The Immortelle Centre

The Immortelle Children's Centre is a special school for persons with various disabilities located in Port of Spain.^[1] The school is the only one of its kind in Trinidad and Tobago that accepts persons with multiple disabilities in the moderate to severe range.

History

The school was founded in 1986 by Elizabeth Teelucksingh who was the parent of a child with severe disability. Initially the school started off as a playgroup for her child with other students of similar circumstances based in a small house in Duke Street, Port of Spain. This small playgroup gradually expanded to become a small special education school under the administration of Mrs Teelucksingh. In 1988, Mrs Teelucksingh migrated to study Special Education (she is now a Professor of Special Education at the University of Miami, leaving the school in the care of a group of parents. This group of parents looked amongst themselves for someone to administer the school in the short run and Jaquelen Leotaud was selected. Mrs Leoataud was originally intending only to hold on until an appropriate successor was found but instead oversaw the formal establishment of the school as a fully registered school under the administration of an incorporated non-profit company - The Immortelle Children's Centre for Special Education Inc.

Organisation

The school at present is run by a Board which oversees general policy, finance and planning. The administration of the school is led by the Principal assisted by the Assistant Principal. The school is divided into three sections - Vocational/Skills Department, Junior School and the Pre-School/Montessori.

The Board

The Board is composed of parents, community representatives, a doctor (pediatrician) and other supporters of the Centre.

Vocational/Skills Department

This department is composed of all the students at the Centre aged 18+. The students are taight various life skills with the aim of teaching them to independently function in everyday life as well as to gain the ability to perform a skill based job.

Services

The Centre offers a wide range of services to its students given the broad range of their abilities and various challenges. The Centre is a pioneer among local special schools for its wide use of various therapies. As part of its general curriculum the school offers music therapy and art therapy onsite as well as equine therapy and aquatherapy. The Immortelle also has several arrangements with foreign universities and local professionals who visit yearly for varying periods of time to offer services in Psychotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech therapy.

References