Title
THRIVE: Taking Health Right into Varied Education
Document Type
Poster
Abstract
THRIVE (Taking Health Right into Varied Education) is a weekly program designed to help teenagers with autism improve their social skills by working with other kids in their situation. We aim to give kids with autism an opportunity to improve their social skills through a program that runs on every Saturday of the month. We wanted to do this program because we feel that there is not enough action in our communities and there is a negative stigma about people with Autism, therefore they do not get the help that they need. We need to combat this issue and we believe THRIVE is a good place to start.
The big problem is that parents of autistic teenagers don’t have local programs that can foster those skills, which makes THRIVE essential to families in the Chicagoland area. With the fee that our customers pay, they will be able to have transportation to and from the Saturday sessions and they will also be provided with snacks at the sessions. To market to communities outside of IMSA, we will post to various social media outlets and partner with medical professionals in order to increase awareness about THRIVE, so people can make an informed decision before deciding to join our program.
In addition peer to peer learning is a key aspect of our program because of the benefits it has (people can learn from other people’s perspective etc.), the University of Michigan found that kids with autism are able to learn from peers with similar skill level because they can learn together. With the implementation of peer to peer learning, parents of children with autism can expect their child to be more independent and feel less isolated. The teens are also able to have a positive role model and a friend they can count on throughout the program and even outside the program.
THRIVE: Taking Health Right into Varied Education
THRIVE (Taking Health Right into Varied Education) is a weekly program designed to help teenagers with autism improve their social skills by working with other kids in their situation. We aim to give kids with autism an opportunity to improve their social skills through a program that runs on every Saturday of the month. We wanted to do this program because we feel that there is not enough action in our communities and there is a negative stigma about people with Autism, therefore they do not get the help that they need. We need to combat this issue and we believe THRIVE is a good place to start.
The big problem is that parents of autistic teenagers don’t have local programs that can foster those skills, which makes THRIVE essential to families in the Chicagoland area. With the fee that our customers pay, they will be able to have transportation to and from the Saturday sessions and they will also be provided with snacks at the sessions. To market to communities outside of IMSA, we will post to various social media outlets and partner with medical professionals in order to increase awareness about THRIVE, so people can make an informed decision before deciding to join our program.
In addition peer to peer learning is a key aspect of our program because of the benefits it has (people can learn from other people’s perspective etc.), the University of Michigan found that kids with autism are able to learn from peers with similar skill level because they can learn together. With the implementation of peer to peer learning, parents of children with autism can expect their child to be more independent and feel less isolated. The teens are also able to have a positive role model and a friend they can count on throughout the program and even outside the program.