Guild for Exceptional Children


The Guild for Exceptional Children is a nonprofit organization in Brooklyn which offers schooling and other services for children and adults with a disability. It identifies itself as a provider of direct and indirect services for developmentally delayed or disabled persons, from infancy through old age, and their families.
The organization was founded by families that needed extra support for their children with special needs, but it now also provides services for adults and the elderly. People attending Guild programs may become members of a self-advocacy group where they discuss their rights and recommend changes within the agency.

Services

Other specialized services include Medicaid service coordination, social rehabilitation, an adult daycare center for seniors, family Support and in-home respite care.

History

The Guild for Exceptional Children was founded in 1963, at a time when many public schools did not provide classes for some children with a disability. The founding president of the Guild for Exceptional Children was Olga DeFelippo. In 2001, the City of New York renamed part of 68th Street in Brooklyn, between Ridge Boulevard and 3rd Avenue, as "Guild For Exceptional Children Way."
Like many other agencies that serve the developmentally disabled, the Guild is currently operating at a time of budget cuts from the state and working to adapt to serve a population that is for the first time consistently living past middle age. Old age has brought a range of additional challenges to the agency, from compounded psychiatric issues to decreasing mobility amongst residents and day program attendees.