Early CLASS Preschool
     

Early Stages of Communication, Language and Social Skills

    
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About the Early CLASS

Early CLASS preschool provides a classroom-based intensive speech, language, and communication program for children on the autistic spectrum. The classroom setting provides a naturalistic and motivating context for communication and social interaction. Clinicians facilitate, for each child, increasingly sophisticated methods of communication while interacting with a variety of partners (children and adults) across different social situations (1:1, small groups, and large groups). The program is family-centered, and caregiver support is based on families’ individual priorities. Children attend the Early CLASS Monday-Friday mornings from 9:00-11:30am.

Meet the clinicians

For information call 214-905-3140 and ask for Dr. Pam Rollins or Courtney Warren.

      
         

Early CLASS Stages

Children in the Early CLASS are in the Early Communicator or Early Partner stage.  

Early Communicators:
  • Consistently use the same gesture, sound
    or word to ask for things s/he likes.
    Interact with familiar people in familiar situations.
  • Take a few turns in games like tickle and chase.
  • Request the continuation of a few physical games, using the same action, sounds or words each time you play.
  • Sometimes request or respond by repeating what you say.
  • Purposefully make requests for motivating things (e.g., food, toys, physical or people games, help) using pictures, gestures or words.
  • Occasionally use body movements, gestures, sounds or words to get your attention or to show you something.
Early Partners:
  • Participate in longer interactions with you.
  • Play with other children in familiar play routines.
  • Use words or another method of communication to request, protest, greet,
    and draw your attention to something.
  • Understand the meaning of words without contextual cues.
   

Early CLASS Curriculum

The Early CLASS curriculum is designed to facilitate development in the core deficits of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Therefore, the following long term goals are worked on according to each child’s developmental level:

  • increase classroom skills (i.e., time on task, ability to sit with group, transition from activity to activity).
  • increase use of conventional words and gestures for communicative purposes.
  • increase repertoire of communicative functions.
  • increase reciprocal communication with a variety of partners.
  • increase symbolic play abilities.
  • increase language comprehension abilities.
  • increase use of sensory motor and cognitive linguistic strategies for self- and mutual-regulation. This includes ability to express emotional regulation needs. 
      

Early CLASS Strategies

Early CLASS routines, intervention strategies, and goals are tailored to each child’s unique learning style. A variety of transactional supports, including pre-organizational strategies (i.e. picture schedules, social stories, and routines) are utilized to facilitate each child’s highest level of communicative functioning. In addition, children are encouraged to use an individual core vocabulary board and/or situational boards (i.e., book boards, song boards, activity boards) to facilitate language comprehension and participation. Cueing techniques such as touch cues, picture symbols, pictures, and videos may also be used.

Click here for the Early CLASS case history form.

     
 

Other Important Information

  • We are located at the Callier Center, 1966 Inwood Road, Dallas, TX 75235

  • Applications will be considered on a first come, first served basis