Kindering Center Programs
Therapies offered through our Early Intervention Program include physical therapy to help children reach motor milestones such as sitting and walking independently; occupational therapy to develop fine motor skills through activities like drawing and stacking blocks; speech therapy to increase communication skills including spoken or sign language and picture exchange; and oral motor therapy to evaluate and treat nutritional and feeding difficulties using oral exercises and eating practice.
Our Early Intervention Program provides a range of special education services including infant-parent playgroups, toddler-parent playgroups, and preschool classes with typically developing role models; one class includes an all Spanish-speaking staff. Each class follows a set schedule of activities that includes movement and pretend play, art, snack, and circle time with stories and songs. Activities encourage experimentation, discovery, and social interaction in a safe, supportive environment.
Kindering's Family Therapy Programs include individual, couples, and family counseling; support groups for current, alumnae, and Spanish speaking mothers; an eight-week curriculum for couples coping with grief; the Sibling Support Project and Sib Shops to support brothers and sisters of people with special needs nationwide; and the Washington State Fathers Network which operates programs for dads of children with special needs in King County and Washington State.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
Now in our 50th year, Kindering is at a critical crossroads. On one hand we’re facing unprecedented demand for our services. Over the last five years enrollment in our early intervention program has doubled. At the same time, while the number of children in need of services continues to climb, the funding we receive from WA State and King County is receding. This year the gap between the cost of the services we provide and the funding we receive became a gaping chasm when our State and County funding was reduced by a whopping 56%.
We know that for all children ages 0-3 are the most critical years of development. Decades of research have demonstrated that early intervention results in children requiring fewer special education services later in life, and, in some cases, being indistinguishable from non-disabled classmates. Of the children enrolled in Kindering’s early intervention program last year:
- 73% succeeded in catching up to the developmental abilities of their typically developing peers or narrowing the gap between their abilities and those of their typically developing peers.
- Even more impressive, a total of 141 children exited Kindering’s early intervention program with age-appropriate skills in every areas of development – they no longer needed or qualified for developmental therapies or special education.