SANFORD, Maine — For more than five decades, Waban Projects in Sanford has been providing education, programming and more for children and adults with intellectual disabilities in Maine.
The organization on Bauneg Beg Pond was initially started as a summer camp but has since grown into the Fraser-Ford Children Development Center, which provides education for children from Pre-K through 4th grade. In addition to the center, Waban also provides day programs and other resources for adults with intellectual disabilities in the community.
A typical school day looks a little different than what you would see at a traditional, public school. Each student gets one-on-one support from an ed tech and each classroom is supported by a special education teacher. This extra support is crucial because most of the students attending school at Waban are non-verbal.
"The days are very structured, as we know many of our students need structure, consistency, and routine and so we provide that for them," Waban's special education director Brianne Westman said. "A big part of our day is the motor movement piece. So, in our hallways, there’s running and there’s bicycles and there are wagon races and rides."
That balance of playing and learning is what the students need to be successful, according to Westman.
If a student is non-verbal, teachers will also work on building language skills with a picture book specifically designed for their wants and needs in mind.
The book is filled with square cutouts depicting different activities, food, or any other item the child may need. Students use the pictures to form sentences to communicate with teachers and staff.
For example, if a student is hungry and wants a snack, they find a picture of the food they want and select it. Each square cut-out is about an inch in diameter and can be stuck to a sentence strip using Velcro. Once the student has formed their sentence (for example, "I want apple,") they hand it to their teacher and get assistance.
These skills can be built upon and used at home. Westman said a child's success is not solely based on what happens in the classroom but also on what happens at home. If parents aren't taking the time to use the tools provided, students can regress.
Breaking those communication barriers opens the door to a whole new world of possibilities for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Westman said other skills are just as important to a child's success.
"We really sit down and work on some of those really challenging skills and that could be just sitting at a table or getting them to be okay sitting in a chair at a table," Westman said. "Maybe using a spoon for the first time to try some food or just trying to make some eye contact."
While the hope is that students build language skills and are able to communicate one day, Westman said that is not always possible.
"When we teach communication I have had parents say, 'Well, are they going to be able to vocalize? Are they going to be able to tell me?’' And the answer to that is, 'We don’t know,'" Westman said. "We don’t know if a child is going to continue being non-verbal. But what we do know is we have the ways to build communication."
Anastasia and Bjorn Osiseck, both students at Waban, are just two examples of the transformations seen at the school. Their mother, Barbara Osiseck, said she couldn't be more thankful for the resources and support she has received.
"It’s interesting having two kiddos that are on the spectrum because they are so different. It’s actually really interesting how opposite they are," Osiseck said. "Anastasia is sensory, sensitive. So, she’s very much 'Don’t touch me, get away from me, I’m going to do my own thing.' And then Bjorn is quite the opposite. He’s very snuggly. He likes to ask for hugs. It’s his favorite thing."
Osiseck said the months leading up to getting her children placed at Waban were extremely challenging to navigate. Anastasia was completely non-verbal and Bjorn was displaying self-harming behaviors, like purposefully smashing his head off the wooden stair banister.
Osiseck said it was terrifying.
"You just notice little things, especially when you have a big family and you have nieces and nephews, and you see very obvious signs of development. Like saying hi to people, looking people in the eye, wanting to play with other kids," Osiseck said. "It’s terrifying because every other child around you, you can see, are very obviously able to communicate needs, concerns, [when] they’re hurt."
Osiseck noticed positive strides within the first few weeks of placement at Waban for both Anastasia and Bjorn. She said any self-harming behaviors became few and far between and the communication barriers slowly started to fade. Osiseck firmly believes her children wouldn't be thriving without Waban and the center. She said the work Westman and others do is transforming lives and is a game-changer for families.
"My children went from being unable to communicate and talk to now they’re at home asking me for things. They’re engaging more with their peers, which is amazing because they need that for school, they need that to continue their education," Osiseck said. "Which we definitely want for Bjorn because he’s just so intelligent. He’s well beyond the point of a four-year-old. He can read. He knows the planets in order from the sun. I mean, I don’t even know that."
"Once he gets those dots connected, the sky’s the limit," Osiseck added.
"Days are hard," Westman said. "As a teacher, you have a lot of tools and you know you teach these children, you teach families, but they’re not going to work every day. But in every day you find something that is rewarding, you find a small success and you shine, you shine from inside."
"Being able to be at a place as long as I have and see so many families and children just overcome so many challenges, there really are no words," Westman said. "There are no words. It’s very special and, you know, again, its amazing to be a part of it."
Waban Projects relies heavily on donations from its community to keep its doors open and programs running. May 21st is the 51st Annual Telethon at Waban. There will be live music, food trucks, and more at their Sanford headquarters from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Anyone is welcome to stop in or make a donation.
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