For students with autism and other cognitive challenges, the #1 unmet need is stronger social skills.
“The curriculum has helped me be more courteous to others. Such as being more polite. It has made me more aware of other people and their feelings.” – Student Grade 12
These young adults are getting ready to transition into the adult world and in order to do this successfully, they need extra attention devoted to improving their communication and relationship building skills. Building upon these skills will help them function better in the dating world, in the workplace, and at home with friends and family.
Parents, teachers, and therapists often share the same concerns about these students’ ability to communicate effectively with others in the adult world. The Healthy Relationships Curriculum aims to address these concerns and to empower this subset of students for life after graduation. We designed the curriculum to be as comprehensive as possible – it touches on everything from hygiene to peer relationships.
Many families have concerns about their child on the autism spectrum and their ability to date and maintain friendships. The Healthy Relationship Curriculum provides some guidelines for students and teaches them about appropriate behaviors for different situations. For example, there are several lessons on the differences between friends, acquaintances, and bullies. These lessons are reinforced through role play activities and take-home supplements.
Several of the lessons included in the curriculum provide structure to topics that are not often included in formal education at all such as hygiene, social boundaries, personal space, and voice volume. Many find that these topics are difficult to address, but providing the space to teach these skills and adding the structure of these lesson plans has benefitted both teachers and students.
At the end of the day, we hope to empower students to prepare for their future and live more harmonious and fulfilling lives with the help of their new relationship-building skills! To learn more about what the Healthy Relationships Curriculum has to offer, sign up for a free information packet.