Special Needs Evaluation Centers And Advocacy Groups

In addition to contacting the following providers, parents can call 311 and ask for Early Intervention. Parents can also view a list of city-approved evaluation providers by borough at nyc.gov.

Other Resources

Ask Stefanie

Dana’s Kids

Gigi’s Playhouse (search New York)

New York Child Development

New York Special Needs Support

The Rymac Group

Special Kids NYC

For our piece on children with developmental disabilities, click here.

FlexSchool

Our mission is to provide an engaging&nbsp;learning experience in a supportive environment where students are free to explore their&nbsp;passions, embrace their challenges and find a community of teachers and friends who&nbsp;understand and accept them as they are. Academics: To meet the unique needs of gifted and 2e learners &ndash; students who may have co-occurring&nbsp;learning challenges along with their gifts &ndash; we provide a gifted-level curriculum with built-in&nbsp;scaffolding, developed by credentialed experts in both gifted education and special education,&nbsp;as well as subject-area experts. Small, discussion-based classes ensure our students can&nbsp;engage in stimulating conversation with intellectual peers while receiving individualized attention&nbsp;and support. Talent Development and Experiential Learning: Central to our program is our strengths-based, interest-based approach to learning. All&nbsp;FlexSchool students pursue personal passion projects and choose from a diverse menu of&nbsp;enrichment activities and electives designed to support exploration and talent development. Our&nbsp;signature FlexFriday experiential learning program provides essential connections between&nbsp;classroom learning and the real world. Executive Functioning and Learning Support: All FlexSchool students have access to an extensive range of accommodations, including&nbsp;breaks as needed, daily executive functioning support, flexible seating, extended time, assistive&nbsp;technology and more. Learning Specialist support is available on every FlexSchool campus. Social-Emotional Learning and School Counseling: Our caring team of certified school counselors, under the guidance of a consulting psychologist,&nbsp;provide robust social-emotional learning and social pragmatics programming. Students are&nbsp;welcome to visit the school counselor at any time &ndash; no appointment necessary. FlexSchool&nbsp;counselors also maintain a collaborative relationship with parents and outside providers. Rolling admissions: We understand that student needs don&rsquo;t always neatly align with the academic calendar, so&nbsp;FlexSchool admits students on a rolling basis. To learn more, join FlexSchool founder Jacqui&nbsp;Byrne live via Zoom for a Virtual Open House. To receive a call from our admissions team,&nbsp;inquire online, email us at [email protected] or call 908-279-0787.

The Gillen Brewer School

The Gillen Brewer School is a private special education school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, NYC, serving children ages 2.8 to 11 years old. Our mission is to educate and support students to become confident, independent, and engaged learners.&nbsp; Our individualized, academic-therapeutic approach to education incorporates speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, counseling, and social groups throughout each child&rsquo;s daily schedule. Students are immersed in learning which is developmentally appropriate and socially engaging.&nbsp; &nbsp; Our teachers and therapists are cross-trained in each academic and therapeutic speciality in order to provide a holistic and integrated program. Students benefit from small class sizes, and enjoy specials such as art, music, physical education, science, and technology.&nbsp; &nbsp; Central to our program is the home-school partnership, in which Gillen Brewer staff work closely with families to support the whole child in achieving their goals.&nbsp; Our Admissions Team is here to discuss how The Gillen Brewer School can partner with your family. Contact us at <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> to schedule an in-person tour today!

Enabling Devices

Enabling Devices is a family-run business that designs, manufactures and sells adapted toys and accessible devices that make life more joyful and fulfilling for children and adults living with disabilities. &nbsp; It started with a train set, a mercury switch, and a young boy whose therapist thought he couldn&rsquo;t play with toys. In 1975 our founder, Dr. Steven Kanor, walked into a room at United Cerebral Palsy/Long Island and saw a boy sitting in a wheelchair, his head resting on his shoulder. When he asked where the toys were, the OT said, &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t have the motor skills to play with toys, and he can&rsquo;t lift his head.&rdquo; But Dr. Kanor was not interested in what the boy couldn&rsquo;t do. He was interested in the boy's potential. The next morning, he was back. He&rsquo;d brought a train set, which he&rsquo;d connected to a mercury switch. The switch, the first capability switch he&rsquo;d designed, was attached to the boy&rsquo;s ear. When the boy raised his head, the switch made contact and the train ran around the tracks. After several weeks of playing with this toy, the boy was holding his head up straight, even when the train was not running. Dr. Kanor was elated. Since that day, he never stopped innovating, never stopped trying to make our products better, never stopped designing new devices. Today, our design team is just as passionate, just as creative, and just as committed to innovation as the man who founded this company. Enabling Devices is the place to find toys, devices and tools that help build more joyful, fulfilling lives. We have an extensive selection of adapted toys, capability switches, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices, adapted electronics, mounts, iPad products, sensory items and products for the visually impaired. Over the years, the important constants remain. We&rsquo;re still the same small, family-run company Steven Kanor founded in 1978, with the same values of personal connection and deep product knowledge. We&rsquo;re still committed to providing caring, individualized service to each customer. And we&rsquo;re still grateful for the privilege of sharing in your journey.