Family development center expands programs

Hand in Hand Family and Child Development, a nonprofit organization serving children with special needs and their families, has announced the addition of a new social skills program and in-home floor time services, as well as expanded occupational and physical therapy services.

Social skills groups are available for children 3 to 10 years of age with challenging behaviors such as attention issues, autism, related disorders, and their parents. This innovative program places children in carefully selected peer groups. Together, the children work on understanding nonverbal cues, developing peer relationships, becoming more flexible and expanding narrow interests, and increasing behavioral understanding.

Parents participate in an education and support group designed to give families the confidence they need to meet the challenges of raising children with special needs.

Hand in Hand’s new floor time program seeks to bring home the skills that each child develops during center-based therapy activities. A Hand-in-Hand clinician works with the child and parents in the home to develop and nurture the unique qualities of each child. Parents are trained on principles developed by Stanley Greenspan, MD, internationally recognized expert in the field of child development. Parents work side by side with the clinician to observe their child, open circles of communication, follow their child’s lead, and extend and expand play.

While Hand in Hand has introduced new programs, it’s also expanded physical and occupational therapy services. Under the direction of clinical director Linda Reed, DPh (M.Ed), a clinician with extensive orthopedic and pediatric experience, Hand in Hand’s team of doctorate- and masters-level physical and occupational therapists works closely with children from birth to school age whose diagnoses include developmental delay, premature infants with gross motor delay, torticollis, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, athletic injuries and others.

In addition to social skills groups, floor time, occupational and physical therapies, Hand in Hand also offers speech and language therapy, feeding therapy, infant/toddler early intervention programs, and counseling.

Hand in Hand is in the Encino Town Center at 17200 Ventura Blvd., Ste. 112. For more information, call (818) 986-7776.