The LifeStreams Learning program, a post-secondary learning path for young adults with autism and other developmental disabilities, has moved to online programming due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program, hosted by the Garth Homer Society and funded in part by the Victoria Foundation, helps participants maximize their potential for both employment and community inclusion.
The program is tailored to the needs of the individual, with a formal assessment of each individual’s learning needs. There are four learning streams that encompass classroom learning, community learning, digital learning, and communication learning.
It features a curriculum that encompasses literacy, numeracy, vocational and life skills development. It also includes other learning themes, such as community participation skills and behaviour management.
Due to the pandemic, the society has moved to an online programming model.
“COVID-19 did away with the way things were done,” said Geoffrey Ewert, director of learning and employment services at the Garth Homer Society. “It gave us the opportunity to discover and redefine our keystone for service moving forward.”
Ewert notes that the ability to adapt to change is one of the skills that they strive to instill in their clients.
“We have to pivot and, using technology, expand into the virtual space to support learning,” he said.
A new online website, due to go live in mid-August, will not just enable clients of Garth Homer but the general public, to access its resources.
“It will give families and caregivers up-to-date information on all the services and resources we offer,” said Ewert.
He says that LifeStreams is less of a program and more as an approach, with staff and resources ready to support the 11 other programs the Garth Homer Society offers.
One such program is ArtWorks, a visual arts program for adults with developmental disabilities.
Participants develop their artistic skills under professional instruction and display their works in solo and group exhibitions.
Members of the group recently created artworks in an online studio that reflected their pandemic experience with a tag line: Collaboration through Isolation.
The Garth Homer Society mission statement is: To provide services and opportunities that enable people with disabilities to make a life, a home and a place in the world.
For more information, go to garthhomersociety.org.
