Helping Young Adults with Disabilities Thrive in Adulthood
As anyone who has navigated young adulthood knows, the transition from high school to life as an independent, contributing member of the community can be quite a challenge. It’s even more of a struggle when you have special needs.
As anyone who has navigated young adulthood knows, the transition from high school to life as an independent, contributing member of the community can be quite a challenge. It’s even more of a struggle when you have special needs.
Young adults with developmental disabilities face additional difficulties when they turn 21 and age out of the school system. They need:
Suitable replacements for therapeutic programs that gave them the support they needed as students
Ways to avoid loneliness, isolation, and regression
Activities to gain communication and social skills and make new friends.
Ways to connect with and contribute to the wider community
Skills and encouragement to combat discrimination from people with “ableist” attitudes who vastly underestimate what they can achieve
Ways to advocate for themselves: “Nothing about us without us”
Retain the skills they have developed and acquire new ones that enrich their lives and empower them to reach their fullest potential.
Activities that support their health and fitness
Therapeutic Day Program
Even the most loving, dedicated parents cannot meet all these needs because they must frequently leave home to go to work and fulfill other responsibilities. That’s where therapeutic programming comes in. It can fill gaps in the lives of 21 to 40 year olds with disabilities to enrich their physical, emotional, and social health and well-being.
At Great Prospects, Inc. we offer a Therapeutic Day Program that runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Our program focuses on planning for our participants to reach their fullest potential and includes:
Social skills training
Peer support
Community service
Health and fitness
Therapeutic activities
We help participants retain the skills they have developed and acquire new ones that enrich their lives and empower them to reach their fullest potential. Parents and guardians can have peace of mind knowing that while they’re away at work, their son or daughter enjoys a meaningful day in a safe, inclusive environment. Working with qualified staff in a 7:1 ratio, the young adults can be autonomous and independent, expressing their true personalities while learning to make good choices for the future.
Enhancing health and fitness in therapeutic ways
The health and fitness portion of our program focuses on cardiovascular fitness, strength training, and flexibility in classes taught by certified instructors. Components include adaptive yoga, adaptive martial arts, and adaptive fitness.
Also known as inclusive yoga, adaptive yoga modifies traditional postures to accommodate the individual abilities, needs, and medical conditions of participants. Items like chairs, straps, blankets, and blocks can be used to make classic yoga postures accessible for all.
Relying on holistic principles of breathing, movement, and stillness, adaptive yoga can enhance physical and mental well-being. It helps to replace feelings of isolation and stress with calmness and improved body and spatial awareness. It also nurtures social life by promoting inclusiveness and a stronger connection with peers. Studies have shown additional benefits such as self-regulation and improved self-confidence, concentration, and communication.
Adaptive martial arts boost physical fitness by building strength, increasing stamina, and improving balance and coordination. They also help with posture and proper body alignment. Karate, taekwondo, judo, jiu-jitsu and more have been adapted for those with disabilities, and some versions of martial arts are available for people in wheelchairs.
Martial arts classes empower participants with self-defense techniques that provide a sense of independence and self-reliance. They also have social benefits, bringing young adults together to have fun with their peers as they master skills and accomplish goals together. In a University of Wisconsin survey of disabled people practicing martial arts for at least a year, 90% said this training had given them a more positive attitude about themselves, and 80% said their overall quality of life had improved.
Adaptive fitness is an inclusive program that tailors exercises for cardio, strength training, and flexibility to meet each participant’s special needs. By doing this, it promotes independence and a sense of accomplishment.
According to Strong Education, an organization that certifies adaptive fitness trainers, “The goal is to improve mobility and enhance the ability to perform everyday tasks, such as walking, transferring, lifting objects, and reaching.” But its transformative effects can go beyond the physical. The trainers say, “The Adaptive Fitness Training Model was formed to train differently abled individuals to make them see that they, too, are capable of anything.”
Get in touch to learn more
At Great Prospects, Inc. we also offer a Drop-In Program for those who can attend only up to 3 times a week, and a Summer Friends program for 16 to 21 year olds with developmental disabilities who are still attending high school.
CEO Michelle Jericevich founded the Therapeutic Day Program at Great Prospects, Inc. in 2010 because she wanted a place where her daughter with disabilities would be able to reach her fullest potential. At the time she couldn’t find what they needed in existing programs. She and her team have a deep understanding of the needs of young adults with disabilities who are making the crucial transition to full adulthood.
Participants in all our programs are highly mobile, continent young adults aged 21-40 who do not exhibit violent behaviors. To find out more, please contact us at (770)314-4243.
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