Ability Specialists uses group recreational activities and community contact as platforms to implement our training principles. We have designed a method of training that has proven successful for countless of our participants. All principles are applied through situational learning in the context of our regular services offered to participants. Our primary training principles are designed to help participants to:
Develop and Maintain Personal Relationships
Many individuals with cognitive disabilities lack the skills to develop relationships. As a result, they have few if any friends outside the family environment. For this reason we encourage the development of friendships with other participants. We encourage our participants’ relationships to transcend the group setting by investing in one another’s lives on a regular basis. The objective of this principle is to foster values and skills that will positively affect all areas of the participant’s life. This is accomplished through:
- Comfort with one’s abilities and disabilities
- Humor
- Role modeling
- Communication
- Self determination
- Common interests
- Conversation skills
- Peer development
- Confidence building
- Self-esteem building
- Respect for self and others
- Building a core sense of security
Develop Relationships in the Community
An essential part of developing friendships outside the group requires the ability to integrate into the local community. To facilitate this we teach our participants to develop skills that will allow them to feel comfortable in the community, and in turn, allow members of the community to feel comfortable with them. This takes place in the context of our group outings, allowing for situational teaching of our training principles. Building community relationships involves the participant’s growth in:
- Assertiveness
- Interactive skills
- Community safety
- Job skills (day program only)
- Appropriate public behavior skills
Develop Safety Skills
The lives and safety of our participants is paramount. Individuals with cognitive disabilities are either too trusting or too wary of others. Our goal is to help our participants integrate into the community with an understanding of who they can trust and how much they should trust them. Once they master this concept they will have safe and comfortable access to the community. Building a new comfort zone with strangers involves development of:
- Boundaries
- Relationship skills
- Money management
- Awareness of surroundings
- Limited transportation safety
- Universal precautions and hygiene
Develop Teamwork Skills
Being a team player is an important asset for any contributing member of society, whether in the realm of relationships or the employment field. Teamwork skills lead us to consider others as well as ourselves and they also increase problem solving abilities. We instill teamwork principles in order to help our participants grow in the key areas of:
- Problem solving
- Developing teams
- Gaining a sense of belonging
- Helping other team members
- Job skills (day program only)
