The Lifeline Center for Child Development in Queens, NY, is a non-profit State Office of Mental Health (SOMH) licensed children's day treatment center and

special school Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

serving emotionally disturbed children and their families from the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

. Founded by Ethel Wyner in 1959, the Lifeline Center has grown and expanded over the years to include a

New York State Education Department The New York State Education Department (NYSED) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the supervision for all public schools in New York and all standardized testing, as well as the production and administration o ...

chartered

K-12 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993, well known worldwide mainly for its heavyweight division fights and Grand Prix tournaments. In January 2012, K-1 Global Holdings Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong, acquired ...

school, a preschool and evaluation program approved by both NYC and Nassau County, and a state-licensed day treatment center. Lifeline considers children exhibiting the following symptoms for admission: fearfulness, anxiety, hyperactivity, depression, impulsivity,

language delay A language delay is a language disorder in which a child fails to develop language abilities at the usual age-appropriate period in their developmental timetable. It particularly affects deaf children who are denied sign language. It is most commo ...

s (expressive and/or receptive), withdrawal, autistic-like and psychotic behavior, or those having difficulty getting along with people and the world around them. Lifeline serves seriously disturbed children with disabilities including

Pervasive Developmental Disorder The diagnostic category pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), as opposed to specific developmental disorders (SDD), is a group of disorders characterized by delays in the development of multiple basic functions including socialization and co ...

, Asperger's Syndrome,

Psychosis Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior ...

Attention-Deficit and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,

Oppositional Defiant Disorder Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is listed in the DSM-5 under ''Disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct disorders'' and defined as "a pattern of angry/irritable mood, argumentative/defiant behavior, or vindictiveness". This behavior is us ...

and severe

Adjustment disorder Adjustment disorder is a maladaptive response to a psychosocial stressor. It is classified as a mental disorder. The maladaptive response usually involves otherwise normal emotional and behavioral reactions that manifest more intensely than usual ...

. Lifeline's campus consists of two buildings and a swimming pool set on three acres.

History o lifeline center was made people do with that the Lifeline Center in 1959, as the mental health therapeutic direction in the US was moving away from surgical solutions and toward social
milieu therapy Milieu therapy is a form of psychotherapy that involves the use of therapeutic communities. Patients join a group of around 30, for between 9 and 18 months. During their stay, patients are encouraged to take responsibility for themselves and the ...
. At this time there were few options for parents of mentally or emotionally challenged children who were seeking help. As Wyner stated for an interview with City Limits (magazine) in 1998, "The options back then were to put them in the state hospitals. Or you could take them to private clinics, which even back in the fifties cost something like $20,000 a year." "Over the years, Wyner and her staff have created a model facility for educating and treating children from ages 4 through 16 (''sic'': current age range is 3-18) whose mental illness places them on the severe end of the spectrum of emotional disturbance. The students, who are referred by the Board of Education, are among the toughest cases to deal with--toddlers who are so deeply withdrawn they hardly notice when a visitor enters their classroom, hyperactive or aggressive grade-schoolers who frayed the nerves of their special ed teachers, psychotic teens who would be prone to hurting themselves if they didn't stick to a strict regimen of counseling and medication."

References
Special schools in the United States Educational institutions established in 1959 1959 establishments in New York City Schools in Queens, New York {{NYC-school-stub