Want to get the inside scoop of what it’s like to work at ELG? We asked some of our staff to tell us about their first impressions from when they joined out team!
When you started, what surprised you about ELG?
Alice Wen, Early Intervention Program Leader (Puxi) and Occupational Therapist
The flexibility to try new things. If you have the ideas, you have the dreams, you dare to do it – you can just try it out! We have a lot of freedom in what we can do, or be in charge of. I feel I can just go ahead and enact my initiatives, and I’ll be supported. Many of the hospitals where I used to work in Taiwan didn’t feel like that. Here there is less hierarchy; there are more things I can do.
Qianhan Xiong，Educational Psychologist
I was surprised at how well ELG created and handled my role. I am the first person to hold this post, but the way they have developed it with me has been masterful.
Chantal Chen, Occupational Therapist
In Taiwan in one week I had 100 clients I need to see; here it is nearer 30-40. It’s amazing that ELG can create such a good environment. In Taiwan you don’t have time to talk to every child, talk to every parent. Not just about the difficulties they are facing but also about their home life. But here it is normal. You always have time to talk to the parents about all the issues.
Tiffany Liang,Program Assistant (Puxi)
It was like finding that there was a whole other world out there, I didn’t know about. For me, special needs was just Down’s syndrome or being deaf or blind. But when I started here I realized just how many problems the children could have.
Patrick Hoffman, Program Leader (Puxi)
The concept is really unique and special. I like the attitude that ELG has taught the kids, that any child can learn. They want to make an effort to make it happen here. That is the spirit of ELG.
Robin Shepard, Early Intervention Program Leader (Pudong)
When I saw all the different therapies, I just thought, “Why isn’t every school doing this?” Not just for special education, but so much of this approach is effective for all children. I saw so much application of those kinds of learning. For a preschool teacher what you are really in need of are specific things that you can do to affect and change behavior, and this is a candy store.
The makeup of the ILC is unique, not just in China but anywhere, even the US. What is happening in America is that the therapists are present along with other staff. Kids are going to mainstream school and seeing therapists or the therapists are coming into the room, it’s not holistic. The thing that is great about ELG is that we are all talking all the time. Not just me talking to therapists but therapists talking to each other. There are all these things that happen on the fly, the little conversation in the hallway, or because I’m observing a session or they are observing me. They lead to teachable moments. You can have the best laid out plan with a well thought out IEP, but we are looking for spontaneity. Teaching is most effective when you see the chance for an organic experience to develop, and you have the knowledge to try. That is why this place is great. Even if I don’t have the answer, people around me do. They can suggest things I can think about then model. The brain power in this building is mind boggling and the way it is facilitated it is unique anywhere in the world. For me personally the growth was amazing.