Alan Hoskins, Supervisor of Public Information
Friday, October 30, 2009
College Advancement
For more than 60 years, the Children’s Therapeutic Learning Center (CTLC) has been a leader in providing services to children with disabilities and their families in the Kansas City area.
Reaching out to children with a wide range of disabilities and developmental delays including cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, spina bifida and autism, CTLC provided special education and therapeutic services to more than 580 children during the past year and serves 450 to 500 young people at any one time.
In addition, there are specialized classrooms for children with hearing impairments and speech and language delays; non-categorical classrooms for children with multiple disabilities or those who are medically fragile; and early intervention and specialized programs that have earned CTLC selection into the Mid-America Education Hall of Fame.
A fund-raising event for the Endowment Association’s scholarship fund at Kansas City Kansas Community College, CTLC will be inducted in gala ceremonies at KCKCC Saturday, Nov. 7.
Selected in 2006 by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to be the lead agency for services in Wyandotte County to children with disabilities from birth to age three, the Wyandotte County Infant-Toddler Services program provides therapy and family education services at no charge to the families. Funded in part by a grant from the KDTH, it serves more than 250 children annually.
A similar First Step home visit program in Missouri reaches youngsters from age two until age three while a school-based program with the Raymore-Peculiar and Raytown school districts provides physical and occupational therapy for children from early childhood through 12th grade.
“Our mission is to provide therapeutic and educational services for children with disabilities in an environment which fosters their independence and celebrates their successes with a primary goal to prepare children with disabilities to succeed in their next educational environment and in life,” says Executive Director Alan Murray.
Core values upheld by CTLC include the beliefs that:
- Learning begins at birth and that all children need to be taught with kindness, respect and compassion;
- Children learn trust and respect for others, positive self-image and initial independence through experiences addressing their individual needs;
- The needs of the child’s family are equal to the child’s needs and that families must be treated with respect; and
- The most effective services are provided when a collaborative relationship is stabled between our team of professionals and the families.
About 40 direct providers and administrators work out of CTLC’s main office at 3101 Main in Kansas City, Mo., while Wyandotte County’s staff of 15 at 4911 State Avenue includes physical, occupational and speech therapists, social worker, nurse, early child special education teachers and an interpreter.
Murray said early education and therapeutic intervention are critical for a child with disabilities to achieve his or her full promise and without it, families, schools and communities face increased demands for special care at home over years and even lifetimes. Statistically, children who receive early intervention services are less likely to need remedial services once they reach kindergarten and are more likely to develop a more positive self-image and a desire to help themselves than children who do not receive essential services.
Founded in 1947 as the Cerebral Palsy Nursery School, the agency was for 30 years a division of Children’s Mercy Hospital. In 1998, the agency moved into the Children’s Center Campus where it has an aquatic therapy pool and shares facilities with the Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired and the YMCA Early Learning Center.
In 2006, CTLC expanded the scope of pre-school to include typically developing siblings and peers of the children with disabilities, an innovative, integrative approach for children to interact with peer models who fostered the development of social engagement, communication and problem solving skills and 2007 opened its first Relationship-Based Classroom for children with autism spectrum disorders.
In addition to providing educational and therapeutic services, CTLC has established partnerships with area colleges and universities to provide internships and clinical training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students in such disciplines as occupational, physical and speech therapy, special education, nursing, accounting and non-profit leadership. Community partnerships have been extended to providing speech and language services to children at Operation Breakthrough and speech and language screenings to children at UMKC’s Berkley Child and Family Development Center.
Induction ceremonies and dinner are open to the public. Tickets are $65 per person and can be reserved by calling the KCKCC Endowment Association at 913-288-7632.