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Eden II Programs
is dedicated to enabling the
children and adults with autism that
it serves in New York City and Long
Island to achieve the highest
quality of life throughout their
lives in school, in the community,
at work and at home. Eden II School
was founded in 1976 on Staten Island
with six children and one special
education teacher, and over the past
25 years, Eden II’s highly
successful model has lead to the
expansion and development of a
number of programs and services for
individuals with autism.
 In 1994, Eden II opened its
preschool program to serve children
with autism, ages 3-5. This
intensive program provides
one-to-one services, maximizing the
possibility of a successful return
to mainstream education. In order to
meet a growing need for educational
programs on Long Island, Eden II
developed the Genesis School, an
educational annex of Eden II, in
Plainview, New York in September of
1995. This school opened with twelve
students and is currently one of the
premiere educational facilities on
Long Island. The Genesis School
provides educational and
consultation services to more then
60 students and over 30 school
districts throughout Long Island.
Today, Eden II employs 202
full-time and 178 part-time staff
and is blessed with a small legion
of volunteers, on its board and its
projects. Whenever the staff needs
assistance, volunteers materialize
from our consumer’s families and
from the communities we serve. For
instance, parents of students
organize and run the silent auctions
each year that earn quite a bit of
money for the organization, and
volunteers from Goldman Sachs come
each spring to our main school
facility on Granite Avenue and
spruce up the lot and do some
planting. Thus, Eden II Programs
serve over 180 students ages three
to 21 across four different
programs. However, we could do and
aspire to do more: over four hundred
families are on a wait list for
services in one of these four
programs.
 Eden
II developed its Adult Services
Program in 1982 to meet the needs of
the students aging out of the school
program. This program is a highly
specialized program designed to
serve those individuals with the
most significant challenges, often
excluded from all other options.
Today, Eden II serves over 45 young
men and women in its Adult Services
Programs. These consumers attend one
of two programs: the Day Training
Program and the Day Habilitation
Program. Both programs are housed in
our adult center on Wright Avenue,
renovated and opened in 2005 with
the 2.2 million dollars we raised in
our most recent capital campaign;
however, adult and family services,
training, and outreach are also
offered at our Genesis site on LI.
Ten years ago,
Eden II developed its first
residence for ten young men with
autism. This house was developed in
response to Eden II’s mission
statement: to serve individuals with
autism and their families across
their lifespans. Eden II just opened
its second residence in 2003,
serving six children with autism,
and in the intervening years, we
have opened a total of six
residences.
Eden II is
committed to serving not only the
needs of autistic individuals but
also the needs of their families. To
that end, Eden II developed its
Family Support Department in 1984.
This program began with a small
parent training class and some
respite trips serving approximately
15 families a year and has grown
into a complex array of respite
services, summer camp, afterschool
programs, holiday trips, service
coordination and in-home
habilitation programs. Currently,
our Family Support Department
assists more than 130 families.
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ABOUT US : History of Eden II
Programs