Long-term projects foster organization, time management, and goal achievement. Clients work toward becoming proficient ‘project managers’ and practice a variety of roles within a group dynamic. These initiatives usually have more complex objections requiring significant resources and planning as well as ongoing maintenance and monitoring. Benefits include working in multiple phases without immediate gratification, seeing the tangible outcomes of hard work and perseverance, contributing positively to their community,  being accountable, and learning to set and achieve goals. Examples of projects include designing and maintaining a garden, creating an improved landscape, redecorating and room design, and special event and party planning.

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Movement can help increase memory, perception, language, attention, emotion, and decision-making. Additionally,  the promotion of lifelong habits to support physical health and mental well-being contributes to a positive, successful, and fulfilled adult life. Developing independence in the navigation of familiar and novel environments, manipulation of objects, sequencing steps to solve a problem, and completing tasks requires both fine and gross motor skills. In a world that, for many, is becoming increasingly sedentary, it is crucial for adults to engage in daily purposeful movement. This may look like hiking, an exercise station course, swimming, walks in the community, group sports,  martial arts sessions, weights at the gym, or spins of the Peloton program. Try them all out and see what suits you best for your adult life.

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The best way to begin the day is through a sense of competency developed by the ability to be increasingly independent with the organization of personal belongings. Executive functioning and feelings of control and comfort are supported by knowing there is a place for everything; if something is needed it can be found,  and privacy will be respected.

Following the comfort and safety of being self-reliant in the management of possessions, clients prepare their levels of alertness for the day. Self-regulatory exercises and activities such as movement, heavy lifting, and brain pursuits ensure that clients are at a just-right level of regulation to optimize engagement, emotional management, and success throughout the day.

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Learning on the Move! This community-based course provides a multitude of meaningful experiences in a wide variety of settings. Daily living, academic, employment, and functional skills are applied naturally in community settings such as stores, banks, doctors' offices, parks, restaurants, post offices, and malls.  A comprehensive range of experiences provides relevant and applicable learning opportunities.  Learned skills become functional and transferable as they are mastered and are applied to increasingly wider community settings. We only truly know something when it can be generalized over and over. The development of  skills is relevant to the individual, facilitates independence, age age-appropriate, and in fostered in natural and integrative environments. 

Community experiences are client-centered as they make selections based on preferences and strengths, are the driving force in all steps of planning, and facilitate community relationships.

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The ability to work collaboratively as a team is an identified cornerstone of success in the 21st century. Group work highlights the need to achieve collective goals, solve problems,  generate more ideas, and communicate effectively. Skill sets include interpersonal awareness, learning to make inquiries, the ability to teach others what you know, to question effectively, and to appreciate diversity. Working through the steps of the problem-solving process, clients collectively engage in real-life challenges, including assembling furniture, team building challenge games, science activities, and social dilemmas.

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As a client-centered program, morning meetings help map out the plan and set the tone, goals, and responsibilities for each day. Each week, the group works together to plan the week's trips, arrange special events, and formulate “to-do” lists. Reviewing the regularly scheduled activities as well as spontaneous and flexible planning, determining community-based instruction preferences, sharing opinions, and planning in detail for outings ensures member-directed outcomes. Troubleshooting challenges, conflict resolution, checking in on long-term projects, task delegation, research assignments, well-being check-ins, and daily goal setting are on the meeting agenda. 

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Leisure skills are part of typical growth and develop naturally and automatically in most, but some need skill development,  practice, repetition, and support in order to have purposeful free time sans constant supervision and monitoring.  Developing these skills should be a central part of any individualized plan as they can be the greatest barrier to being able to access the community.  Downtime with purpose allows members to choose activities that may be social, creative, physical, cognitive, relaxing, or spiritual in nature. This is an important part of the day to make choices, be in control of their day without always being scheduled and directed by others, feel competent and comfortable, turn off and recharge, or stimulate and activate passions and areas of natural strength. Importantly, the expectations of others are set aside and clients are driving how to use their time doing what is important to them. Expansion of leisure pursuits may lead to greater community connections , involvement with like minded people, and meaningful relationships.

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Mastering tasks of daily living with increased independence is essential in the support of general well being, the development of a  positive sense of self, decreased fearfulness about the future, and establishing feelings of competence into adulthood. Clients participate in a wide range of personal self-care activities across home, school, work, and community settings. Skills of daily living must be both routine and novel, as practice and repetitive experiences support the need for decreased assistance and improved quality of life. Group members develop self-sufficiency by planning and preparing meals, maintaining a clean facility, making minor repairs, and taking pride in grooming and caring for pets.

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Participation in an adult world with increased expectations and responsibilities may raise anxiety, cause overload, and make it challenging to be present in the moment. As a lifelong tool for well-being, the practice of mindfulness has many positive outcomes, such as decreased stress, improved attention, regulated mood, positive coping, increased working memory, and more cognitive flexibility. Clients participate in activities to support the completion of body scans to determine current states, mindful eating, guided breathing and meditation, muscle relaxation, and yoga and stretching.

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