Project Kids Connect

The mission of Project Kids Connect is to facilitate life long relationships between children / teenagers with intellectual and developmental challenges and other community members. One of the ways we do this is by supporting inclusion at various community activities. Project Kids Connect reaches these goals through:

• Trained staff acts as an aide in a pre-established community based class. As a classroom aide they model inclusion and parallel train pre-existing community educators. To the classroom participants they see our staff (the aide) as a person to assist with the instruction. Some examples of places we have done this is the community Arts Museum where they hold art classes for local children; a local gymnastic studio; and local day camps. For some of our students, they have been able to continue with the class or activity without the assistance of our staff in following sessions.

• Some community organizations / groups respond well to a consultant model, where Project Kids Connect staff meets with the organization to discuss good practice in inclusion. Sometimes this includes observation with feedback to the organization.

• Many times community partners have asked us for assistance with including children/teens with special needs into their activities. Some examples of these are dance and gymnastics studios, track clubs, camps, and community drop in centers.  For these places in addition to the provision of parallel-training through an aide, we have gone to staff orientation and presented an ability awareness curriculum.

• We also actively approach agencies, businesses, and organizations that provide service to the general population to propose inclusion.  For partners open to the above activities we provide that, but for places who are interested but hesitant we have suggested an orientation and a substantially separate class to start. We find that once a session of that class is run, the community partner is often interested in opening their traditional classes to children with disabilities.

For more information on Project Kids Connect, please contact email hidden; JavaScript is required at (508) 226-1445 extension 3123.