The Therapeutic Day Program (TDP) is a regional special education school placement for children and adolescents with a variety of emotional and behavioral disabilities. Elementary, middle, and high school students who are referred by their local school districts are eligible for placement in the program.

 

TDP offers a comprehensive treatment approach rooted in the principles of humanistic and behavioral psychology. The program's goal is to improve a student's overall educational, emotional, and social functioning, and return the student to a school placement within his or her own school district as early as possible. Length of enrollment varies as a function of the student's individual needs and circumstances.

 

The program enrolls students who present with a wide range of difficulties in the areas of emotional, behavioral, social, and academic functioning. Included in this population are students who exhibit internalizing symptom profiles as well as students who, at times, are prone to engage in more externalizing symptoms. Diagnostic indicators common for students enrolled in the program include mood instability, attention deficit/hyperactivity, anxiety, depression, school avoidance, behavioral dyscontrol, oppositional behavior, and the social impairment associated with PDD or Asperger's Syndrome. The students' academic abilities range from very superior to below average and the students are highly diversified with regard to socio-economic status and ethnicity.