Our Mentors

The Ability Specialists mentorship program has been carefully designed to foster independence and increase self-esteem. Serving as supporters more than supervisors, mentors help participants take controlled risks to expand their abilities and push the boundaries of what they previously believed possible. Our mentors model appropriate skills and behavior. They verbally prompt. They guide. If a participant gets stuck on a task, a mentor helps him devise a solution and supports him as he works through it on his own. We do not assume control or dictate actions. This is about individualized, experiential learning, not directing someone's life.

Most of our mentors have a loved one with a developmental disability, which lends a personal perspective to the work. We build on that personal perspective with a well-designed training regimen and a series of in-the-field educational sessions. At least twice a month, a member of the Ability Specialists management team sits down with the mentors and discusses their specific participants. The group identifies issues, talks about recent behaviors, devises solutions to challenges and outlines techniques for working with each participant.

In addition, Ability Specialists mentors go through focused monthly training sessions. During these sessions, mentors expand their knowledge about the Ability Specialists clientele and learn cutting-edge techniques for mentoring adults with cognitive disabilities. The result of this system is a team of dedicated, personally invested professionals who are not only teachers but committed advocates as well.