Children

Assessments

Understanding an individual’s abilities and challenges is essential for effective skill development. To achieve this, the team conducts thorough assessments to identify areas of strength, deficits, and excesses. Based on these findings, we develop personalized goals, which are then reviewed and approved by the parent or caregiver. The progress of each child largely depends on their capacity to adopt new habits, absorb information, and the level of parental involvement to ensure generalization across environments. Phoenix Development Centre provides comprehensive skills and behavioral assessments to identify specific needs. These assessments are tailored to the goals and requirements of parents and caregivers, incorporating methods such as observations, interviews, and standardized testing. All assessment tools are administered by trained teaching staff, and available options include, but are not limited to, the following: 
  • Verbal Behaviour Milestones Placements Program (VB-MAPP)
  • Assessment of Functional Living Skills (AFLS)
  • Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills – Revised (ABLLS-R)
  • Promoting the Emergence of Advanced Knowledge-Comprehensive Assessment (PEAK-CA)
  • Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales – Third Edition
  • Behaviour Assessment System for Children, Third Edition (BASC-3)

Skill Building Development

Following the completion of assessments, skill-building programs are carefully designed to align with the individual client’s strengths and needs. Conducting learning sessions within the home or community environment offers numerous advantages. One key benefit is the ability to teach target skills and behaviors within the context where they naturally occur, such as brushing teeth or completing household routines. Another significant benefit is the ease with which newly acquired skills can be generalized to primary caregivers and across various environments.

By focusing on a more natural setting, clients have the opportunity to practice and reinforce learned skills alongside others, fostering meaningful progress. Additionally, structured school routines help prepare children for successful integration into community life. Examples of skill-building programs include:

  • Toileting
  • Nighttime Routines
  • Eating Habits
  • Toothbrushing
  • Value of Money
  • Budgeting
  • Figures of Speech
  • Walking home alone and safe
  • Learning to eat new foods
  • Nail clipping

Parent Meditated intervention

A smaller number of goals is developed, and parents/caregivers are the ones implementing the strategies. Strategies are modelled and shown to the parents/caregivers in the weekly visits by the teaching staff. This service can be accessed in-person or virtually.