Parent Testimonials

Zilavec Family

If one were to know our son eighteen months ago he/she would be astounded by the remarkable progress he has made in such a short period of time. Due to compromising medical issues and opinions our son received a late diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder at the age of five and did not receive Intensive Behavioural Intervention services until he was five and a half (services that he could have accessed as early as two years of age). Suffice it to say developmentally he was suffering.

With first grade fast approaching we began the search for a school that could tackle the unique learning needs that a person with autism faces. A friend of the family strongly recommended this agency. The idea of a staff to child ratio of 1:1 as well as small classroom size (average of 4-5 children per classroom) intrigues us enough to investigate. Upon taking a tour of the school and observing the teachers in action we felt that this might well be our son’s best chance at succeeding academically and more importantly, in life.

Within the first four months of attending this school he had developed the skills and knowledge he should already have possessed from four years prior (i.e. discovering ABC’s, identifying colours, learning the names of family members as well as his own). By six months into the school year his vocabulary seemed to increase in leaps and bounds, forming three to five word statements, answering simple questions and following simple directions. By the end of the year he began to demonstrate very basic conversational skills while continuing to build and expand on his newly acquired knowledge. Additionally, his fine and gross motor development continued to progress, gaining confidence with every new task successfully completed. At home his social skills and play flourishes every day. He initiates play episodes with his little brother and will often join in when the little one seeks a play partner. It is as if a veil has been lifted allowing our son to venture cautiously beyond the clutches of this autism.

Compassion, patience, and genuinely viewing the tiniest of achievements as the worldliest of successes should be key personality traits of the staff. The organization’s administration and teaching staff have demonstrated this to be true. Focused on the child’s well being, communication and parent involvement remain a top priority. From Individual Program Plans to fundraising events to volunteer work with the school, parent input is vital to the end result. The staff at this agency provides an exemplary educational service that in our opinion every child with autism should be entitled to and funded for.

Our son is surpassing milestones that we were not sure he would ever reach. Our hope has been renewed regarding our son’s prognosis and for that we have the exceptionally skilled staff at Janus Academy to thank.

Lemke Family

"This is our fourth year at the Janus Academy and every year we have seen improvements in our son. One of the reasons we chose Janus was for the one on one environment they offer in their unique classroom setting. Their relationship with the Ramsay Elementary Public School also held a definite appeal for future integration into the mainstream CBE system.
Our first year in the Janus classroom was made up of 4 children, each with their own aide. I think what we appreciated right from the beginning was the individualized programming implemented to meet our sons needs.

While in the second year, our son was integrated into Music and Physical Education at Ramsay. This was the start of an exciting new challenge for him and the success of that year allowed his third year at Janus see him fully integrated into Ramsay. There were social and academic hurdles met early on, much was accomplished due to a lot of hard work by everyone involved. The positive relationship between Janus and Ramsay goes along way to making this type of arrangement work.
This is our fourth year with Janus and changes are taking place again.

Anyone who is the parent of an Autistic child knows it is a very challenging role. We are all looking for an environment where our children can learn, be safe, and cared for on a daily basis and we found that at the Janus Academy."