Now that the hustle is through, and as we have successfully celebrated the National Day for Students with Learning Difficulties once again, SKILD Center is back to its daily routines, services, and projects. As a team, we have been serving children and youth with special needs for the past ten years. This journey was not void of hard and overwhelming days, however, we continue to serve students and their families diligently with love and care.
Part of our team, namely some of the special educators and therapists, extend services at partner schools during the day while they serve at the center in the afternoon undertaking assessment and/or therapy sessions in the fields of speech, psychomotor, psychological counseling, and special education. The center in the afternoon is also busy, and more so after the COVID-19 lock-down period, with students and their parents referred to the center by their school for detecting the presence of a learning challenge, or its absence.
In addition, just about 24 months ago we started our journey at the center offering day care for challenged students, mainly children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and who are not verbal, in the preschool years. Children who enroll at the program receive support and care from specialists with sound knowledge of the Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), and with sound training as well. Few caretakers in Lebanon are aware of the importance and significance of this approach for the development, future and wellbeing of children with behavioral and developmental challenges.
ABA essentially entails behavioral interventions to modify behavior across several settings. Data has shown that these behavioral interventions can enhance skills in the areas of social interactions and communication, play, self-help, and academics. It is adopted with children who need help to increase their appropriate behavior and communication skills; and to decrease inappropriate, mal-adaptive behavior. Mostly, this program is needed in the cases of children with the following:
- Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
- Attention Deficit – Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD)
- Speech and language impairments
- Global developmental delays
- Intellectual disabilities.
Children who join the ABA Day Program at SKILD Center receive the same care they would have received had they been enrolled at a day care or in preschool. They are hence served from morning to early afternoon (from 8:00 am to 2:pm). Depending on his or her age, the child is admitted in one of two groups; there is the group of children who are 7 years old or younger and the group who are 8 years old and above.
Special educators and therapists who serve the students are experienced in offering children with disabilities the following:
- Individualized speech therapy sessions twice per week
- Individualized psychomotor therapy sessions twice per week
- Individualized ABA therapy sessions five times per week
- Academic skills sessions
- Social and life skills training
- Sports, drama, music, and other sensory activities.
ABA is not a full-fledged major at universities yet. Schools of education that offer the program are mainly in the United States of America. The fact that traveling all the way to the USA to specialize in this approach and to receive a certificate is possible over the distance, through online learning.
ABA is not a full-fledged major at universities yet. Schools of education that offer the program are mainly in the United States of America. The fact that traveling all the way to the USA to specialize in this approach and to receive a certificate is possible over the distance, through online learning.
The number of education graduates, namely special educators, who are taking this track is increasing. There are phases that a specialist can complete; each earns the trainee a certificate to practice specific skills needed to provide the support and care licensed only by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB). Scholarships are available for interested candidates. Lebanon and the Arab region are surely dire need of these experts; namely for:
- Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA): A graduate-level professional in behavior analysis who is able to practice independently and provide supervision for BCaBAs and RBTs
- Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA): An undergraduate-level professional in behavior analysis who practices under the supervision of a BCBA or FL-CBA.
- Registered Behavior Technician (RBT): A professional in behavior analysis who practices under the close supervision of a BCBA, BCaBA, or FL-CBA
With ongoing trend of a rise in the number of children diagnosed to be on the autism spectrum, there is no doubt a great need for what these professionals know and have to offer our children and their parents to make their life more manageable despite the challenges they have to endure.
