|
Elizabeth W. Pouch Center for Special People
The Elizabeth W. Pouch Center for Special People of the Staten Island Mental Health Society has been caring for infants, children, adolescents, and adults with special needs, and their families, since 1974. The Pouch Center's programs and services assist persons who have developmental disabilities, learning delays, neurological impairments, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, cerebral palsy, autism, pervasive developmental disorder, mental retardation, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, and other conditions, such as those resulting from fetal alcohol syndrome, chromosomal abnormalities, viral infections during pregnancy, etc. The Pouch Center's multi-disciplinary approach involves pediatrics, psychology, speech and language pathology, and occupational therapy. These services help clients optimize their potentials and use their strengths to overcome their weaknesses, with the goal of raising the quality of their lives. ReferralsReferrals for evaluations and treatment are accepted from professionals, family and friends. FeesFees are based on family income. Medicaid and Medicare are accepted. Several private insurance carriers provide partial reimbursement. Certification and FundingThe clinical and outpatient services of the Elizabeth W. Pouch Center
for Special People are fully certified as an Article 16 clinic by
the NYS Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.
The Pouch Center receives partial funding from the Bureau of Mental
Retardation/Developmental Disabilities of the NYC Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene.
Clinical Outpatient Services
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||
| 657 Castleton Avenue West Brighton 10301  |
|
718-448-9775 | |
|
|
||||
Comprehensive diagnostic evaluations, treatment programs, educational services, advocacy, networking, individual, family and group therapies, and other support services are offered to persons of all ages in a warm, caring atmosphere, where the acute expertise of the professional staff works in synergy with their compassion and humanity.
The Pouch Center's professional team includes a developmental pediatrician, a board-certified psychiatrist, psychologists, speech/language therapists, occupational and physical therapists, social workers, and a registered nurse.
Each professional works in full partnership with parents. Upon reaching a diagnosis, the team, after consultation with and input from the client's parents, provides a plan for the highest quality treatment, referral for treatment, or special education.
A specialized Pouch Center therapy group assists mildly retarded
adults who work in supported employment programs. In addition, young
adults are offered workshops to hone their social skills.
Training in Parenting Skills (TIPS)
|
||||
| 657 Castleton Avenue West Brighton 10301 |
|
718-448-9775 | |
|
|
||||
Families in which one or both parents are challenged by developmental disabilities are served by the Pouch Center's unique TIPS program. TIPS parents meet together each week, led by a Pouch Center staff member, to discuss topics related to caring for themselves and their children. Issues include understanding their children's development, advancing their social skills, learning constructive discipline strategies, and gaining their children's love and respect. Hands-on workshops, such as cooking classes, also improve their homemaking skills. During meetings, the younger children engage in therapeutic recreational activities, while the older children participate in group counseling.
The TIPS families share numerous recreational and social experiences
during the year, and especially enjoy celebrating the holidays together.
They develop deep bonds of friendship and trust. The TIPS program
has taken them out of the social isolation that many had experienced,
and has made them an "extended family."
Early Childhood Programs (Integrated Preschool Classrooms)
|
||||
| Dongan Hills Head Start Center |
|
44 Dongan Hills Avenue Dongan Hills 10306 |
|
718-987-7755 |
|
||||
|
||||
| Osgood Avenue Head Start Center |
|
16 Osgood Avenue Stapleton 10304 |
|
718-420-6138 |
|
||||
Developmentally delayed or disabled preschoolers, 3- to-5-years old, join their normally developing peers in Integrated Preschool Classrooms at two of the SIMHS's Head Start Centers. Each integrated setting of 10 special-needs children and 10 mainstream children is overseen by a Pouch Center special education teacher, a Head Start teacher, and two assistant teachers.
The program comprises a nationally recognized curriculum enriched by classroom computers and cultural resources. Moreover, special education and related on-site services, such as speech, physical and occupational therapies, and counseling, are provided for the children who require them.
The Integrated Classroom is a social and learning environment where the children interact with one another, stressing their similarities rather than their differences. Mingling with their normally functioning peers gives the special-needs children a distinct advantage in developing the skills they need to enter elementary school. The efficacy of this approach is demonstrated by the fact that more than two-thirds of the children in the SIMHS's Integrated Preschool Classrooms have been admitted to regular kindergarten classes.
The Integrated Preschool Classrooms are partially funded by the NYS Education Department and the NYC Department of Education as an Article 4410 school. Head Start services are funded by the NYC Administration for Children's Services.
 |
 |