Gloucester County Freeholder Adam Taliaferro gives motivational speech to special needs students in Woodbury

As published in the Gloucester County Courier Times

Gloucester County Freeholder Adam Taliaferro was told he’d never walk again after he sustained a spinal cord injury at the start of his college football career at Penn State University in 2000.

A dozen years later, Taliaferro stood tall before Durand Academy’s special needs students on Thursday and told them they could do anything they wanted.

“You all have something special within you,” Taliaferro said to about 40 of the school’s students before starting off the annual student-teacher kickball match.

“And you guys are all probably better kick players than me,” he said. “But most importantly, you guys can overcome anything it is that comes before you in life ... In each and every day of your life, try to make yourself just a little bit better.”

Taliaferro’s motivational talk came as an added bonus for the students, who spent the morning at Woodbury’s Little League field celebrating the school’s annual, activity-filled Durand Academy Field Day.

The academy — founded in 1972 as Sunny Day School — serves students with learning disabilities and behavioral challenges in grades K through 12.

“He’s an inspiration,” said Durand Principal Dr. Tom Ryan. “To bring someone around who has overcome incredible odds and challenges is something our students need to see.”

“Everyone faces challenges,” Ryan added. “[Taliaferro’s] were physical, and our students face mental challenges. But they’re challenges nonetheless.”

Taliaferro had just begun his college football career when he became paralyzed from the neck down. Subject of the book “Miracle in the Making,” Taliaferro was able to walk eight months after his injury and moved on to start a foundation to support others with spinal cord injuries.

After he spoke to students, parents and staff, Taliaferro was presented with a plaque signed by the students.

“I think this is great,” said Howard Goldberg, grandfather of a one of the academy’s students. “The staff really goes out of their way for these kids. It’s inspiring to see that people care for the kids so much.”
Durand Academy is just one facet of the multi-service agency, Durand Academy and Community Services.

Durand also operates group homes, respite services, and training programs to serve adults with developmental disabilities in Camden, Salem, Burlington, Cumberland and Gloucester counties.Contact

Jessica Bautista at 856-686-3729 or jbautista@southjerseymedia.com

FAMILY SUPPORT NIGHT - 4/26/12

In recognition of Autism Month, Durand will be hosting a “Family Support Night Dinner” on April 26, 2012. Please join us in welcoming our Durand Respite families on Thursday, April 26 at 6pm in the Mt. Laurel location.   Our address is:
111 Gaither Drive, Suite 101
Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054

Tia Dix to present at CCC's Autism Series in April

Durand's own Tia Dix is set to present at CCC's Autism Series in April. See link below for more details.


http://http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20120209/GETPUBLISHED/202090338/CCC-Autism-series-

Dennis Rivell Joins Durand's Board

As published on the Philadelphia Business Journal's "People on the Move"

Dennis Rivell of Foy Public Affairs Group has joined

Durand Academy & Community Service's

Board of Directors.

"Dennis' commitment to service and extensive knowledge of government affairs makes him an excellent addition to the Durand Academy & Community Relations Board of Directors," said executive director Raymond Cristofoletti. Durand is a non-profit, multi-service agency serving children and adults with special needs throughout South Jersey.

Delsea Students Spread the Word on Germs

As published on www.thedailyjournal.com

Delsea Regional High School students presented a Cough and Flu Prevention Presentation on Dec. 21 at the Durand Academy, a special education school in Woodbury.

As part of their service learning project, the seniors are participating in Y.O.D.A (Youth Organized for Disaster Action) with a goal to make the community better prepared and confident when facing an emergency situation. Their first project has been to disseminate information to elementary school students about the importance of hand-washing and other flu prevention tips.

Students created skits, songs and other hands-on activities including games to educate children about germs, washing their hands and keeping healthy during the flu season.

Characters such as the Germ, who fought Hand Sanitizer Man/Woman and SpongeBob helped to bring home the importance of hand-washing.

Senior English teachers, Shera Jahn, Tanya Mastrokyriakos and Jessica Ippolito along with teacher’s aide, Rob Gaetano worked with students to organize the presentation.

Dr. Tom Ryan, Principal at the Durand Academy, encourages his students to turn on their iPods and iPads every day during class.

By Carly Q. Romalino/Gloucester County Times Gloucester County Times
Read this story on nj.com

Dr. Tom Ryan, principal at the Durand Academy in Woodbury, encourages his students to turn on their iPods and iPads every day during class.

The handheld mini-computers that would distract other mainstream kids do the opposite for Ryan's students with autism, who need the devices to give them a voice and open them up to the concept of choice.

The iPods and iPads aren't the first devices on the scene to offer interactive programs that allows people with limited verbal abilities to communicate. The Dynovox has been used for years, and works similarly to the Apple devices, but for each $10,000 Dynovox, a school can buy more than a dozen iPads, which cost only a few hundred dollars.

The functions of both devices remain similar. In addition to educational games that can be inexpensively and easily added to the iPods and iPads, communication software allows students to type in what they want to say, but are unable to speak, according to autism class teacher Samantha Panagiotopoulo.

Her students - a half dozen 10- to 13-year-olds with Autism - have limited verbal communication ability. Making a choice between two items, as easy as deciding between cookies and crackers for snack time, was impossible. The pre-teen students would just repeat the last thing she said instead of telling her what they really wanted to eat.

Now when Panagiotopoulo asks her students if they want cheese puffs or potato chips for lunch, students like 10-year-old Kianna Parker can run back to her desk, point to the icon for "I want" and pair it with the photo for cheese puffs, and the iPad will read the sentence aloud. "I want cheese puffs," the iPad will tell the teacher on Kianna's behalf.

"They can communicate something they couldn't (communicate) before," said Panagiotopoulo, who said she has noticed a decrease in her students' frustration levels since the Durand Academy introduced the Apple technology that also goes home with them.

While teachers of the school's two autism classes have noticed improvements in communication since the iPads and iPods were introduced, Ryan said there is not yet research on the books to certify the devices have an impact. But parents, too, have noticed an improvement, he said.

"There is little imperical evidence that these things work. It's purely anecdotal," he said.

The lack of research, combined with Durand's observations of success, has prompted the school to partner with software developers of iCommunicate, an assistive software for people who require visual aids, according to Ryan.

Durand's Board Announcement and Pictures Featured in Philadelphia Inquirer's "On the Board"

Durand Academy and Community Services, Mount Laurel, and its fund-raising organization, the Durand Foundation, a nonprofit organization that serves children and adults with special needs, has named Bob Pantaliano treasurer of the foundation board and Mark Tressel treasurer of the academy and community-services board. Pantaliano owns CFO 360 in Voorhees. Tressel is vice president of commercial banking for Beneficial Bank, Philadelphia.

Read the entire article on Philly.com