Early Learning & Intervention: 

Is a mainstream nursery the right fit for my child?

One of a child’s first major milestones is when he or she starts nursery or preschool. Parents look forward to the cute art projects, father-daughter dances, and miniature-sized cap and gowns, all yielding pictures that can flood friends’ Facebook pages. When you have a child with special needs such as Development Delays, Down Syndrome or Autism – this vision of a typical nursery or preschool experience becomes more of a question than an anticipated event.  This blog will address a common question with parents: “Is a nursery or preschool right for my child?  If it’s not, what is a good alternative choice? Just like everything within the SEN field, we are going to throw out the phrase, “It depends on your child.” We know that doesn’t give you the quick answer that we all hope for, but it’s the truth. When deciding if your child is a good fit for a nursery or preschool program, there are many things you need to consider.

How much support does my child need?

Before you can find an appropriate placement for your child, you need to really break down the areas where your child thrives as well as the areas where he/she needs support. You also need to be really honest with how much support your child needs. How independent is he/she? How does he/she handle larger groups? Are there safety concerns? It may be helpful to look at a list of skills that are expected in a nursery or preschool setting and make notes on how your child does in these areas.

What are the options?

Just because the neighbour’s children go to the nursery down the street does not mean that this is the only choice when choosing a nursery. There are many choices out there. Take a look at community schools, Montessori schools, and inclusive schools designed to cater for students with special needs. When we say, “take a look,” we actually mean call them, make an appointment, and request a tour and observation period. You know your child and how he/she functions in a variety of settings. Most nurseries and preschools will tell you they make accommodations for learners with special needs, and they do; however, you are the only one that can determine if a nursery or preschool setting has supports in place to help with your child’s specific needs. The best way to determine if a nursery or preschool is the right fit is to see it.

If not a nursery or preschool? Then what?

Many children require a more structured environment in order to influence their learning. Although preschool is part of the typical progression, it may not be the best experience to help your child gain the skills they need for later learning. It is recommended that children with Special Educational Needs may also receive therapy services. Some nurseries and preschools may include therapy services within their environment but some do not. In that case, families look elsewhere for help with their child’s development. For some young children, early intensive therapy, especially Early Intervention may be a better option than preschool because a therapeutic environment provides an opportunity to catch up on developmental and pre-academic skills. Therapy services can also provide your family with the support that you need to help improve on your child’s school readiness skills in the home.

But what about the importance of socialization with peers?

Great question! This is a main reason why parents of children with special needs push for the school environment. They want their child to have the opportunity to thrive with peers the way that a typically-developing child would. However, socialization skills can be learned in many settings. Nurseries, Schools, Therapy Centres, and community groups all have opportunities to work on social skills and interpersonal development. Finding a place where your child can grow and learn alongside of peers who are also growing and learning in the same way makes a difference. All children need positive role models from their peers to help them develop. When you have a special needs child, it’s important to make sure that your child is supported in their social environment so that they can stand out for their amazing qualities instead of what makes them different.  Again, you know your child best. Think about how they will fit into existing groups and choose a setting that encourages them.

The Early Intervention and Therapy Programme (EILP) at Sensation Station may be a suitable alternative for your child.

Our EILP focuses on growth and support to help children surpass their goals and be ready for life’s next adventure!

What is Early Intervention?

Early Intervention encompasses educational and therapy support services which helps to equip children who have special needs with key foundational developmental skills. Years of research have proven that Early Intervention is highly successful in helping children with developmental delays reach their full potential. Early intervention should begin between the ages of birth and school age as it is important to maximize the potential of the child during the optimal developmental window.

Our Early Intervention & Learning Programme (EILP) serves children from 3 to 6 years of age who have a developmental delay. It offers a small group learning programme which is designed in the areas of physical, cognitive, communication, social or emotional, or adaptive development to address needs and build school readiness. We welcome children with diverse support needs. Together with the support of professional therapists from Sensation Station we are a ‘one-stop’ intensive intervention service centre for children who have special needs.

Our Objectives:

• To recognize individual child’s learning needs and to provide intervention for their developmental growth in a natural and engaging learning environment.
• To promote individual child’s readiness to access other educational settings by fostering their functional communication, play, social skills
• To collaborate and empower each family for comprehensive supports for their child’s development.
• To collaborate with other support services each child access to ensure consistent strategies and teaching
• To provide daily activities specifically targeted towards school readiness skills
• To develop more advanced interaction and socialization with same-age peers
• To promote play skills and appropriate circle time behaviour
• Listening to a teacher and focuses on learning in a group within a small class setting.
• To be independent

Our Learning Philosophy

Our philosophy is to support children gain crucial developmental skills required for lifelong learning. Our programme is a child centred programme implementing approaches such as DIR Floortime and Play Therapy, which fosters connections between the child, their Therapists as well as their peers. We acknowledge that children need to develop in order for them to gain independence such as play, active learning, child choice, highly motivating materials, and positive behavioural supports are key to facilitating children’s growth in developmental areas.  The programme helps further progress a children’s development of functional language and communication, pre-literacy, pre-numeracy, social interaction, and motor skills.

Our EILP summary

• A unique and individually tailored group programme.
• Suitable for children age 3 – 6 with specific therapy needs, developmental delays and/or learning difficulties.
• An alternative to a mainstream nursery or preschool.
• A therapeutic setting offering specialist intervention to maximise learning potential and gain milestones.
• Created by an Educational Psychologist and a UK qualified Special Educational Needs Teacher.
• Activities created using principles of the EYFS curriculum.
• Favourable student-staff ratio.
• 4 hours per day, 5 days per week.
• Weekly 1:1 therapy sessions (SLT and OT).
• Academic Year: Sep – Jun, a ten-month term.
• Enrolment open all year (pay pro rata).
• Payment Plan is available.

“If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.”
(Ignacio Estradaz)

Contact us today to make an appointment to discuss if our EILP is right for our child, Tel: 04-2776769 or email: info@sensationstation.ae 

Or click here for more information:  https://sensationstation.ae/intervention-learning/