top of page
group of individuals with intellectual disabilities sitting around a table

Designed for young adults with intellectual disabilities who have completed high school, this program provides opportunities to learn new things, meet new people, and practice skills in a natural learning environment in our local community.

Monday to Friday Availability
9:00am to 1:00pm
Registration Required

Programs Offered: 

Work Readiness
& Job Skills

group of young people near a table of donated items, sorting though
  • Communication with supervisor - taking direction, asking questions, understanding job duties

  • Self-advocacy for accommodation

  • General cleaning and sanitizing - tables, chairs, walls, equipment, counters, floors (sweeping & mopping)

  • Customer communication & management - greeting, manners, directing customers

  • Stocking and replenishing items - First in, first out rules, rotating stock, facing shelves

  • Appearance, uniform & hygiene expectations

  • Support with job training (if applicable) - WHMIS, OHSA, Kitchen Safety, Health & Safety Policies

Nutrition
& Meal Making 

groceries being unloaded from reusable bag
  • Baking & cooking - ready-made and from-scratch foods

  • Meal planning

  • Recipe creation, reading, understanding

  • Hand hygiene & kitchen safety learning

  • Kitchen cleaning & sanitizing procedures - food surface cleaning, floors, fridge, cupboards

  • Measurements & weighing

  • Mixing, sifting, combining

  • Using kitchen equipment - oven, stove, single burner, toaster oven, steamer, food processor, stand mixer, hand mixer, dishwasher 

  • Using Kitchen supplies - pots, pans, baking sheets, scissors, cutting board, ladles, tongs

  • Knife Safety

  • Budgeting cost per person and cost per meal

  • Nutritional information, specialized diets

  • Healthy choices, healthy options, substituting with options

  • Proper food storage, labels, First in first out

  • Safe temperatures - cooking, storage

  • Creating recipe book for use at home

  • Washing & sanitizing dishes

  • Industrial Kitchen Policies & Procedures

Grocery Shopping

young person grocery shopping with a cart beside pineapples
  • Comparing recipe to ingredients on hand

  • Grocery shopping list creation

  • Budgeting & Money

  • Branding & alternatives

  • Paying for grocery items

  • Executive planning for shopping experience 

  • Gathering items for shopping - grocery cart quarter, grocery bags

  • Public transportation to & from store

  • Communication & Interaction - with grocery store staff - asking for help, paying for groceries, interacting politely

  • Nutritional ingredients & nutritional facts

  • Communication with shoppers, manners, expected behaviour

Healthy Living
& Fitness

wheelchair users playing wheelchair basketball
  • Access to various active opportunities

  • Personal fitness goals

  • Accommodation for our own bodies, encouraging allowing ourselves to be where we are

  • Group fitness classes

  • Personal safety

  • Healthy food choices

  • Hydration 

  • Outside recreational activities

  • Weather appropriate activities

  • Attending local community recreation facility

  • Communication and self-advocacy with fitness trainers and other staff at facilities

  • Fitness attire and hygiene

  • Expected behaviours with participating in gym and fitness activities

Special Interests
& Hobbies

young person with intellectual disability painting with green paint
  • Painting - water colours, acrylic, still life, mandala dots, realism, abstract

  • Mixed media arts

  • Pointillism

  • Digital arts - stop motion, movie making

  • Sewing, pattern making, mending clothing items

  • Knitting, crochet

  • Music - listening, types, explore new genres

  • Musical instruments - guitar, piano, violin

  • Movement - dance, body awareness

  • Creative thinking & problem solving

  • Building & construction

  • Action & reaction - marble run, dominoes, block tumbling

  • Star & universe exploration - telescope, constellations, planets, stars

  • Books & reading

  • Adaptive technology

  • Field trips - MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie Public Library 

  • Games - cards, dice, board games

Public Transportation Practice

accessible ramp for city transit bus
  • Purchasing bus pass / ticket

  • Using City of Barrie Transit App

  • Trip planning - planning route & timing

  • Dealing with unexpected issues while on City Transit

  • Transition to bus stop

  • Boarding bus, finding seat, seating options

  • Social interaction with bus driver and other bus riders

  • Self-advocacy with bus drivers and other patrons

  • Budgeting and trip cost

  • Counting money & change

  • Understanding city maps

  • Transition Skills - executive planning skills

Field Trips

one person standing, one wheelchair user in art gallery taking pictures
  • Library - Essa, Downtown, Painswick

  • Recreation Centres - East Bayfield, Allandale, Peggy Hill

  • MacLaren Art Centre

  • Mall

  • Bowling

  • Barrie Waterfront

The ABILITY to Adapt
& Social Skills

two young people playing video games

Ingrained in all AdaptABILITY Programs, these skills are naturally occurring, supported and encouraged during each and every program: 

​

  • Adapting personal role to people, places, and things 

  • Reflective practice of holistic self

  • Self-advocacy skills

  • Ecological systems theory - defining the effect of self on others and others on self

  • Behaviour and emotional definition and management

  • Communication skills

  • Transitioning skills - ability to transition to new people, places

  • Community self and Home self

  • Independence skills

  • Reflection skills - what went well, what is better to skip, personal role in outcomes, how to make own experience match personal goals

  • Character building

  • Social skills & interaction in natural settings

  • Story telling

  • Cooperation & teamwork

  • APIE (Assess, Plan, Implement, Evaluate) Methodology

  • Emotional regulation & coping skills

  • Education: reading, writing, math

Ready to Register?

To view our full registration package, click below.

bottom of page