Former staff and parents affected by the closure of the Early Language Intervention pre-school in Oranmore have come together in a move to continue educating the children affected by the closure. The Early Language Intervention pre-school announced earlier this month that it was laying off all staff and closing its doors.

Now parents and staff have announced the opening of the Children's Language Development Project, which will run on a non-profit basis at Moyville, Oranmore, Co. Galway.

However, in order to run the school effectively, parents are currently seeking donation of services from the local business community to assist with setting up the school, which is scheduled to open on Monday 8 September.

According to the parents behind the venture, the aim is to focus on the language needs of children aged between two and six, and the school will accept any child with a language difficulty.

Eligible children may have a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Downs Syndrome or may just present with a language delay.

According to organisers, the Children's Language Project offers children a structured approach to language learning. The centre will also provide Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) to children diagnosed with autism.

ABA is a highly formalised method of instruction that is provided with a student to staff ratio of 1:1. The service will be provided by staff with various qualifications in psychology, childcare and education and experience in language development.

The centre also plans to collaborate on an ongoing basis with local speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and behavioural analysts in the development and delivery of its programmes to the attending children. The centre currently has places available for this autumn.

For more information regarding the centre's activities and to pledge donations, contact Joan on 087-7882073.

Comments (1) »

Teacher of the Deaf
written by Carol Feinstein, September 01, 2008

I will be living in Galway soon and would like to become involved in this project. Is there an email address I could write to?

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