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MKSA Office Calendar

MKSA 2022-2023 Calendar – Days of Operation for Daily Instruction

Early Intervention:
Services can be provided seven days per week, weekends and holidays.
(For EI Groups see below)

Preschool and School Age:
Services are provided per the school district calendar or the calendar of the school the child attends.

**Please note MKSA is open on Veteran’s Day, but per NYS regulations, preschool services cannot be provided on that day.

Below are the dates the MKSA office is closed. 

 
Holiday Day 2022-23 Dates
Labor Day Monday September 5, 2022
Columbus Day Monday October 10
Veterans Day** Friday November 11
Thanksgiving Thursday/Friday November 24 & 25
Christmas (Sunday holiday) Monday December 26
New Year’s Day (Sunday holiday)  Monday January 2, 2023
Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday January 16
Presidents Day Monday February 20
Memorial Day Monday May 29
Juneteenth Monday June 19
Independence Day Tuesday July 4

Please Note: MKSA Clinic is closed on the above dates and for the following:
12/26/2022 thru 12/30/2022 for Holiday Break and 7/5/23 through 7/9/23

EI Groups:   There are no groups offered on days listed above and the following:
ABA Group:   There are no classes:
Holiday Week (12/26/22-12/30/22)
Week of 4th of July (7/5/23-7/9/23)

Transition Planning

Transitioning from Early Intervention (EI) to Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE)

It’s hard to believe your child is approaching his/her third birthday and will be aging out of the Early Intervention Program. If you still have concerns about your child’s development, Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) is the program that will continue to address your child’s needs. CPSE is the program for three to five year olds.

Your Early Intervention Ongoing Service Coordinator (OSC) will schedule time to meet with you usually around your child’s second birthday to review the transition process. That may seem to be very far in advance but there is a time line that needs to be adhered to. At that meeting with your OSC, you will make a decision to notify your local school district that you might be registering your child for a CPSE initial evaluation in the near future. Even if you decide not to notify the school district in advance, you can still register your child for CPSE. The optional notification to the school district is due between age 26 months and 33 months depending on the month of the year in which your child is born. Actual referral to the CPSE, which is registering your child for CPSE evaluations, must be made by the parent or guardian, should take place no later than 3 months prior to your child’s third birthday.

To refer your child to your school district for CPSE you will be asked to bring with you your child’s birth certificate, immunization record, and proof of residency. Your school district will let you know exactly what they require. Once you submit this to the district you will be asked to select a 4410 evaluator/program provider to do new evaluation, and sign consent for these evaluations to take place. For all children a psychological evaluation, a social history and observation are conducted. In addition, an evaluation is conducted in any area of concern.

Once the evaluations are completed you will receive a copy of the evaluations along with notice from the school district that an Initial CPSE meeting has been scheduled. This meeting must take place within thirty days of when you signed consent for the evaluations. At that meeting, which takes place in your home school district, the evaluations will be reviewed and a determination of eligibility will be made. If your child is eligible for CPSE services he/she will be classified as a preschool child with a disability. Your child’s needs will be reviewed, goals will be formed, services will be decided upon and an Individual Education Plan (IEP) will be made. You will decide if you want your child to start receiving services through CPSE as soon as possible or remain in the Early Intervention Program until they age out (either August 31 or December 31, depending on their date of birth).

If your child does not qualify for CPSE services this will be discussed with you. Your child would no longer be eligible for the Early Intervention Program past the day prior to her third birthday if she does not qualify for CPSE services or if you chose not to register for CPSE services.

Parent Testimonials

Dear MKSA,

I am writing this letter to express how happy my family has been with our son’s Speech Pathologist. She has been nothing short of amazing since she started working with our son. She has put her whole heart and soul into her time with him. The patience that she has for her students is remarkable. She has a gift that is not seen often, and goes above and beyond for her students.

From the beginning, our therapist’s communication with us, suggestions and strategies have been amazing. She has been able to think outside of the box for our son on many occasions. She has worked not only on his speech, but feeding difficulties, chewing difficulties, and choking issues (he is also diagnosed with Moderate Oral Dysphasia). Having a child who we have had to do the Heimlich maneuver on more than once due to chewing is a very scary situation. She has been compassionate and patient in helping him overcome this difficulty. Her calm nature has been pleasantly transferred to us so that we are not constantly nervous when he is eating, and we have been able to significantly increase the size we cut his food.

When the therapist started working with our son, he barely spoke 3 words and was still drinking from a bottle. In a short time, she “worked her magic” as I often say, and had him drinking from a straw and increased his expressive language. She has always made it a point to stay in constant communication so that we could be sure that skills are transferred home.

As a clinician and supervisor in the field, I supervise many therapists on a weekly basis. I can count on one hand how many of them come close to what she has been. I know how critical it is to have a therapist that truly connects with your child, and she has done just that. She has worked with him in both school and our home, and has been extraordinary. My son’s expressive language and feeding difficulties have come so far in such a short time; it is truly amazing.

Our therapist is truly an asset to those she works with and shows an extraordinary passion for children. My family will be forever grateful for having the opportunity and gift of, having her work with our son.

Very truly yours,

Parent of a child receiving services

 

Dear MKSA,

I wanted to thank you for all the support and help you gave my son Colin and myself when he attended the clinic for OT services. He came twice weekly and worked with Marie. While Colin had always given me a difficult time when it came to any fine motor activity such as writing or manipulating small items, as it was challenging for him, he eagerly did these activities for Marie! She made these things fun and over the course of the year I saw so much progress that I never dreamt was possible. It was an amazing thing to watch my child come to you with such a delay and over time to see him grow and meet all his IEP goals. The support, care and guidance Marie gave me was amazing. After each session she made sure to speak with me and we worked together with things I could do at home to support what she was doing. In addition to him being able to write his letters and complete tasks (which I was hoping he would do), more importantly he became more confident in himself and even his preschool teacher made note of the change in the classroom. Colin would eagerly share with his teacher how “Miss Marie” showed him to hold his pencil or make each shape and letter. He engaged in activities which he previously would have avoided and this helped him get so much more out of the classroom experience. I owe your agency so much for making such an impact on Colin and I will forever be grateful for that!

Heather H.

 

Dear MKSA,

My son has received services since he was about 16 months old and I couldn’t be happier with MKSA! All of the staff, his therapists, and his coordinator take great care in the work that they do and truly care about our family. They were there every step of the way as what started out as a “delay” was later diagnosed as ASD. I know I can call his therapists and coordinator anytime I have any questions, and they will be there to help. They also are great at communicating among each other, and in keeping me informed so that I never feel that my child is falling through the cracks or just a number. I can tell they all want to see my son reach his greatest potential. He has received speech, physical therapy, and ABA. He will soon be aging out of Early Intervention, and I can honestly say he has surpassed my expectations and grown to be such an active, intelligent, happy little boy. I am so thankful for everything MKSA has done.

Parent of a child receiving services

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