YouthCare Transitions:  Summer Explorations for Teens

YouthCare is excited to again offer the Summer Explorations Program in summer 2010.  Summer Explorations offers youth aged 13-16 the opportunity to develop and practice daily living skills in a structured, supportive environment.  The program includes weekly teen-planned field trips, and team-building activities as well as completion group community service projects.  Self-awareness and Social Skill education is integrated throughout the program curriculum.  Activities take place in small groups with a high staff-to-youth ratio to provide teens with individualized social coaching.

**IMPORTANT NOTE:
Applications for the Summer 2010 Program will be available December 1st.

Please click on the links below to view more information

Program Goals

Transitions: Summer Explorations for Teens was developed to meet the needs of adolescents with social cognition challenges, including Asperger’s Syndrome, High Functioning Autism, and Nonverbal Learning Disorders.  Based on the premise that teens learn best through “real-life” experiences, Transitions offers community-based opportunities to practice daily living skills with staff support. Integrated throughout the curriculum is social skill and self-awareness education.  Its goals include:

• To give teens a fun filled experience in a structured supportive setting.
• To help teens develop leisure planning and daily living competencies.
• To provide direct feedback to teens about the use of communication, organizational, and social skills.
• To increase teens’ social and problem-solving skills through hands-on activities.
• To offer teens varied experiences in community settings.
• To create an age-appropriate environment that supports a sense of empowerment, in which self-monitoring and self-advocacy can be discussed and practiced.
• To be responsive to feedback provided by teen participants and their families about their needs.

Schedule

Wednesday, June 30 - Wednesday August 11
(Closed Monday, July 5)

Transitions: Summer Explorations operates Monday-Friday from 9:30am-3:30pm.

Program Description

Transitions: Summer Explorations is a six-week therapeutic skill-focused summer program for teens, providing structured and unstructured activities, daily living skill instruction, field trip experiences, team building activities and therapeutic groups.

• Small groups with high staff-to-youth ratio
• Instruction in Daily Living Skills
• Communication
• Goal Setting
• Leisure Planning
• Money Management
• Health and Nutrition
• Travel Planning
• Personal Safety
• Community Resources
• Self-Regulation Strategies
• Completion of Group Community Service Projects
• Planning and Completion of a Group Movie Project
• Teambuilding Exercises and Ropes Course
• Weekly Field Trips
• Most trip planning by teens
• Example field trips include going to the mall, going to a movie, canoeing on the Charles River, bowling, visiting an arcade, touring Fenway Park, visiting the MIT Museum, or visiting the Harvard Museum of Natural History
• End of Summer Teen-Planned Overnight Field Trip
• Hidden Curriculum of Daily Living
• Thinking about the unwritten rules of home and community life
• Therapeutic Group Meetings
• Assessing Individual Strengths and Weaknesses
• Problem Solving of Challenges
• Social Coaching & Instruction for Group Work
• Electronic Diaries
• Teens use PDAs to record and analyze anxiety, flexibility, alertness, and more
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Location

The program will be based in Newton, MA in summer 2010.

Teen Participants

Summer Explorations is designed for adolescents aged 13-16.  Typically, our participants have diagnoses including Asperger’s Syndrome, High Functioning Autism, or Nonverbal Learning Disorder, and have had success being supported through direct instruction.  Additionally, teen participants should be interested in learning new skills and motivated to become more independent.

Program Staff

YouthCare programs are overseen by Dr. Scott McLeod, Executive Director and Psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.  Transitions is planned and coordinated by Kelley Challen-Wittmer, Ed.M., C.A.S., Director of Teen Programs.  Program facilitators have previous education and/or experience in areas including: special education, speech and language, occupational therapy, school counseling, vocational rehabilitation, social work and other mental health professions. 

Application and Tuition Fees

Application Procedure: Teens and families may submit an application directly or can be referred by human service providers. Once application materials are received, they are reviewed for potential fit with the program.  While spaces are available, applicants who may be a good fit are scheduled for an interview.

Application Fee: TBA (available on Dec.1st)

Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling admissions basis. Space is limited.

Summer tuition: Transitions tuition for Summer 2010 is $5,000.

Application Form: Application materials will be available on December 1st.

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Contact Information

For additional information please contact:
YouthCare, 73 High Street, Charlestown, MA 02129
Telephone: (617) 726-0060
Fax: (617) 726-0064
mghyouthcare@partners.org

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