At Whitney Academy, all of our students have been identified as having developmental delays; however, we realize that the nature and extent of these difficulties can vary significantly from student to student.  The behavioral difficulties with which our students struggle, frequently divert attention from effectively identifying and addressing their learning and processing problems.  We find that these problems are often a primary contributor to the students overall adaptive difficulties.

Whitney Academy s philosophy of treatment seeks to understand the student s presenting behavioral problems in the context of the whole child.  This means that in order to address the presenting issues we must understand how the student experiences and understands their social, relational, and physical environment.  We remain conscious of the way in which past traumatic experiences can shape or distort the student s interactions with others and how developmental delays can create significant obstacles in learning and utilizing new ways of coping with the world and meeting personal needs.

Our milieu is adapted to assist our students with information processing disorders including auditory processing, learning disabilities and sensorimotor problems.  The treatment protocol at Whitney is increasingly expanding to address student s difficulties with visual-spatial skills, sensory integration and auditory processing.  Treatments utilized combine whole brain learning techniques and strategies borrowed from a variety of other disciplines including Occupational Therapy.  Modifications are made to the physical environment, educational materials and presentation to better accommodate student learning styles.  Strategies are employed with the goal of assisting our students ability to self regulate, process sensory information and to modify their environment to better organize and structure their daily life to optimize independence and social success.