Local News in Brief : Countywide : UCI Child Center Gets $65,000 Grant
The UC Irvine Child Development Center has received a $65,000 grant for a teaching and treatment program for children with hyperactivity and other behavioral disorders.
The grant, from the Educational Foundation of America, will fund a program that began last year in cooperation with the Orange County Department of Education, which has involved more than 60 Irvine-area schoolchildren.
The program teaches children social skills in group therapy and closely monitored classroom situations. After the special training, the youngsters transfer to intermediary schools where they can test their new skills before returning to their own academic environment. Progress is monitored and evaluated throughout the treatment and transition.
“Historically, new behavior learned in a controlled therapy setting is not likely to be applied when the child returns to his or her natural environment,” said James Swanson, director of the Child Development Center. “Our transition program allows us to approximate the natural environment during training. The results have been very promising.”
In addition to the Education Foundation, based in Westport, Conn., contributors to the treatment program have been the Irvine Health Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation of Chicago.
For information about the Child Development Center and its programs, call (714) 856-8730.
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