Self-Advocacy Skills
At Starlight we teach our students and clients that they have a voice and autonomy in the community. Self-Advocacy skills are embedded within everything we do, but individuals with autism often struggle getting their needs met, especially in high-stress situations. By focusing on our 3 key elements of self-advocacy:
- Understanding your needs
- Knowing what supports are available
- Communicating those needs to others; children are able to more fully find their voice and confidence in their expression.
Play-Based Approach / Circle Time
At Starlight, we embrace a naturalistic, child-centered, and play-based approach to learning that is supported by proven clinical, ABA, and other therapy techniques. This unique form of experiential learning prepares our students for growth and developmental success. Circle time is a key component of our learning experience inviting meaningful opportunities to engage and bond, and creating social learning opportunities in an intentional way.
Classroom Regulation / PDA
Incorporating ABA practices into our curriculum provides the framework for a truly regulated classroom environment. And because classroom ABA is not limited strictly to medical models, we can incorporate additional tools and techniques for other autism modalities such as PDA (or pathological demand avoidance) to provide more diversified experience for our students and more comprehensive resources for our staff. Our professional development efforts ensure that we are always looking ahead to the latest strategies and programs that will serve our students and enrich a culture of learning and growth.
Play-Based Approach / Circle Time
At Starlight, we embrace a naturalistic, child-centered, and play-based approach to learning that is supported by proven clinical, ABA, and other therapy techniques. This unique form of experiential learning prepares our students for growth and developmental success. Circle time is a key component of our learning experience inviting meaningful opportunities to engage and bond, and creating social learning opportunities in an intentional way.