Adaptive behavior skills include daily, real-life abilities such as grooming, getting dressed, maintaining a clean environment, avoiding danger, safe food preparation, and managing money. Adaptive behaviors also include the ability to work, practice social skills, follow rules in school and other necessary environments, and take personal responsibility. Yeled v’Yalda’s skilled and dedicated staff work on supporting progressive improvement in these areas, in order to assist individuals with special needs in developing responsibility and pride in themselves and in their lives.

Community inclusion refers to an individual’s ability to participate as a contributing member of their community, while being valued for their abilities and uniqueness, regardless of disability. The ultimate goal of Yeled v’Yalda’s community inclusion goal is for individuals with developmental disabilities to be able to participate in a range of capacities, in areas such as employment, housing, education, recreation and leisure, and civic engagement. Examples of inclusive environments are mainstream classrooms in which students with disabilities are educated along with their typically-developing peers, or employment environments in which adults with disabilities fully participate and are involved as engaged members of the group.

Travel training is short-term, comprehensive, and intensive instruction designed to teach individuals with disabilities how to travel safely and independently on public transportation. Individuals with visual impairments receive travel training from orientation and mobility specialists.

Individuals are trained to understand different forms and types of money, to ask for receipts and count change, and to manage and maintain debit and credit cards.

At Yeled v’Yalda, we value a balanced approach to achieving a happy and fulfilling lifestyle. We recognize the importance of developing leisure skills, which allow an individual to occupy themselves during their free time without depending solely upon the help and assistance of others. The development of healthy leisure skills allows individuals to independently choose pastimes that are of interest to them, and to engage in these activities during appropriate times. Examples include an array of healthy outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, and fishing, canoeing and rafting, horseback riding and skiing, or other more local athletic activities such as using a gym or bike riding.

Yeled v’Yalda offers crucial learning support by assisting with classroom and workplace adjustments and accommodations, so that individuals with identified learning difficulties or disabilities can successfully achieve their learning goals. The learning support program is not designed to deal with everyday difficulties, but rather, with the challenges that are directly associated with learning as a student in a classroom, or as an apprentice in a job-related program.

Yeled v’Yalda works directly with individuals with disabilities to foster independence and build self-advocacy. Our dedicated staff promote these goals by addressing individual strengths and weaknesses, building awareness about learning and thinking differences, offering reminders to ask questions and request help, and providing praise and reinforcement which encourages efforts to interact and participate.