The services offered to our children as well as pre-school activities include Physiotherapy, Occupational and Speech therapy, Hydrotherapy and Psychology.
Activities of daily living are also included in our children’s day. Learning to feed themselves independently (where possible), wash their hands and face, brush their teeth, potty training, learning to dress and undress are all parts of the daily program.
One of the most important points to remember when working with children with learning disabilities in a pre-school environment is that their attention span can be very short. Therefore we recommend that activities should be very varied and should last no longer than 20 minutes at which point the activity should be changed.
Music plays a very important role in our pre-school activities. We have found that children who respond to no other activity will respond enthusiastically to action songs and familiar tunes which are repeated. Learning through play and learning through music are part of our ethos. We are delighted to be working alongside Music Generation Carlow .
Restlessness in our children can be a problem. They do not like to be confined in the same room for long spells. We try to overcome this by changing our environment e.g. a walk in the garden, a visit to our playground or a visit to our activity room. This can often ease a frustrating situation for both staff and child.
Consistency and predictability are also important points to consider when dealing with children with a learning disability. The child will feel safe, secure and happy in an environment where he/she can predict “what is happening next”. Thus the importance of a structured daily routine with allowances for some flexibility depending on the situation within the group on any given day.
We take all the above factors into account when providing our services to the children, to help them to make the most of their abilities.
Holy Angels 