The Elizabeth L. Berman School has two divisions. One division provides services to those children
who present with significant cognitive and physical delays with co-occurring medical complications such
as seizure disorders, gastrostomy tubes, diminished respiratory status and many additional
concomitant physical medicine concerns.
A majority of the children in this group receive vision, occupational, physical, speech/language and
sensory integrative therapy. There are three full-time nurses available to administer medications and
to respond to medical emergencies. All of the classrooms have a certified special educator and two
para-professionals with a maximum of six children. A majority of the specialized, clinical services
including technology; speech/language; physical and occupation therapy; vision and cognitive therapy
are provided within the classroom, integrated into the children's daily lessons.
Annual goals and objectives for the children are individualized and determined by the parent(s),
professionals providing the services, and the attending school district Committee on Special Education
(CSE). Parents are considered to be the most important members of the team and are active is
designing a quality program for their child. Special outcomes are measured and tracked on a monthly
basis to ensure progress. Annual reports to the family include written documentation, video and power
point demonstrations of goal achievement.
The second division of The Elizabeth L. Berman School is designed to teach those children who are
diagnosed with pervasive developmental delay (PDD) including autism, NOS (not otherwise specified),
Rett's and childhood disintegrative disorders; multiply disabled including mental retardation, social,
behavioral and language disorders, and neurologically impaired.
All of the children in this division are ambulatory and many have seizure disorders. Day students
include children from 3 through 21 years of age. Residential students include children 5 through 21
years of age. Children 3 through 5 years in the preschool are included in classes of eight children, two
para-professionals, and one special educator. Additionally, some of the classes have a full-time speech
pathologist in the class. Children five through 21 years in the school-age program are included in
classes of six children, two para-professionals and one special education teacher. Students may have
additional one to one aides to support their program as recommended by the attending Committee on
Special Education. The programs are designed to accommodate a broad range of functioning levels.
Special Education teachers and clinicians are skilled in implementing programs such as Picture Exchange Communication (PECs) Systems; TEAACH
As per the 2002 Outcomes Management Annual Report, 90% of families with children living at The Center
for Discovery are very satisfied with their overall residential experience.
Overall, 91% of The Center for Discovery’s stakeholders are very satisfied with the scope and quality
of services provided.
The Center for Discovery
Admissions Office
P.O. Box 840
Harris, NY 12742
(845) 707-8880
fax (845) 707-8926
admissions@sdtc.org
