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Program

Therapeutic Services

Occupational Therapy
Speech Therapy
Executive Functioning
Social-Emotional Learning
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Our Therapeutic Services

The Diener School has a strong therapeutic team consisting of a Speech-Language Pathologist, Occupational Therapist, and a dynamic Social Skills Support Team. All of our therapists work in close collaboration with the entire teaching and administrative staff in order to provide individualized support to reach academic and therapeutic success.

Occupational Therapy

  • Sensory Integration
  • Fine Motor and Visual Motor Development
  • Gross Motor Coordination
  • Classroom Accommodations
  • Instructional and Environmental Modifications

Supplemental Programs

  • Zones of Regulation — The Zones are used to teach self-regulation by labeling all the different ways we feel and states of alertness we experience into four zones. The Zones curriculum provides strategies to teach students to become more aware of their emotions, improve controlling their emotions and impulses, managing their sensory needs, and improving their ability to problem solve conflicts.

Instruction

Our Push-in Therapeutic Model allows for Purposeful Interventions.

Individualized sensory diets and movement breaks are developed and integrated daily.

The Zones of Regulation Program is infused by our therapists and educational instructors.

Our students participate in weekly foundational fine motor activities.

Handwriting Without Tears Instruction provides students the ability to master handwriting as an automatic and comfortable skill.

Speech Therapy

  • Social-Emotional Development
  • Pragmatic Language Skills
  • Expressive and Receptive Language Skills
  • Facilitated Social Skills Instruction
  • Development of Play Skills

Supplemental Programs:

  • The Diener School integrates the Social Thinking methodology throughout the program. Social Thinking is a therapeutic approach that focuses on building social problem solving, cognitive flexibility and the perspective of others. Our Speech Language Pathologist has attended various Social Thinking conferences.

Instruction

Collaboration amongst all classroom teachers to ensure unity and generalization of skills.

Students are grouped thoughtfully to enhance the development of social-emotional skills.

Our students participate in facilitated social skills instruction during teachable moments.

Vocabulary and Comprehension skills are infused throughout all lessons.

Executive Functioning

  • Planning
  • Organization
  • Time Management
  • Problem-Solving
  • Flexibility

Supplemental Programs

  • Sara Ward’s Cognitive Connections practices are incorporated throughout all aspects of learning.

Instruction

Students are provided with a customized assignment book to record all homework.

Color-coded calendars are used to plan long term projects.

Students are taught organizational skills to assist with maintaining their daily binders and personal space.

Color-coded analog clocks are used during instruction to illustrate the sweep of time.

Graphic organizers are provided for tasks that require transferring thoughts to paper.

Social Emotional Learning

  • A committee formed, “Social Squad” to collaborate and integrate social skills and competencies throughout all interactions at Diener.
  • The multi-disciplinary team consists of our Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Occupational Therapist, Speech Pathologist, School Counselor, Behavioral Analyst, and Social Skill Support Staff.

Instruction

The “Social Squad” implements more structured recess activities to provide students facilitation and direction on how to initiate and execute a group plan.

Our “Social Squad” guides our students to navigate and work through social problems that may arise in various school settings.

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