curriculum area is in a separate Center, focusing on different, graduated skill levels. The Centers surround a courtyard, which offers a protected outdoor environment and play area, and each Center is distinguishable to the students through the use of visual, tactile and auditory stimulation

Total and Augmentative Communication In general, the staff use Total Communication with all our students. We use a combination of sign language, facial expressions, and words. We develop individual augmentative communication. We teach the use of mechanisms such as object displays, switch-operated scanning devices, and VOCAs (voice output communication aids) ranging from simple, pre-programmed devices to sophisticated computers with speech synthesizers. Once a system of communication has been established, we ensure that family members and all staff are trained to understand it, so that the student is spared the repeated frustration of not being understood.

Functional Communication Training Functional communication training is an advanced technique in behavior modification, based upon the premise that behavior problems serve a communicative function. People with few verbal or communicative skills have difficulty making their needs known, so over time they may learn to engage in problem behaviors in order to get attention. In using functional communication training, our goal is to assess why the idividual is behaving poorly, and then teach him or her a more appropriate and effective way to get what he or she wants. We do this by teaching the individual to use some form of communication (a word, a sign, a picture, an augmentative communication device) that will serve the same function as their behavior had previously served. At the same time, the care givers respond to behavior problems differently in order to discourage them.