Young Adult Brochure

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Ages 6-12

Individualized programs and setting  "conditions to learn" is so important at this critical age".   A WRONG ASSESSMENT and WRONG plan, can truly make the teen years difficult.   We can help "make sense" to understanding your child's challenges ahead. 

These session are primarily catered to children who present with moderate to severe apraxia.  Sessions will target gross and fine volitional body movements, language skills, social skills and communication skills. 

These sessions will focus on synchronization of proprioceptive, vestibular,  visual and auditory systems. 

Ages  2-5

You have read it over and over, early intervention helps with the initial diagnosis of autism.   Our "whole body" approach magnifies the effectiveness of development.  We are here to help in any and EVERY way. 

Indoor activities, outdoor events,  gross motor skills refinement, keyboarding and   endless other individualized developmental areas to address.  There is truly no limit to the consideration and needs for our children.

Our Mission: 

Our mission for the ITG Young Adult program is to provide an educational environment that facilitates opportunities in which students can broaden their communicational abilities, recreational options, and functional social skills. This is an opportunity that is open to a wide variety of students including: young adults with disabilities from participating high school districts, family members of individuals with disabilities, and students from higher level educational institutions. 

This educational approach lays the foundation for the ultimate goals of student employment opportunities and, most importantly, provides a path towards meaningful community connections for individuals who present socio-emotional, motor, and/or sensory challenges.

Location:

319 Quaker Church Road Randolph, NJ  07869

Program Description:

At our facility, we specialize in working with individuals who present with moderate to severe apraxia and we take pride in sharing our knowledge with our community! Here at ITG, we recognize that individuals with special needs have both unique and challenging profiles that require a full understanding of the intrinsic relationship between motor, vestibular, visual, and auditory systems. We strongly believe that a properly educated general population is vital for young adults, families, and individuals with ASD to interact and work together as part of the broader community.

Our program has been divided into six hourly concentration segments. These segments are crucial for successful outcomes. 

The first segment of our program is the Synchronization of Systems Segment. An organized body leads to a less anxious, and therefore happier, individual. Participating individuals will learn the basics regarding how the central nervous systems impacts emotional and organizational skills. 

The second segment of our program is the Independence Skills Development Segment. This segment of focuses on enhancing the understanding of fostering independence. At our facility, several scenarios are orchestrated during which individuals must learn to complete tasks that lay the groundwork for individual self-reliance. In order to execute functional tasks independently, it is key that tasks be carefully selected and the teaching process be meaningful.  Participating individuals without disabilities will learn about these underlying principles while interacting with persons with special needs, thereby further fostering community connection. 

The third segment of our program is the Communication Enhancement Segment. As we all know, many of individuals diagnosed with autism as well as apraxia encounter significant communication challenges. We strongly believe that every individual deserves the right to use their voice. The essential nature of verbal language becomes all the more important when gross-motor, fine- motor, and visual systems have been impacted by apraxia. Functional use of electronic devices can be extremely cumbersome and often ineffective. And so, the use of voice (accompanied by gross motor movements) has proven to be the more reliable and effective method of communication. Daily activities focusing on strengthening the oral mechanism of receptive and expressive language skills are essential at ITG. Through these activities, participants will learn basic principles regarding areas of language development.  

The fourth segment of our program is the Fostering Friendships Segment, which focuses on enhancing social abilities. We strongly believe that social skills cannot simply be forced, but are developed in small and steady increments. We work to create scenarios in which our young adults can learn to interact with others via their development of the necessary social skills needed to accept and engage with diverse sensory profiles. This segment emphasizes spatial awareness, auditory and tactile tolerance, and sharing common space Participants will learn and apply principles to achieve the significant social goal of establishing healthy sustainable friendships.

The fifth segment of our program is the Hobby Selection Segment. Many of our young adults with special needs have not learned or have struggled significantly with learning healthy and balanced hobbies. This challenge is a shared experience for many family and community members who wish to join individuals with special needs in shared interests, but are unsure of how to proceed. At ITG, we promote hobby development by tapping into motor skills that are suitable for different sensory, motor, and emotional profiles. Importantly, many of these activities are purposefully completed in a group setting to foster much needed social-interactional skills. This segment is instrumental in exposing family and community members to different approaches to approaching and enjoying shared hobbies with individuals who present with motor and/or socio-emotional challenges.

Lastly, the sixth segment of our program is the Community Inclusion Segment. As a cornerstone of our program, participating individuals engage and make social connections with establishments in our neighborhood. They are taught the motor, communicatory, and sensory skills needed to successfully enter an establishment (such as a restaurant or general store) in a functionally organized manner. The owners of the participating establishments have had the opportunity to work with ITG and have not only learned more about individuals with ASD and/or apraxia, but also have welcomed our young adults into their places of business as respected and valued members of the community. This segment provides both individuals with disabilities and the broader community with the necessary tools needed achieve mutually successful social interactions.

All activities follow LIN ™ principles. 

**For privacy and safety reasons, our segments and sub sessions are open to the general public based invitation, appointment and or seating availability.

Find out more by contacting us directly.

ITG - Full Day Program

Starting in the Fall of 2017, we opened our doors for a FULL DAY PROGRAM at ITG. The raving results are in! Just ask any one of our parents. The kids are happier, more compose, better in group events and on and on. We continue to see and document breakthroughs every day! 

Our students are no longer lost in the system and YES, the once non-verbal, are speaking and being heard ………and making REAL, quantifiable progress at ITG. 

Program Description

 ITG has a new Full Day Program that fills students’ weekly schedules with individualized, functional goals. These goals tap into much needed real-life academic concepts. Students’ self-esteem and regulation is key to our weekly individualized programs. We understand that regulation is one of the most influential factors that interfere with and very often impacts our student’s ability to join his or her community. We are not only enticing them to learn how to sustain regulation, but also teach them to tolerate other individual ‘profiles’ and commonly encountered daily living situations. At ITG, we continuously work with our students to expand their horizons beyond our facility.

Learning, is achieved in an organized and functional manner. Throughout the day, the ITG staff is constantly addressing student motor praxis. Synchronization of students’ visual, auditory, and vestibular motor-systems are intertwined within our comprehensive teaching methodology. This learning process follows Learn Integrate Now (LIN™) principles. By exposing our children to selected functional & independent life skills, we work to integrate them into socially packed scenarios within our facility, and the broader community. Every student is challenged based on their unique profile. Our success to meet these goals, strikes a unique balance between being just difficult enough to challenge the student without compromising their regulation. Our program does not use a “free-for-all” education model nor do we use the more rigid institutional methodologies, we find offered in most autistic support programs.

At the ITG Full Day program, we embrace every student’s right to use their voice.  It is our top priority for ALL our students to MAXIMIZE their use of words and language to communicate to the world. We believe we provide our students with the optimal and right conditions to learn, speak and communicate! 

In addition, the very specific achievement of individualized goals for our young ASD adults, ensures and allows them to play a much more active role in controlling their own lives. ITG is a successful and viable alternative for parents who have reached ultimate frustration with the systems, limited improvement, false hopes and vague programs available for their young adults. 

Ultimately, ITG thrives on its desire to promote respect for children and adults with ASD. We provide opportunities for our students to be part of the community in a realistic, functional, and respectful fashion.

“I feel that my students have been trapped in their apraxic bodies all their life, and I strongly believe that I can help free them by orchestrating the synchronization of their systems. 

At ITG, we know for sure that the students in our Full Day Program are more organized, happier, are more socially and emotionally available as they continue to develop and successfully demonstrate their acquired knowledge of the world.