The goal of the Early Childhood Development Academy is to assist children with different neurological, physical and developmental disorders and to develop necessary social/emotional and academic skills and prepare for the school, give them abilities for independence and integration in the society; Provide parents with a safe environment for their children, one stop shop which will serve as both, clinical and educational facility. This at the same time will allow them some personal time and ability to better manage stress caused by peculiarities of the conditions affecting their children. Provide integrated special educational programs in a group environment to assure not just individual skills’ development in the children but translation of those skills in the social and professional life.
In order to achieve the set goals, the academy offers children a multidisciplinary approach in the following areas:
- Development/improvement of basic skills
- Development/improvement of social skills
- Development/improvement of skills Necessary daily activities
The group and individual behavioral therapy, speech therapy, occupational/sensory therapy, play therapy, art therapy, music therapy, emotion management and academic skills’ development programs are offered by the professional multidisciplinary teams of the Academy.
In order to properly utilize the learned skills in the natural environment, the academy's multidisciplinary team, on the basis of close cooperation with the parent, provides supervision of the correct usage of these skills in all types of micro-social environments of the child: home, kindergarten, school, etc.
Full day programs of the Early Childhood Development Academy offer children a full day 8-hour (10:00 - 18:00) and half, 4-hour day services which include specially organized \therapy sessions focused on academic development and preparation for school life for children (lunch and snack services are provided).
Sports, Art and Music Clubs of the academy offer various extracurricular activities (basketball, football, singing, music, dance, etc.) based on students’ interests and parents' requests.
History
Since 2017, Emory University (USA, Atlanta), with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has been implementing a "Physical Rehabilitation Development Project" in Georgia with its active partners. The main goal of the grant program is to build a strong foundation for human resource development, physical rehabilitation clinical services in the country, and disability policy and advocacy.
The project addresses most of the rehabilitation/habilitation problems faced by people with trauma, neurological and other health problems.
During the "Physical Rehabilitation Project in Georgia", several important problems were identified in Georgia, which are faced by children with autism spectrum disorders, as well as various types of developmental disorders and disabilities and their parents. That is why, together with partners, in 2021 the foundation was laid for the establishment of the Early Childhood Development Academy.
