Release Communication Intervention, a non-profit social enterprise which teaches parents and children the practical skills and techniques they need to overcome communications difficulties, has announced a new school in Rathfarnham and an expansion of its Dundalk programme, which will service students in Westmeath.
Both schools cater for children from birth to 18 years with all levels of communications difficulties. It is hoped that because it is just two minutes off the M50, the Rathfarnham school will support enrolments from the surrounding counties of Westmeath, Offaly, Kildare, and Wicklow, as well as Dublin.
Release Rathfarnham will be based on the model that has been successfully rolled out in Release’s Dundalk school. The 100 children attending Release Dundalk are part of evidence based research with The George Washington University. Once the research is accepted, which is anticipated in June 2009, Release will become an “emerging best practice” enabling world wide roll out of the programme.
Since opening its doors in January 2005, Release has worked with over 750 children of varying communication difficulties totalling over 6,300 hours of communication therapy. Over twenty non-verbal children are now primarily speaking and a further 20 children have transitioned out of special needs school into mainstream education. The Release programme works because they teach parents the skills they need to help their child’s communication skills.
For more information you can log on to www.release.ie
