Marklund Wasmond Center sits at 1435 Summit Street in Elgin, Illinois, and covers five acres with a large, recently renovated residential facility for up to 85 children and adults who have severe and profound developmental disabilities, including those with complex medical needs. This nonprofit organization focuses on special education and care for people with disabilities, and you'll find they offer all sorts of tailored care types at different locations in Bloomingdale, Elgin, and Geneva, with each place set up to meet the needs of the residents who live there, whether they're kids as young as three years old or adults. They provide 24-hour residential care, and their range of care covers assisted living, skilled nursing, memory care, and even respite care for short-term stays, and they try to match support to each person's unique requirements. The Marklund Wasmond Center has a 57-bed area for people who are medically complex, therapy areas, and a developmental training center, while the Hyde Center has six group homes for adults who need intermediate care, and the Philip Center supports children and adults with profound disabilities in a 21-bed setting, so you can see there's more than one type of home and care here.
There's a big focus on resident comfort and safety, so rooms are vent-capable for those who need respiratory support, and the building includes sensory rooms for calming or stimulating activities, plus accessible technology like iPads and SMART boards, and therapy rooms where residents get things like art, music, speech, and physical therapy. The campus includes a ball field for recreation and other outdoor activities that are safe and adapted for people with disabilities. Marklund provides unique programs under their own names-including the MultiNeeds Program and the Marklund Day School, which is a nonsectarian, state-certified school serving children from ages 3 to 21 with complex conditions like autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, muscular dystrophy, or multiple and severe disabilities, and you'll notice it's not a large place with about 12 students, most of whom are White, and there's a 49% racial difference percentage, so you get a pretty distinct student group.
Staff work with students in very small classes, typically with 1 staff for every 3 students and about 6 to 10 students to a room, offering personal attention and using a lot of special tools and strategies to help-like voice-output switches for communication, PECS for picture-based communication, ABA for behavior improvement, and they'll do movement breaks with trampolines and platform swings for those who need sensory input. Kids and adults get a holistic program aiming for growth in physical, social, emotional, and learning skills, and there's a strong effort to mix in real-world activities like community outings to parks or stores, so residents can practice what they've learned in different settings. Services include nursing, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and even advanced respiratory care when needed, and there's a full menu of life skills and enrichment activities like art, music, and adapted physical activity.
The community is designed for people who might need support every day with things like eating, personal care, or medication, but there are also independent living options with social activities and meals for those who can do more on their own, and even memory care programs for those who need help with memory-related issues. The care is mixed, so some get assisted living, some get skilled nursing, others get day programs or training, but all residents have access to some kind of therapy or enrichment, and everything is tailored. Staff connect with local public schools and districts so kids can get specialized classes if needed, even during the summer, because the school program includes a four-hour-a-day option to keep up with learning and therapy year-round. Marklund Wasmond Center isn't fancy, but it does focus on giving people the support they need to grow, get better, or stay comfortable, with dedicated programs and features that you don't see everywhere, and it's especially known for handling severe disabilities and complex healthcare needs in a community setting.
