The above describes our program at the Achievement Center of Texas. Our goal is to teach individuals the skills they need to be able to participate in the life of the community and to enjoy the same opportunities available to their non-disabled peers and family members. The training which takes place during the year at the Achievement Center includes:
Day Habilitation: Day habilitation classes are held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Students have individual service plans which include day habilitation goals. Teachers work on these goals as well as others to give the students every opportunity to experience life in their community. Students move from one center to the other to train in the various skills provided by the teachers. These skills include, but are not limited to: money skills, writing skills, expressing feeings, doing laundry, loading and unloading a dishwasher, making a bed, setting the table. ACT provides its students with a fully equipped apartment in which they can learn and practice functional living skills on a daily basis.
Day Care: Day Care is provided from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Ordinarily there is no overlapping of day habilitation and day care. Occasionally, a funding agency may request that day habilitation occur after school. We will provide that service with a guarantee that the student is here for more than 2 hours. Students receiving day care services will engage in activities to help them make friends and learn to maintain those friendships, learn sportsmanship (taking turns and exhibiting good manners). Students will develop skills in choosing recreation and leisure activities i.e. games, sports, physical fitness and most of all they will have fun.
Building Self Confidence: In these sessions, students learn to take care of themselves, learn basic hygiene skills, infection control, makeup application, choosing their own hair styles, appropriate dress, caring for their own personal needs, self worth, discovering hidden talents, exercise and nutrition. Students are given the opportunity to compete without the fear of being excluded, or not chosen or always being last. Sessions on expressing one's feelings help students learn coping skills and ways to communicate what is bothering them. This often helps them control impulses and reduce aggressive behaviors due to frustration.
Community Inclusion: This session addresses appropriate behavior in a restaurant, choosing items from a menu, communicating your choices, shopping in a grocery store, choosing needed groceries from pictures or a list, taking items to the check out, paying for them, and depending on the developmental level and academic skills of the individual, making change or writing a check. Going to the movies, bowling and other places is another area of community inclusion enjoyed by ACT students. Prior to the outing, the teacher discusses the choices available and students choose from ads in newspapers or other media. Students learn to find the movie in the newspaper and communicate their wishes. Students vote on selected movies and learn to accept the concept that the majority rules. Other areas of community involvement include bowling, miniature golf, swimming, skating, game rooms, the Fort Worth Zoo, Arboretum, American Airlines, restaurants, the Science Place, Dallas Aquarium and special community events. Students learn the use of a laundromat,and public transportation (including HandiRides, Dart Light Rail, and bus system. Students learn about stranger danger and other safety skills necessary to function in their community.
Cultural Diversity: Students are given many opportunities to experience the customs and cultures of other countries. These experiences introduce them to ethnic foods, celebrations, native attire, music and art.
Educational Assistance: The Director of ACT will attend the ARD* meetings of our school age students if requested by the parent. (School age: 3 to 21years) At this ARD meeting goals are developed and ACT staff are informed of additional areas of need to include in the training in the after school program at ACT. This helps to reinforce skills learned in school. Additional meetings are held either at the school or at ACT if problems arise which require further discussion.
Communications: ACT utilizes various methods of communication. Recognizing that students learn differently from each other, ACT provides a variety of methods of communication. These include sign language, Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), gesture, communication boards, schedules and verbal communication systems.
Behavior Management: The staff work on activities with the students which encourage them to communicate their feelings without acting out or becoming aggressive or self abusive. Help is sought from behavior specialists of the public school, Dallas Metrocare Services or other Behavior Intervention Services as needed by the student. Since respect and self- confidence is the focus of our program, no obtrusive or restrictive methods are used except in a crisis situation. ACT's staff is trained in PMAB*** with a strong emphasis placed on using verbal skills to find the cause of a student's anxiety, anger, sadness or frustration. Redirection is stressed when tension is evident. Time out consists of sitting on a bench or chair approximately 10 feet away from the center of activities. Time out never lasts more than 15 minutes. "My Personal Space" areas or "Frustration Stations" are set up so that students may choose to go to that area when they are upset, tired, angry, agitated or sad for a time of calming or working out one's feelings of frustration.
Junior Staff Program: The students who enjoy helping the other students or staff may participate in the Junior Staff Program. This is a volunteer position and was an idea from a student. The Junior Staff help with things like running messages back to the main office, setting places at the table for lunch, setting out lunches, pouring drinks, heating lunches in microwave and picking up after those students who are unable to pick up after themselves. Rewards of a special field trip, movie, sodas, candy, popcorn are offered to Junior Staff participants for their service. Junior Staff badges are issued to show which students are acting in this capacity.
Parent Support and Advocacy: The Achievement Center endeavors to support parents by providing a parent's meeting every other month and assisting them in advocating for the services they need for their disabled child or young adult. ACT's Parent Information Services disseminates information on a wide variety of subjects to keep parents informed of the most up-to-date information regarding subjects such as guardianship, wills and trusts, transition services (what happens after graduation), parenting strategies, legislation, rights, mental health and mental retardation services, etc.
ACT has an open door policy and encourages parents or guardians to join with their students in activities, outings, luncheons, etc. ACT provides day care so that parents can work and be sure that their child or young adult is well taken care of and enjoying a safe, loving, healthy, environment. ACT fills the time gaps between the time individuals leave school or work and the time parents can pick them up. For working students, ACT is an opportunity to socialize and have fun after work.
Credentials: The Achievement Center of Texas is a contract agency of Dallas Metrocare Services as well as a number of Home and Community Based Service Providers. It is a 4-Star Vendor for Child Care Management Services (their highest rating). It is licensed by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. It holds a non-profit tax exempt 5O1-C-3 IRS Determination Letter. The Director is the current chairman of the Eastfield College Child Development Advisory Board and has served on the GISD Special Education Advisory Board for 14 years. ACT is often used as a training site for college students from University of Texas at Dallas and University of North Texas, SMU, and others. The Director holds the Margaret Cone Award for outstanding work in the field of Early Childhood Development awarded by the Dallas Association for the Education of Young Children. ACT was named "Best of Texas" by the Corporate Child Development Fund in Austin in 1992. To our knowledge, it is the only center of its kind in the Dallas metroplex. ACT has an active Board of Directors and is active in the community with other service providers.
