WT NEWREPORT.com
05/27/2005
A Sense of Belonging
By: Jordan Fenster , Editor

Slated to be called the Sensory Playhouse, co-founders Stacey Bittman and Bridget Cella, both parents of children with special needs and vice presidents of the township's Special Education Parent-Teachers Association (SEPTA). "We saw a need," Cella said, "and we're trying to fill that need."

"A lot of the typical play facilities will say that they offer a class for special needs children," Cella continued, "They are open to special needs children, but they're not specifically geared for them."

The Sensory Playhouse, thought by its founders to be unique, the first of its kind in the country, will be a drop-in center, a play facility designed specifically, though not exclusively, for children with special needs. "It will have an inclusive atmosphere so that the children can play with each other."

Both Cella's son Joe and Bittman's son Evan suffer from Asperger's Syndrome, what Cella describes as a "high-functioning form of Autism."

Of the challenges the parent of a child with Asperger's faces, "social skills" is primary, according to Cella. "Having your child excluded-going to public places and knowing that [your child] does not know how to behave properly because they don't know how to handle their surroundings."

The playhouse will feature games and toys each providing a sensory experience designed to captivate as well as educate children who are often difficult to keep focused. "We're providing the space and equipment and the parents come and participate with their children," Bittman said. Cella described the playhouse as a "lending library for adaptive equipment."

Much of the experiences at the playhouse will be "hands-on," including a lighted ball-pit, a specially-designed swing apparatus, different scooters, climbing equipment, tunnels, a table for art activities and one aspect Cella thinks is unique, a "cool-down room."

Grand opening for the Sensory Playhouse is scheduled for August 27 and the facility is set to be located in Turnersville Square, near Kohl's Department Store. Parents will be able to utilize the facility and its equipment for $12.50 per day. Though some refreshments will be offered, Bittman and Cella recognize that most children with special needs have special diets and have decided, rather than to provide an extensive menu, to provide the space and equipment for parents to feed their children how they see fit. There will be one restriction in lieu of diet, however-the Sensory Playhouse will be a peanut-free facility, to prevent Bittman's allergy at bay.

Start-up funding for the playhouse is being drawn from Bittman's and Cella's personal accounts. As the facility is designed as a for-profit venture, money from political and private grant allocations was not expected and not applied for. "We decided not to go that route because we were told that we would most likely have to be a not-for-profit and, specifically because it would have taken us a couple of years to get that off the ground."

"We're hoping that the playhouse will offer a surrounding where the mother or caregiver, and it could very well be a therapist, will be able to foster positive, real-world experiences," Cella said. "They'll be put in a real-life situation where they can have positive role models and peers."