Special Instruction

Special Instruction is provided for infants and children up to 3 in order to assess and treat 5 developmental domains. The 5 domains include physical (reaching, rolling, crawling, and walking); cognitive (thinking, learning, solving problems); communication (talking, listening, understanding); social/emotional (playing, feeling secure and happy); and, self-help (eating, dressing). During sessions, our Special Educators work with children (and their families) on behaviors, following directions, attending to tasks, and specific areas of concern for each child.

A child may be delayed in reaching major cognitive/adaptive/social-emotional milestones. In general, these milestones for infants and children up to age 5 are as follows:

6 months - follow moving objects with their eyes
6 to 12 months - play Peek-a-Boo
12 to 18 months - remove socks, shoes and mittens
18 to 24 months - shows affection
24 to 36 months - plays with other children for approximately 5 minutes
36 to 48 months - dresses and undresses without assistance

In order to facilitate the achievement of these milestones, the following activities should be engaged in to encourage cognitive/adaptive/social-emotional development:

Play with toys encouraging exploration of size, function and textures
Use songs and finger plays to interact (e.g., Pat - a - Cake, Where is Thumbkin)
Help your child learn to dress and undress themselves
Bring your child to a park or library program to allow them to interact with other children
Play “memory” to improve vocabulary, identifying same/different and turn taking skills