An alternative school for children with autism has opened in Burr Ridge and on Dec. 4, about 50 local residents joined staff and founders for the school's open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Soaring Eagle Academy, 8320 S. Madison St., is the first school in the Midwest that solely uses a developmental model called DIR/Floortime, according to founders. Where most special education programs utilize behavioral models or combinations of various models, Soaring Eagle's approach focuses on meaningful interactions and builds upon students' natural interests.

"We support children and families in understanding the model, and really help parents understand how to engage and interact with their children to form those important connections that all parents want to form with their kids," Linda Cervenka, co-founder, said at the event.

While other behavioral models, one of which is called Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), rely on stimulus and response, DIR/Floortime follows the child's lead, according to Cervenka. The DIR method, which stands for Developmental milestones, Individual differences and Relationships, was developed by Drs. Stanley Greenspan and Serena Wieder.

And so far, the new method is having a positive effect on the Academy's students.

Jennifer Horvath, mother of 7-year-old Soaring Eagle student Rachel Horvath, said her daughter was enrolled in a private school that used a strict, behavioral-based, ABA method.

In the fall of 2009, Jennifer began taking her daughter to Cervenka's clinic, Cervenka & Rodriguez, Developmental Therapy Services in Westchester. She increased her visits from once a week to twice a week. Before going to the clinic, Horvath was unable to get her daughter to look at her and shake her hand to say hello.

"Then, all of a sudden, she's [shaking her hand]," Horvath said. "All of sudden she's playing. Within two months she was able to engage with [Cervenka]."

In order for parents to enroll their children at Soaring Eagle Academy, they must receive a referral from a district school. Parents, teachers and therapists meet at the district school to discuss whether or not the referral is necessary. If a referral is made, the district pays the student's enrollment fee at the private school.

Colleen Manata is going through the process of finding a new school for her 7-year-old daughter, Kelly Manata. Manata has another child with autism, Liam, 10, enrolled in a district school, and she said he is doing fine there. She said for Kelly, Soaring Eagle appears to be a better option.

"I think I'd like [the DIR/Floortime method] better because it's a little less restrictive on the child, and I feel that they're respecting the child's feelings a little more than ABA is," Manata said. "ABA is a little more direct and robotic. [DIR/Floortime] is allowing the child to express themselves, taking what they like and helping them grow from that point. It sounds wonderful."

Cervenka hopes Soaring Eagle Academy, a nonprofit organization that currently has six enrolled students, will continue to grow so that a high school may be added. The school employs 20 staff members, seven full-time, and the teacher to student ratio is always one-to-one. Cervenka also hopes to add a training program to instruct therapists in how to use the DIR/Floortime method.

Cervenka said DIR/Floortime is just one option for parents and the differences between the ABA and DIR/Floortime methods do not make one right or wrong.

"We're saying this is a different way of looking at kids," Cervenka said. "We, as professionals who support families with children with autism, need to stop working against each other and work together."

"We're not here to argue methodology," she added. "We need to forget all that and just work together because these families are suffering. We need to support them."