| The Astra Foundation
is a private, regional foundation that supports programs and
initiatives helping children thrive in their home and
educational environments. We focus our attention primarily on
children with special needs and those who live in low-income
urban areas. The Astra Foundation established the Special Needs Center in
2001 to promote the availability of DIR® (developmental,
individualized, relationship-based) services to families with
special needs children, including children with regulation,
sensory, relational and behavioral issues, as well as autism
spectrum disorders. Special Needs Center services are based on
the DIR® model pioneered by Drs. Stanley
Greenspan and Serena Wieder, and are designed to be
family-centered, time-intensive and interdisciplinary.
At the Special Needs Center, we make education and training our
primary focus, serving students, professionals and parents. We
developed the Parent Partner Program with Early Intervention
centers in mind, and thus far have trained EI specialists at one
Massachusetts center to provide intensive coaching in DIR®
skills to parents in their homes. The Parent Partner Program is
a multidisciplinary, family-focused program which strives to put
effective tools in the hands of parents for accelerating and
supporting their child’s development.
In 2003 we began working in partnership with Lesley University
in Cambridge, Massachusetts to offer introductory courses on the
DIR® model to students and professionals in the greater Boston
area, with the end goal of having more qualified resources for
families to turn to when determining how they might best help
their child.
We also offer introductory workshops and talks for parents and
professionals in the community, always focusing on providing a
solid, high quality underpinning of DIR® knowledge that people
may bring to their work or homes, or use as a foundation for
higher level training.
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