Preschool for children with Autism

Name: Blue Stars Early Years Services
Address: 23 Bellevue Avenue, Dublin, D, A96 A097, IE
Telephone: 085 804 6473

Blue Stars Preschoolis a neuroaffirmative preschool that provides Early Intervention to autistic children (3 to 6 years old). We have a holistic approach based on the child’s developmental needs, implementing Individualised Educational Plans (IEP) through play. We are an experienced Transdisciplinary team, including:

Bachelors in Psychology

Masters in Education

Early Years Educator

Speech and Language Therapist (Natural Language Acquisition)

Occupational Therapist

Children will have sessions 1:1 following their IEP and group sessions where they will improve their social skills. Parents can apply for funding through the Home Tuition Grant.

Find out more

If you would like to learn more about the full variety of services available from the team at Blue Stars Early Years Services, please do not hesitate to get in contact with one of our members of staff, who will be more than happy to assist you with any queries you may have regarding our products.

Get in Contact

Our Classes

We run classes Monday-Friday 09.00 am - 1.00pm and 1:30pm - 5.30pm. Our small classes help to support our students’ needs, including sensory regulation, communication, and social skills. We work in partnership with parents; therefore, communication and including them in the development of the curriculum is paramount for us.

History:

Blue Stars was founded in 2018 by neurodiverse parents who have been working in the Autism field for years. Our directors, as parents of an autistic child and professionals in Psychology and Education, believe in the importance of a neuroaffirmative and holistic approach in Early Intervention and work in partnership with parents. Blue Stars now has 3 locations due to the high demand of services and in an effort to support as many families as possible.

Enrolment

Blue Stars fees are funded through the Home Tuition Scheme by the Department of Education and Skills. One of the purposes of the Scheme is provide early educational intervention for children with autism.

If you are interested in a place for your child contact us and we will be happy to explain you and answer any question about the enrolment process and arrange a visit.

For more information about Home Tuition visit:

https://www.education.ie/en/Parents/Services/Home-Tuition/

Autism

Autism is a complex, invisible condition which a person is born with. Autism is a developmental condition which means that the way a person communicates, interacts and understands other people, and the world, is different to those who do not have the condition. It can be described as a “spectrum” because it impacts in different ways and degrees at different times and situations.

Autism’s most-obvious signs tend to appear between 2 and 3 years of age. In some cases, it can be diagnosed as early as 18 months.

Two children with the same diagnosis can act very differently from one another and have varying skills, this emphasises the importance of Individual assessments and educational plans.

Our Framework: Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention

"Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBI)" are implemented in natural settings, involve shared control between child and therapist, utilize natural contingencies, and use a variety of behavioral strategies to teach developmentally appropriate and prerequisite skills"(Schreibman et al., 2015, p. 2411). This intervention "currently demonstrate the strongest evidence base for improving develop- mental outcomes for young children with ASD" (Sandbank et al., 2020).

References:

Schreibman, L., Dawson, G., Stahmer, A., Landa, R., Rogers, S., McGee, G., Kasari, C., Ingersoll, B., Kaiser, A., Bruinsma, Y., McNerney, E., Wetherby, A., Halladay, A. (2015) Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions: Empirically Validated Treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord . 45:2411–2428 DOI 10.1007/s10803-015-2407-8

Sandbank, M., Bottema-Beutel, K., Crowley, S., Cassidy, M., Dunham, K., Feldman, J.I., Crank, J., Albarran, S.A., Raj, S., Mahbub, P., Woynaroski, T.G. (2020). Project AIM: Autism Intervention Meta-Analysis for Studies of Young Children. Psychol

Bull. 2020 January ; 146(1): 1–29. doi:10.1037/bul0000215.

Speech and Language

Our Speech and Language Therapist will provide practical and professional advice and intervention strategies that are evidence based making a comprehensive treatment program to meet individual needs.

Programs for your child will vary depending on the child’s age, communication level and overall ability, focusing in: attention and listening skills, non-verbal skills, gesture, early vocabulary development and NLA (Natural Language Acquisition).

We use AAC devices to support communication throughout the day.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapy assists the individual to develop the necessary physical skills, where needed, to make the engaging in activities or roles more accessible to them through individualised, specifically targeted programs.

Many children with ASD present with difficulties with fine motor and/or gross motor skills and sensory issues which affect their ability to engage in daily activities and roles.

Activities could include self-help skills such as doing up buttons or the development of good pencil skills; maintain good postural control: sit at a school desk for any length of time, special awareness.

Our Occupational Therapist will use a Sensory Integration Program to promote effective integration of the senses in order to develop a child’s ability to register, process and respond to sensory information in his/her environment, thereby improving learning, behaviour and activity participation.

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Lego Play Based Therapy

Lego®-based therapy is a social development programme for young people with autism spectrum disorders or related social communication difficulties. Young people work together to build Lego® models and through this have the opportunity to develop social skills such as turn taking, collaboration and social communication.

Lego®-based therapy can be used individually or in groups. Natural opportunities for developing social competence are facilitated by the therapist.

Key to this approach is how engaging and enjoyable it is for the participants! Building Lego® collaboratively is great fun, and young people develop social skills while enjoying themselves.