Lifeline Center for Child Development
Encyclopedia
The Lifeline Center for Child Development in Queens, NY
, is a non-profit psychiatric day treatment center and special education school serving emotionally and mentally disturbed children and their families from the New York metropolitan area
. Founded by Ethel Wyner in 1959, the Lifeline Center has grown and expanded over the years to include a New York State Education Department
chartered K-12 school, a preschool and evaluation program approved by both NYC and Nassau County, and a state-licensed day treatment center.
Lifeline considers children exhibiting the following symptoms for admission: fearfulness, anxiety, hyperactivity, depression, impulsivity, language delay
s (expressive and/or receptive), withdrawal, autistic-like and psychotic behavior, or those having difficulty getting along with people and the world around them. Lifeline serves seriously disturbed children with disabilities including Pervasive Developmental Disorder
, Asperger's Syndrome, Psychosis
Attention-Deficit and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
, Oppositional Defiant Disorder
and severe Adjustment disorder
. Lifeline's campus consists of two buildings and a swimming pool set on three acres.
. At this time there were few options for parents of mentally or emotionally challenged children who were seeking help. As Wyner stated for an interview with City Limits (magazine) in 1998, "The options back then were to put them in the state hospitals. Or you could take them to private clinics, which even back in the fifties cost something like $20,000 a year."
"Over the years, Wyner and her staff have created a model facility for educating and treating children from ages 4 through 16 (sic: current age range is 3-18) whose mental illness places them on the severe end of the spectrum of emotional disturbance. The students, who are referred by the Board of Education, are among the toughest cases to deal with--toddlers who are so deeply withdrawn they hardly notice when a visitor enters their classroom, hyperactive or aggressive grade-schoolers who frayed the nerves of their special ed teachers, psychotic teens who would be prone to hurting themselves if they didn't stick to a strict regimen of counseling and medication."
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, is a non-profit psychiatric day treatment center and special education school serving emotionally and mentally disturbed children and their families from the New York metropolitan area
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area, also known as Greater New York, or the Tri-State area, is the region that composes of New York City and the surrounding region...
. Founded by Ethel Wyner in 1959, the Lifeline Center has grown and expanded over the years to include a New York State Education Department
New York State Education Department
The New York State Education Department is the state education department in New York. It is part of the University of the State of New York , one of the most complete, interconnected systems of educational services in the United States...
chartered K-12 school, a preschool and evaluation program approved by both NYC and Nassau County, and a state-licensed day treatment center.
Lifeline considers children exhibiting the following symptoms for admission: fearfulness, anxiety, hyperactivity, depression, impulsivity, language delay
Language delay
Language delay is a failure to develop language abilities on the usual developmental timetable. Language delay is distinct from speech delay, in which the speech mechanism itself is the focus of delay...
s (expressive and/or receptive), withdrawal, autistic-like and psychotic behavior, or those having difficulty getting along with people and the world around them. Lifeline serves seriously disturbed children with disabilities including Pervasive Developmental Disorder
Pervasive developmental disorder
Pervasive developmental disorders is a diagnostic category refers to a group of disorders characterized by delays or impairments in communication, social behaviors, and cognitive development.Pervasive developmental disorders include Autism, Asperger's syndrome, Rett's syndrome, Childhood...
, Asperger's Syndrome, Psychosis
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
Attention-Deficit and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a developmental disorder. It is primarily characterized by "the co-existence of attentional problems and hyperactivity, with each behavior occurring infrequently alone" and symptoms starting before seven years of age.ADHD is the most commonly studied and...
, Oppositional Defiant Disorder
Oppositional defiant disorder
Oppositional defiant disorder is a diagnosis described by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as an ongoing pattern of disobedient, hostile and defiant behavior toward authority figures which goes beyond the bounds of normal childhood behavior...
and severe Adjustment disorder
Adjustment disorder
Adjustment disorder is a psychological response to an identifiable stressor or group of stressors that cause significant emotional or behavioral symptoms that do not meet criteria for anxiety disorder, PTSD, or acute stress disorder...
. Lifeline's campus consists of two buildings and a swimming pool set on three acres.
History
Wyner founded the Lifeline Center in 1959, as the mental health therapeutic direction in the US was moving away from surgical solutions and toward social milieu therapyMilieu Therapy
Milieu Therapy is a form of psychotherapy that involves the use of therapeutic communities. Patients join a group of around 30, for between 9 and 18 months. During their stay, patients are encouraged to take responsibility for themselves and the others within the unit. Milieu therapy is thought to...
. At this time there were few options for parents of mentally or emotionally challenged children who were seeking help. As Wyner stated for an interview with City Limits (magazine) in 1998, "The options back then were to put them in the state hospitals. Or you could take them to private clinics, which even back in the fifties cost something like $20,000 a year."
"Over the years, Wyner and her staff have created a model facility for educating and treating children from ages 4 through 16 (sic: current age range is 3-18) whose mental illness places them on the severe end of the spectrum of emotional disturbance. The students, who are referred by the Board of Education, are among the toughest cases to deal with--toddlers who are so deeply withdrawn they hardly notice when a visitor enters their classroom, hyperactive or aggressive grade-schoolers who frayed the nerves of their special ed teachers, psychotic teens who would be prone to hurting themselves if they didn't stick to a strict regimen of counseling and medication."