05/19/08

Pond Cove School therapist named 'Special Education Therapist of the Year'

Susan Saffer, speech/language therapist at Cape Elizabeth schools for more than 30 years, has been named Special Education Therapist of the Year for 2007-08 by the Maine Administrators of Services for Children with Disabilities.

Saffer, along with award-winners in several distinct categories, will be honored at an awards dinner June 23 at the Atlantic Oakes By-The-Sea in Bar Harbor.

As Special Education Therapist of the Year, Saffer has been selected as one who has demonstrated a leadership role in support of students with disabilities in the state of Maine.

"Susan is one of the most reliable, knowledgeable, and competent speech/language therapists I have ever worked with in my career," said Dominic DePatsy, Cape Elizabeth's director of instructional support, to the School Board at their meeting May 13.

DePatsy, on behalf of himself and other Cumberland County directors, nominated Saffer for the award.

"Susan is incredibly student-focused and dedicated to the students that she has served over the past 30 years," DePatsy read from his nomination letter.

Her credentials include a degree in speech/language pathology from Columbia University, and a certificate of clinical competency from the American Speech/Hearing/Language Association. She also studied speech/language pathology in England for a year, DePatsy said.

Her professional experience has run the gamut from working with the elderly in a nursing home, to working with pre-schoolers through the state's Child Development Services. She has worked in Cape Elizabeth, both full- and part-time, since 1974, taking leaves on occasion to raise her four children.

DePatsy described several of the innovative projects Saffer has developed at Pond Cove School, many of them targeted toward integrating speech and other therapies into the regular classroom. As early as the 1980s, DePatsy said, Saffer was able to try language therapy in the classroom. She has trained support staff in speech/language therapy methods, and even developed an after-school dance program that involved physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech language therapists and life-skills teacher.

Saffer has had a profound effect on the community, DePatsy said, but most striking is the influence she has had on her students.

"Philosophically, she feels that when you become a parent you understand what it takes for a human being to grow to his/her full potential," DePatsy said.

"Susan has the utmost respect for the kids that she works with and tries to appreciate the uniqueness of each student. She loves working with families in celebrating kids' accomplishments, and hopefully, also helping to increase quality of life for everyone.

"Sometimes she contemplates how much courage the students have to just get up and face every day, even with all their obstacles and still every day, love the world all over again," DePatsy said.

Sometimes, some of the first students Saffer ever taught will visit or send surprise e-mails, wondering if she still remembers them, DePatsy said. It's rare to find a speech/language therapist who has served in the same school and the same community for so many years, DePatsy said. "Over 30 years is remarkable," he said.