The Highfield Centre Curriculum
Each programme is individually tailored to the child's particular strengths and needs. The objective of intervention is to teach the child to develop those skills that will help him/her achieve as much independence as possible and achieve the highest quality of life. It is important to build on the child's successes and to expand the utilisation of existing skills and to develop new ones. The curriculum has been based on those functional skills that are a necessity for life and which average children learn naturally as they develop. Listed below is an overview of curricular areas that will be included in your child's academic programme.
Attention Skills
Good attention is shaped and reinforced when it occurs.
Imitation Skills
Imitation is the first basic skill taught to the child because it is the foundation upon which many other important skills are based. Firstly the child learns simple motor movements. These include gross motor, fine motor and pre-verbal actions. Then the child is taught to sequence more complicated actions to increase the length of his or her attention. This programme also helps to develop observational learning, play imitation, self-help skills, verbalisation and early drawing skills.
Matching
Matching is an essential pre-requisite skill for learning other skills. It is the initial step for introducing many other concepts, such as letters, numbers, emotions and categories.
Communication
Through such programmes as Functional Communication, Communication Temptations, Verbal Imitation, Receptive and Expressive programmes, we teach the child the power of gestures, pictures and/or verbalisation. By using tools such as PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System), computers and language technology, the child is encouraged to make their needs known, to make choices and to comment. Spontaneity and fun are important elements in these programmes. This decreases the disruptive behaviours caused by frustration and not the inability to communicate effectively. It also provides a foundation for the development of speech.
Receptive Language Programmes
The programme begins to increase the child's understanding of receptive language. The child demonstrates this understanding by pointing or touching an object. The initial tasks involve listening to instructions and pointing to labels. The development of these skills develops into the teaching of other programmes such as colour recognition, recognition of familiar people, prepositions, emotions and categorisation. These programmes move the child towards following more complex/natural language in generalised forms.
Expressive Language Skills
The Receptive Language Programme increases the child's understanding and awareness of the world. The child is required to verbalise what he or she has learned instead of just using gestures. It provides the children with a means to socially interact, communicate desires and to enhance conversational skills.
Self-help Skills
The aim is to increase the child's independence in daily living skills, develop age appropriate functioning and facilitate social integration. Some of the areas worked on are eating, dressing skills, home living, toilet training and community skills.
Play And Social Skills
We aim to develop age appropriate interests, to increase independence and the constructive use of free time. This also provides a means of interacting socially with peers. The areas focused on are co-operative tasks, turn-taking, observational learning, songs, creative activities, outdoor play, playground games and imaginative play. Play also acts as another opportunity to stimulate, practise and develop language skills.
Generalisation
From the start we ensure that all skills are made functional and fluent so that the child can use his/her skills with different people, in a variety of ways, in different environments and with an understanding of natural language. This will enhance the child's access to the community and to mainstream education.
School Preparation
The aim is for the child to gain the skills appropriate for the classroom and school life. The above curriculum areas all contribute in preparing a child for school. More specifically, a sample of the skills targeted are listed below:
Grapho-motor skills, observational learning, classroom skills (eg hand raising, lining up), outdoors and classroom play, peer interaction, daily living skills and community safety.
Before a child begins school, the classroom is observed by therapists to establish the structure and curriculum, as well as observing the peer group's social abilities. This enables the therapists to replicate aspects of the school and classroom in the child's programme, allowing the child initially to learn and then practise skills in a situation with far fewer distractions. As the child gradually makes the transition into school, the therapist or "school shadow" ensures that the acquired skills are generalised within the school setting.
