Skills For Life
Learn what matters, where it matters.
At Skills for Life, we use the frameworks of disability justice and neurodiversity-affirming care to build deep and meaningful relationships with neurodivergent young adults. Through these relationships we work together to identify strengths, map priorities, deepen self-awareness, and build skills that allow our clients to realize their goals.
“Neurodiversity is the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in many different ways; there is no one ‘right’ way of thinking, learning and behaving, and differences are not viewed as deficits.”
Baumer & Frueh, 2021
Our Occupational Therapists work one-on-one with clients in the spaces that matter most: their own homes and communities. This home-based approach allows us to support our clients in practicing the essential skills, habits, and routines they need in their daily lives.
Focus of our work:
As Occupational Therapists, we are uniquely trained to facilitate opportunities for our clients to develop life skills.
Living with greater independence may include:
Direct skill development
Self-care, home management, community exploration, etc.
Self-determination
The state of feeling authentically empowered and having the confidence and skills to exercise the ability to make choices for oneself
Interdependence
Understanding of available resources, identifying the need for help, being able to ask for help and knowing who to turn to
Habits and routines
Use of strategies to support areas of executive functioning such as time management, organization, goal-directed persistence, initiation, etc.
Our Clients
- Age 16+
- Can set goals for themselves when given a structure to do so
- Able to work on specific, goal-related tasks between sessions with minimal support
- Are motivated to build new skills and make changes to habits and routines that are in service of their goals and vision
- Commonly we work with individuals who identify as having ASD (formerly, Asperger’s), NVLD, ADHD, TBI, or other neurological and/or behavioral diagnoses.
- We work with individuals in the Greater Boston Area.
We recognize how challenging it is to make changes and we honor the pace of our clients and families to move through the work at a speed that feels comfortable.
Our team knows that growth never happens in isolation. We work in partnership with our clients’ families and other team members to build skills and routines together. And, we work to build connections among our Skills For Life community through our Gatherings: regular meet-ups and opportunities to deepen belonging.
Learn more!
Our Mission
Our occupational therapists build deep and meaningful relationships with neurodivergent young adults. Through those relationships we work together to identify strengths, map priorities, deepen self-awareness, and build skills that allow our clients to realize their goals.
Our Vision
We envision a world where all neurodivergent people are seen as whole. A world where neurodivergent people live rich and meaningful lives dictated by their own desires and goals.
Our Values
Our core values are built through a disability justice lens.
We believe:
Everyone is whole.
Everyone has different needs and desires.
Everyone deserves to be the agent of their own lives.
People learn best when they lead with their strengths.