Odyssey Learning Center began operation in 1979 as the Kaplan Foundation. The first school and residential program was located in the foothills east of Sacramento in Placerville, California, in a small farm house. It soon became clear that more space was needed. Five acres in Orangevale were purchased in 1980 to accommodate the six residential children. A school to provide for their educational needs began as well. Kaplan grew to four six-bed residential facilities with all of the residents attending the school program. In 1999, a new administration began developing along with a new philosophy regarding the implementation of services to children with autism. The name Odyssey Learning Center was adopted in September of 1999.
The Spring of 2002 was a milestone with the educational program. After approximately twenty years of providing educational services to twenty eight students with autism, a use permit was obtained from Sacramento County to increase the total school program to one hundred students. To accommodate the increase in students, a kitchen, laundry area, shower room, and additional bathrooms for students and staff was completed in December 2002. Additionally, the students were provided a multi-faceted program with on-site Speech Therapy, Behavior Therapist, Occupational Therapy, and Recreational Therapy. By July of 2010, Odyssey had purchased five vans to begin transporting a third of the students. A year later another group of vans was added. The learning center now transports eighty percent of students to and from school.
Sadly, in the Spring of 2011 the difficult decision was made to close both of the residential programs due to funding cuts and the rise in the cost of providing services. Despite being a non-profit organization, the only funding for the organization came through district or regional contracts. Odyssey currently services 23 school districts in 6 counties in the Sacramento region with a crisis intervention program. In January of 2018, the organization was able to open up the only adult day program in the area that services adults with moderate to severe autism offering a continuum for some of the learning center students to graduate into the program. Today, the Center for Disease Control reports autism has risen from 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 59 children, which means the prevalence for experienced programs like Odyssey Learning and Life Centers will become imperative to the community.
To provide individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder or Autistic like symptoms, a caring, supportive, learning environment. To ensure the least restrictive environment by promoting independence, community integration, and choice. The intent of the program is to serve individuals who exhibit challenging behaviors.
TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM: Learning Center operates a transportation department with a fleet of 15 modified passenger vans, all of which are over 100,000 miles. Every van is utilized every day to transport to and from the school site, as well as used for student community engagement outings. Transportation associated costs are the largest part of the operating budget, due to the inefficiency of dated vehicles. All of these vans were purchased in used condition to ensure the program stayed fiscally responsible, while still servicing the needs of students. However, with used vehicles, comes the inherited mechanical issues and without warranty. When mechanical issues arise (such as the air conditioning going out of use or transmission failures), there are limited resources to shift routes to accommodate student transportation. Although lack of air conditioning may not cause an emergency state for a neuro-typical person and their ability to cope with extreme temperatures, it is a very different case for those with autism.
According to research by Jeannie Davide-Rivera (2015), "Many children and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders experience a multitude of sensory symptoms. These sensory processing integration issues can include issues relating to temperature regulation. They may exhibit hyper or hypo sensitivities to heat and cold. This discomfort can lead or contribute to the sensory overload, shutdowns, and meltdowns". Considering the age and mileage of the current van fleet, the vehicles are unable to keep up with the demands of transporting students comfortably and efficiently, resulting in an increase of behavior outbursts, which then relates to increased incident reports. When a student is unable to verbalize their discomfort it can be seen in self destructive behavior such as face or head hitting, or lashing out at others in the van such as biting, kicking, or screaming. Although five point harness safety restraints are in place, this does not alleviate all possible outcomes of injury. With incident reports, comes the possibility of worker compensation claims by employees who are aides on the vehicles. This is an additional expense occurred when student behavior is affected by a situation that could be alleviated by efficient vehicles creating a comfortable environment for transportation.
At this time, each van is averaging $5,000 a year in repairs which equates to $95,000 per year. Although depreciation comes with all capital assets, this is proving to be a considerable loss that could be redirected back into increasing the capacity to serve more students with moderate to severe autism. The ability to incorporate transportation for students is an imperative part in contract negotiations with the public school districts Odyssey serves. Odyssey needs to establish a program in which new vehicles are cycled into the existing fleet to create an opportunity to service more vehicles efficiently and assess when vehicles are no longer a valuable asset to the organization. As the cycle stands now, Odyssey needs help initiating this process with financial support as current vehicles will not create the opportunity to create enough value to replace what is needed.
Districts can no longer fund for services such as Music Therapy. For Odyssey's kids however, it is one of the most incredible things to witness. Kids who don't normally communicate with words begin to speak because of a song, learn to identify objects through a song, etc. It cost $27,000 a year for a music program to come in once a week to each classroom, but the benefits of music therapy are tremendous.
BUILDING IMPROVEMENTS/UPDATES: Odyssey Learning Center sits on five acres complete with seven buildings, ten classrooms, and a full outdoor playground. Odyssey is the only learning center in the area that provides a 2:1 ratio of students to staff, not including the teacher. Due to the nature of the severity of diagnosis of some of the students, it is imperative to keep this ratio. Although a classroom may have only twelve students, that would include six additional aides and a teacher, bringing the total up to at least nineteen. There are times that a behaviorist or administrator must also be present for observations. Classrooms are very structured, including sitting areas, eating areas, learning areas, and classroom swings for calming. However, on days when the weather is not permitting, this confined space can prove to be a problem resulting in severe behavior issues for students. For example, in February of 2019 there were 10 rain days out of 17 school days resulting in 14 staff related incidents with students (this number does not include the student on student incidents for privacy purposes). Whereas in May of 2019, there were only three rain days out of 21 school days and only three staff related incidents with student reports. This pattern can be seen comparatively throughout the school year.
Sorensen and Zarrett (2014) performed a comprehensive review of research regarding the benefits of physical activity on children and adolescents with autism. The review presented, "evidence for improvements in executive function specifically (e.g. working memory, cognitive control/attention, and goal-setting), as well as some evidence for benefits related to self-regulation (e.g., decrease in aggression and disruptive behaviors)" (pg. 350). When attention is turned to navigating and decreasing the severity of a behavior, not only is the student affected, but so are classmates regarding their academic and behavioral achievements. Disruptive behaviors can include but are not limited to: biting, kicking, hitting, spitting, yelling, taking off clothes, and destruction of property. When physical exercise is available such as: walking, running, biking, playing basketball, stretching, video led exercise, and playground time staff and administration see a noteworthy decrease in behavior challenges. Giving students an alternative to being limited to a small classroom is imperative, but challenging when weather is not conducive.
In order to increase our capacity to serve, we need to improve on our current technology restrictions including a better central communication structure for information sharing and tracking. All systems are antiquated. In working with 23 school districts, we need to be able to information share more efficiently from home to district.
Volunteers are needed for several opportunities for organization support. Teachers need help with laminating, cutting, making copies of needed materials. Our garden needs to be re-established. We need help with washing vans and cleaning the grounds. Buildings are in need of repairs and painting.
Organization name
Odyssey Learning/Life Centers
other names
OLC
Tax id (EIN)
94-2637457
Mission Category
Education
Operating Budget
$1,000,001-$5 million
Organization Need
Funding: Other, Funding: Program, Funding: Unrestricted, Technology, Volunteers
Address
7150 Santa Juanita Ave