A community report showcasing just one of the various ways Lee University reaches out to the Cleveland, TN community.
LUDIC Center2015 Community Report
At 18 months he wasnt talking. She ignored us and wouldnt
respond to her name.He just didnt make friends.He never seemed to
smile.
For every 110 births in the United States, one parent will
slowly begin to realize the difficult truth that their child has
autism, a developmental disorder that apears in the first 3 years
of life and severely disrupts social and communition skills.
In 1999, Dr. Debbie Murray responded to the need of a Lee alum
whose child has been diagnosed with autism and started the Lee
Universtiy Developmental Inclusion Center (LUDIC) program. This
program combines the youthful energy and enthusiasm of Lee students
with the wisdom and training of Special Education faculty to assist
parents in the heroic task of teaching their austic children.
Its just too much for any one parent to handle, said Dr. Murray.
These children need nearly 24-hour highly focused care. No one can
do that alone.
Today, led by Dr. Tammy Johnson, LUDIC is in full swing using
the lastest educational techniques to provide an impactful program
for individuals and families affected by autism.
LUDIC uses more than 40 Lee University practicum students each
semester, all of which are volunteers. Along side the practicum
students are student teachers and graduate-level interns, who teach
the autistic children, to gain experience on a higher level
providing the center with a prospective 4:1 student teacher
ratio.
Last year 160 Lee students served 4,182 hours at LUDIC. The
enormous success of the program led one reporter to call it the
best kept secret in Bradley County.
Dr. Johnson, a board certified behavior analyst and director of
the program, has high hopes for LUDIC and the lives it affects.
We want these children to move toward being happy and healthy
adults, contributing to the society, said Johnson. They really do
have so much to contribute.
