On Monday night at 8pm, be sure to tune in for our newest episode of Hope Saves the Day on Autism Radio Tonight's Show is with Host Paul Cimins who visits Park lake School in Rockaway NJ which is really the best kept secret in Morris County NJ for special needs children.
Speaks with Principal Marci Spadafora and Vocational Teacher Diane Frost,Teachers Stacy Gebbia ,and Mrs Sandy Neglia. Park Lake School, a public receiving school, under the Educational Services Commission of Morris County, is located in Rockaway, NJ. Park Lake School serves the needs of a special education population from 3-21, which includes children with autism and multiple disabilities. Classrooms are structured for small group instruction and infused with occupational, physical, and speech therapies. An exceptionally qualified and fully certificated staff provides combined teaching methods to address each child’s strengths and weaknesses.
Related services include Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy. Special programs are offered in Art, Music, Adaptive Physical Education, Sign Language, Drums, and Karate.
Pre vocational, Vocational, and Activities for Daily Living (ADL) are provided as valuable hands-on experiences. In ADL, the children are learning skills such as cooking, clothing and clothing care, hygiene, and housekeeping. These skills will guide the students towards becoming independent adults.
Our vocational program allows students from age 3-21 to learn skills necessary to transition after they graduate. Our instruction is aimed at assisting each student to reach their maximum potential. From a very young age, students are provided with simulated work experiences in the vocational room. Students clock in and out using a time clock and work on skills related to office work, building maintenance, and simple assembly jobs. The main focus of these tasks is to expose students to the job skills that they would need in any work environment. As the students age, they increase the time spent in the vocational setting.
At 16, students begin their Structured Learning Experience. This involves job sampling at various sites within the community. Students link what they learned in the vocational room to the skills and knowledge they will need in these job sites. We have had students sample jobs in a local restaurant, retail store, bakery, pet store and amusement center. These opportunities allow students to learn about real life employment and the skills necessary to get and keep a job.
In addition to work related skills, students explore the community through weekly field trips. Our students are exposed to various local community businesses aimed at increasing social skills, communication skills, leisure skills and functional skills. Trips have included a Laundromat, library, Division of Motor Vehicles, different types of stores, restaurants and museums. These trips give students an opportunity to carry over the skills that they have learned in the classroom to real life settings.
This year we are piloting a program, Experienced Based Activities (EBA), which adds to our multi-sensory/multi-disciplinary approach to teaching our students. The teachers work with a consultant to implement this innovative program. This method introduces concepts that our students may not fully understand through traditional learning methods. Together, the teachers and therapists choose a concept and then develop centers for the students to explore. The EBA’s help our students learn by using all their senses to get involved in the different activities as well as incorporating cognitive and socialization goals.
To Learn More Information and to Make an Appointment With Park Lake Please Visit http://escmorris.com/ Or Feel Free to Give Them a Call for an Appointment 973-983-1099
Be Sure To Check Them Out On Facebook as Park Lake School.