Preschool for children with Autism

Name: Blue Stars Early Years Services
Address: 23 Bellevue Avenue, Dublin, D, A96 A097, IE
Telephone: 085 804 6473

Blue Stars Preschool provide professional Tuition to groups of Children on the Autistic Spectrum and Related Disorders, based on specific teaching methods adapted from the Montessori Curriculum, Aistear and the Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), implementing Individualised Educational Plans (IEP). We are an experienced multidisciplinary team including:

ABA Tutors

Bachelors in Psychology

Montessori Teacher

Board Certified Behaviour Analyst

Speech and Language Therapist

Occupational Therapist

Children will have sessions 1:1 following their IEP and group sessions where they will improve their social skills, we offer Lego Play Based Therapy once a week. The Individualised Educational Plan includes activities based on the SLT, OT and BCBA assessments. Parents can apply for funding through the Home Tuition Grant.

Find out more

If you would like to learn more about the full variety of services available from the team at Blue Stars Early Years Services, please do not hesitate to get in contact with one of our members of staff, who will be more than happy to assist you with any queries you may have regarding our products.

Get in Contact

Our Classes

We run classes Monday-Friday 09.00 am - 1.00pm and 1:30pm - 5.30pm in Glenageary and at our new Dundrum location in Dublin. Our students (maximum 6 children) have one class teacher and 3 tutors.

Our 3 specialist: SLT, OT and BCBA assess each student to make your child's educational plan a fully customised experience.

During the class all the children will have sessions 1:1 following their IEP (individual education plan) and group sessions to improve their social skills.

We offer Lego Play Based Therapy once a week and a service of Speech and Language Therapist and OT, once or twice a month (depending on the child's needs).

Blue Stars Preschool Glenegeary

Blue Stars Preschool in Glenegeary run classes Monday-Friday 09.00 am - 1.00pm and 1:30pm - 5.30pm. Our students (maximum six children) have one class teacher and three tutors.

Each student will be assessed by our specialist Speech and Language Therapist, Occupational Therapist and Board Certified Behaviour Analyst, to ensure your child’s educational plan is a fully customised experience.

Blue Stars Preschool Dundrum

Blue Stars Preschool in Dundrum run classes Monday-Friday 09.00 am - 1.00pm and 1:30pm - 5.30pm. Our students (maximum six children) have one class teacher and three tutors.

We ensure each child’s educational plan is a fully customised experience with the help of our specialist Speech and Language Therapist, Occupational Therapist and Board Certified Behaviour Analyst.

Enrolment

Blue Stars fees are funded through the Home Tuition Scheme by the Department of Education and Skills. One of the purposes of the Scheme is provide early educational intervention for children with autism.

If you are interested in a place for your child contact us and we will be happy to explain you and answer any question about the enrolment process and arrange a visit.

For more information about Home Tuition visit:

https://www.education.ie/en/Parents/Services/Home-Tuition/

Autism

Autism is a complex, invisible condition which a person is born with. Autism is a developmental condition which means that the way a person communicates, interacts and understands other people, and the world, is different to those who do not have the condition. It can be described as a “spectrum” because it impacts in different ways and degrees at different times and situations.

Autism’s most-obvious signs tend to appear between 2 and 3 years of age. In some cases, it can be diagnosed as early as 18 months.

Two children with the same diagnosis can act very differently from one another and have varying skills, this emphasises the importance of Individual assessments and educational plans.

Our Framework: Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention

"Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBI)" are implemented in natural settings, involve shared control between child and therapist, utilize natural contingencies, and use a variety of behavioral strategies to teach developmentally appropriate and prerequisite skills"(Schreibman et al., 2015, p. 2411). This intervention "currently demonstrate the strongest evidence base for improving develop- mental outcomes for young children with ASD" (Sandbank et al., 2020).

References:

Schreibman, L., Dawson, G., Stahmer, A., Landa, R., Rogers, S., McGee, G., Kasari, C., Ingersoll, B., Kaiser, A., Bruinsma, Y., McNerney, E., Wetherby, A., Halladay, A. (2015) Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions: Empirically Validated Treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord . 45:2411–2428 DOI 10.1007/s10803-015-2407-8

Sandbank, M., Bottema-Beutel, K., Crowley, S., Cassidy, M., Dunham, K., Feldman, J.I., Crank, J., Albarran, S.A., Raj, S., Mahbub, P., Woynaroski, T.G. (2020). Project AIM: Autism Intervention Meta-Analysis for Studies of Young Children. Psychol

Bull. 2020 January ; 146(1): 1–29. doi:10.1037/bul0000215.

Speech and Language

Speech and language therapy provides treatment, support and care for children and adults who have difficulties with communication, or with eating, drinking and swallowing.

Our Speech and Language Therapist will provide practical and professional advice and intervention strategies that are evidence based making a comprehensive treatment program to meet individual needs.

Programs for your child with a diagnosis of ASD will vary depending on the child’s age, communication level and overall ability, focusing in: attention and listening skills, non-verbal skills, gesture, early vocabulary development and PECS (Picture Exchange Communication Systems).

The PECS programme teaches children to make requests for items using pictures. It is a systematic programme which graduates towards the discrimination of symbols and the development of simple sentences.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapy assists the individual to develop the necessary physical skills, where needed, to make the engaging in activities or roles more accessible to them through individualised, specifically targeted programs.

Many children with ASD present with difficulties with fine motor and/or gross motor skills and sensory issues which affect their ability to engage in daily activities and roles.

Activities could include self-help skills such as doing up buttons or the development of good pencil skills; maintain good postural control: sit at a school desk for any length of time, special awareness.

Our Occupational Therapist will use a Sensory Integration Program to promote effective integration of the senses in order to develop a child’s ability to register, process and respond to sensory information in his/her environment, thereby improving learning, behaviour and activity participation.

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Lego Play Based Therapy

Lego®-based therapy is a social development programme for young people with autism spectrum disorders or related social communication difficulties. Young people work together to build Lego® models and through this have the opportunity to develop social skills such as turn taking, collaboration and social communication.

Lego®-based therapy can be used individually or in groups. Natural opportunities for developing social competence are facilitated by the therapist.

Key to this approach is how engaging and enjoyable it is for the participants! Building Lego® collaboratively is great fun, and young people develop social skills while enjoying themselves.