Psychological Services

Autism related programs provided by psychological services at Shafallah Center   for Children with Special needs involve a diverse yet a cohesive range of services for children with autism. These services include the following programs:

• Clinical Assessment and Diagnosis involving autism early detection and diagnosis assessment, cognitive andpsycho educational assessment. The department provides comprehensive assessment using early screening tools (C.A.R.S. and the M-CHAT), and the gold standard autism clinical  diagnostic tools including the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R ) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS)  for the purpose of accepting children into our day program or to provide consultation to families in our outpatient program. Other tools are used to assess cognitive abilities and adaptive behavioral skills involve verbal and non verbal tools.

• Behavior Analysis involving functional assessment, functional analysis and behavioral intervention and treatment. We apply the principles of Behavior Analysis to changing inappropriate behaviors and maintaining appropriate ones in order for our children to have a better quality of life and facilitate their endeavors. A Behavioral Review and Human Rights Committee have been formed to approve behavioral programs before implementation in order to ensure that the procedures are scientifically sound and decisions are made depending on empirical data. In addition, the committee ensures that the rights of students are respected during the implementation of the procedures.

• Counseling services involving parent, sibling and child counseling. Although it is not an easy mission to involve children with Autism and with intellectual disabilities in general in counseling it provide counseling services involving cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and self regulation training to those children who have the cognitive and communication ability to participate. We also provide parent and sibling counseling to participating families involving conflict resolution, stress reduction and coping skills.

• Music Therapy. The Music Therapy services at Shafallah for children with autism are provided on an individual basis by professional, board-certified Music Therapists (MT-BC’s). After a period of observation and assessment, each child’s treatment is carefully prescribed to correlate with IEP/IIP goals. Progress is documented and a continual process of interdisciplinary collaboration keeps treatment protocols current.

• Art Therapy. We use modern trends working with children with autism attention to promote their mental abilities, psychological and skills in the field of art, emphasizing the need for substantive activities for children designed to develop and promote their needs.