Children’s Annex changes its name
For three decades, The Children”™s Annex has been a leader in providing education and support for children with autism and their families. Now that support will continue and increase under the same agency with a new name.
The agency announced Oct. 20 it is now named the Center for Spectrum Services.
“This new name more clearly describes the comprehensive services that we offer to people of all ages,” said Jamey Wolff, the agency”™s program director, which has an $8 million annual budget in 2009 and provides services for 250 children and their families dealing with an array of autism-like conditions.
“The word ”˜annex”™ implied that we were an addendum, a footnote, an afterthought, and this was never the case,” said Wolff, who co-founded the agency in 1976.
The Center for Spectrum Services will continue to provide the same services. “We have a long history of excellence in serving the autism community and continue to provide a model program for best practices in action,” she said.
Among other things, the agency provides diagnostic evaluations for people of all ages, training for parents and professionals, consultation services to schools and other agencies, and social skill groups and counseling for children and adolescents with high-functioning autism and Asperger syndrome. A recent government study found that the incidence of autism related conditions is one in a hundred, about 40 percent more prevalent than previous estimates.
The center is in the midst of building a 4,800-square-foot addition at Kukuk Lane in Kingston. The new $1 million wing, expected to be completed next month, will house additional classrooms, occupational and speech therapy services and a life skills therapy room. It also has a facility in Ellenville.
Along with its new name, the agency also unveiled a new multicolored logo. It depicts the wide span of services the agency provides to the autism spectrum, a clinical term used to describe a range of autism disorders.