Individualized Education Programs to Meet Your Child’s Unique Needs

There are three vital components that make The Shafer Center for Early Intervention the optimal choice for children with autism spectrum disorders:

  1. Our Whole-Child Evidence-Based Approach
  2. Our Multi-Disciplinary Team
  3. Our Focus on Generalization of Skills

A whole-child evidenced based approach means that we use methods supported by science to make meaningful changes in your child’s skills.  We first observe and take data to determine his/her individual strengths and needs in all areas. The outcome of our observation enables our team of professionals to establish a wide range of goals unique to your child’s needs. He/she is then monitored to evaluate the ongoing effectiveness of the programs in which he/she participates. This includes all types of skills which could range from language development to problem behaviors to social and play skills to potty training. We begin where the child is, focus on all aspects of his/her development and change our focus as the child grows.

Our multi-disciplinary approach enables us to optimally address your child’s specific needs. All of our programs have a team of experts working together to make sure we are focusing on the specific needs of each child.  Our method is unique because we utilize strategies from all of the following disciplines:

  • Speech-Language Pathology
  • Special Education
  • Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)
  • Occupational Therapy

The teaching techniques from each discipline are integrated seamlessly, with special educators and speech-language pathologists co-teaching in our classrooms, with behavior consultants and occupational therapists integrating services into the classroom daily. This multifaceted approach helps your child learn in a variety of ways and become flexible learners-in the classroom, at home, and in his/her community.

The third essential component of The Shafer Center for Early Intervention’s method is our focus on generalization of skills. This means that once skills are learned they should be able to be applied to every day experience and enhance the lives of the learner.  Learning skills is of course important, but applying them consistently to functional and natural situations as quickly and fluidly as possible allows a child to participate more fully in every situation. The skill sets presented by our team are generalized so your child can transfer them from the classroom, to his/her home or vice versa.

Our Classes

At The Shafer Center for Early Intervention, our goal is to help your child reach his/her fullest potential. To do so, our class programs are led by a special educator and supported by a speech-language pathologist and a behavior consultant, all of whom have experience working with children on the autism spectrum. We use evidence based methods of intervention to develop a specialized curriculum to develop your child’s unique goals.  For example, the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis are the foundation of all learning that occurs across all settings at The Shafer Center.  In addition, we utilize strategies such as Seeing Stars, Talkies and Orton-Gillingham to enhance reading comprehension skills. MORE

Resource Center

Since every child is unique, it is important that our program be comprehensive in offering a variety of services. At The Shafer Center for Early Intervention we offer not only classroom opportunities but also individualized programs as well. Thus allowing us the flexibility to put together a customized program for every child based on his/her needs. MORE

Bridge Program

We are available to help your child progress, whether at The Shafer Center for Early Intervention or at his/her current school or in your community. With the school’s permission, our Bridge Therapists will accompany your child to school each day and ensure that he/she has opportunities for success throughout the day, essentially bridging any possible gap that a change in environment could pose for your child while working toward his/her Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals. Our Bridge Building Program focuses on daily living skills to help a child become more independent in their community. MORE

Connect XYZ™

At The Shafer Center for Early Intervention, our goal is to help your child reach his/her fullest potential.  We want children to be academically successful in and out of the classroom. We want them to love to learn. Critical thinking, reading comprehension, and general vocabulary understanding can be challenging for any child. The good news is that with early and intense interventions many of these struggles can be prevented or supported.

To do so, our Connect XYZ programs are geared to teach children not only the fundamentals of reading but also the complexity of comprehension so that they are making meaning connections to information. These are critical skills that will enable them to be more successful in the classroom and in their lives. The programs are lead by special educators and behavior therapists that have experience working with children on the autism spectrum and children with learning delays.  Together, they implement research based personalized academic interventions based on developmental theory and the Maryland State Curriculum. MORE

For more information about our services, click on one of the links or call us at 410-517-1113 to speak with our Director of Admissions in more detail about your child’s unique needs.