The
Children's
Developmental Clinic

THE CHILDREN'S DEVELOPMENTAL CLINIC

The Children's Developmental Clinic is a nonprofit Continuing Education program that is conducted in cooperation with the Department of Health and Human Performance at Prince George's Community College and the College of Health and Human Performance at the University of Maryland, College Park. The clinic provides a special service to children, birth and up, who are experiencing various developmental difficulties such as learning problems, developmental delays, physical fitness and coordination problems, brain injury, mental retardation, emotional problems, or orthopedic challenges. All of the children enrolled in the program have been referred by various professionals such as teachers, pediatricians, psychologists, or therapists.

The clinic is in session for nine consecutive Saturday mornings during the fall and spring semesters of the academic year. All children are enrolled in the motor development phase of the program for one hour each week (10-11 a.m. or 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.). If children have additional needs, they can be scheduled for one hour in either the language development or reading development phases of the program. During the summer, one four-week session is held with the children attending the clinic one and one-half hours a day, two days a week. The summer program begins in late June and ends in mid-July.

Students enrolled in all academic disciplines at the college or university, plus any interested persons from the community, serve as volunteer or student clinicians working one-to-one with the children. All clinicians attend eight hours of pre-clinic training workshops that have been developed by the clinic's staff to familiarize them with clinic concepts, equipment and safety, and basic motor development activities. In addition, clinicians participate in an on-going training program each Saturday morning prior to the arrival of the children. Each clinician is directly supervised by one of the 27 professional staff members in setting goals to meet each child's needs.

 

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MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

The motor development phase of the clinic is the major area of concern in working with the children. The basic philosophy of the clinic is that successful and pleasurable movement experiences are meaningful to children. Each child is assigned a clinician or "friend" who remains with the child throughout the 9-week session. The clinician's major objective is to have fun with the child. Friendly support and skillful guidance can do much to improve the child's levels of motivation, confidence, and self-concept.

We believe it is important for children to realize that everyone makes mistakes and that failing in an activity (i.e., dropping a ball in a game or missing the stand up in a seat drop on the trampoline) does not make the child a failure. However, because of previous experiences in the home, at school, or with peers, many children who are referred to the clinic exhibit some degree of "failure syndrome." Our approach is to work with children at their developmental level, with what they can do, and what they can learn to do. Each child becomes an active participant in his/her own "treatment," both physically and emotionally. Although individual differences will dictate the approach to working with each child's needs, the clinic attempts to:

1. work with the child in the areas of the referral to the clinic (i.e., gross motor or fine motor skills, motor planning, etc.);

2. help the child discover how to bring his/her body under control. This enables the child to deal more adequately with peers, gain self-confidence and new self-respect; and

3. promote social skills as a result of participation in low organizational group activities in which the child realizes he/she can successfully play with others, even though his/her skill levels may not be high.

The motor development activities are aimed at providing experiences and successes in a variety of areas including body image; functional balance; basic motor skills such as running, skipping, hopping, catching and throwing; eye/hand and eye/foot coordination; rhythm and body control; fine motor and manipulative skills; following directions; motor planning; problem solving; and social skills. Clinic goals are achieved through play with balls, trampolines, wands, hoops, bean bags, games, bicycles, and other types of gymnasium games and equipment.

 

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

For those children who are experiencing some type of communication or language delay, a language development program is available. The language phase of the clinic is under the supervision of the staff's speech and language pathologists and trained student clinicians. The program provides one hour of small-group language activity for children on a Saturday morning.

This program emphasizes skill development in the following areas:

1. improving listening skills and following directions;

2. improving vocabulary;

3. improving expressive language; and

4. improving group social skills.

Language skills are developed through games and activities. By providing small-group and individual experiences, the children have the opportunity to feel good about themselves when talking to peers and adults in different situations.

Diagnosis and evaluation of individual needs are conducted throughout the 9-week program. Recommendations by the language staff are made to parents and clinicians to help the child in the home, at school, or in the motor development phase of the clinic.

 

READING DEVELOPMENT

For those children experiencing reading difficulties, a reading development session is offered. Under the direction of the reading specialists and trained student clinicians, the program is organized into three phases which include:

1. reading readiness;

2. primary; and

3. intermediate reading levels.

Reading goals are designed to encourage children to succeed and to help them discover that reading can be an interesting and fun learning experience. The reading sessions offer supplementary skill development, vocabulary enrichment, and a motivational approach to the reading process. Reading program activities include games that build reading skills; and cooking, directed reading, and comprehension activities.

Diagnosis and evaluation of individual needs and progress are conducted throughout the 9-week reading development program.

 

 

PARENT EDUCATION

During the time the children are attending the clinic, parents are encouraged to participate in the parent education phase of the program. The parent orientation is for those families that are new to the clinic. Returning parents participate in the parent discussions program. If a child is enrolled for two hours on a Saturday morning, the parent may attend an additional parent class during the child's second hour in the clinic.

The parent education program consists of the following:

1. a parent orientation;

2. parent counseling and discussions

 

The parent orientation phase of the program is designed for those families who have enrolled a child in the clinic for the first time. The orientation is a professionally-led lecture/discussion session that covers areas such as recognition of learning disabilities; movement education--its implications in child development, thinking, and moving and learning; motor evaluations--what do they mean?; communications with the school; and other areas. Guest speakers and films are used to meet the objective of the parent education program.

The parent counseling and discussion phase is designed to help "veteran" parents (those whose children have attended more than one semester in the Children's Developmental Clinic) further understand basic child development concepts. The professionally-led groups discuss communication with children, learning styles and strategies, nutrition, sibling rivalry, and other related parental concerns. In a setting of mutual support, informality is the keynote. Parents are encouraged to talk to each other and will soon discover that other families with special children have similar problems and needs. Sharing of experiences, behavior management techniques, and mutual support are the goals of this phase of the program.

 

For further information, fees and registration procedures, contact Dr. Paul H. Hahn or Kathy Hinkal at 301-322-0519.

 

The Children's Developmental Clinic is a nonprofit Continuing Education program that is conducted in cooperation with the Department of Health and Human Performance at Prince George's Community College and the College of Health and Human Performance at the University of Maryland, College Park.

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