Special Needs

We’re about families - all families.

Being a part of the community means more than just occupying a building. It means being plugged into the community’s hopes, dreams, successes, challenges and needs. Hearing an enormous cry from our community, we answered it and created a special program for exceptional people. Working with our supporters and neighbors, the JCC developed programs to accommodate individuals with special needs—autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, Asperger’s syndrome, ADD, for example--and their families.

The JCC’s Special Needs department operates programs that provide low staff-to-child ratios, specially trained staff and individualized programming to meet varying needs.

Support, advocacy and access to informational resources is an integral part of the services we offer families.

Our goal is to provide families with a place where their children can feel safe and secure; a place where they are permitted to be themselves; a place they can develop at their own pace; a place where their parents can achieve a sense of much needed relief and support; and a place where they can truly belong.

Our Programs include:

Aftercare and Enrichment
Throughout the school year, we offer specialized after-school and enrichment programs for children ages 3 - 13, ranging from transportation to friendship clubs. Participation in these programs has steadily grown as our reputation and dedication to providing the best program possible has spread throughout the community.

Camps
During school vacations, we offer Winter, Spring and Summer camps specifically designed for children who have physical, cognitive and developmental exceptionalities ranging from autism to ADD. We pride ourselves on providing unique specialized activities for our campers such as horseback riding, golf, music therapy, dance and movement and art.

Teens
Making new friends and exploring new adventures is the success the teens in our program enjoy. Our year-round programs currently serve teens with high-functioning disabilities, creating a place where they belong and feel welcome.

One Family’s Story
“The gymnasium at the JCC is filled to capacity in anticipation of the Miami Heat Extreme Team performance. All of Camp Shalom, including its Special Needs camps, is ready for the big show. Performers are flying off the trampolines and dunking basketballs, the Miami Heat’s mascot is dancing around and the audience is chanting one little boy’s name ... ‘Go Ethan, Go Ethan...’”

“Ethan steps out of the crowd, with the help of his one-on-one aide and stands on a mat between the trampoline and the basket, leg braces and all. The show continues around him, as the performer flips over Ethan’s head, grabs a basketball from Ethan’s outstretched arms and slam-dunks it. The audience erupts into cheers and one little boy with special needs savors a feeling he will hold dear by being a part of it all. I never thought this would be possible before Ethan began special needs basketball camp at the JCC.”

Julie Ross, Ethan’s mother