Autism Program

The Brookville Center for Children's Services' Autism Program is dedicated to providing children with autism an individualized education that takes into account each child's strengths as well as specific skill deficits, and teaches them the skills they need to increase their ability to communicate and function independently.

Approved and licensed by the New York State Department of Education, the year-round program serves preschool and school age children in Brookville.  Classrooms maintain a high staff to student ratio (1 master's level teacher, 3.5 teacher aides and 6 students) in order to provide intensive and consistent teaching throughout the school day, with the goal of increasing one-to-one instruction each day.

An interdisciplinary staff of dedicated professionals works to ensure that each child reaches his/her fullest potential.

Educational Programs and Services

The program is committed to the systematic use of Applied Behavioral Analysis as the most effective methodology of teaching children with Autism.
The principle objective is to develop an educational process that maximizes generalization of skills acquired in discrete trial teaching, with data collected to determine the effectiveness of the teaching procedures.

Impaired language skills, particularly acquisition and usage, comprise the most significant area of deficit for the child with autism. Therefore, in addition to providing direct therapeutic intervention, speech and language pathologists will work collaboratively with the ABA specialist regarding program development and generalization of skills.

Each child will also receive pull-out speech therapy twice per week and pull-out occupational therapy one time per week.  Speech and occupational therapy goals are implemented daily by the classroom staff under the direction of the respective therapists.  The ultimate goal will be to increase each student's level of independence to maximize the transition into a less restrictive learning environment.

Additional programatic services include art therapy, music therapy, yoga and adaptive physical education.

In order to maximize opportunities for socialization with typically developing peers, a peer-modeling program in conjunction with local day care centers and school will be implemented.  Students with autism will be afforded opportunities to interact with their peers in order to improve play skills and pragmatic abilities. Community integration is an important aspect of the program. Students are taken into the community to practice school acquired social and linguistic skills. Students visit local libraries, post office, pizza parlors, and McDonald's where appropriate skills are modeled and reinforced.

The Autism Program also promotes a home-school-partnership.  Parents, care-givers and siblings are provided with hands-on training on ways to help teach the child, accelerate the child's progress, and promote independence and a better quality of life for the family as a whole.

For further information on the Autism Program please contact: 

Sherry Black, Program Supervisor

Autism Program

(516) 626-1000, ext 2492 

Marianne Klotz, Assistant Executive Director

Phone: (516) 626-1000, ext. 3350

Fax: (516) 626-2039

bhuber@ahrc.org