OPTIONS Students Benefit from New Workshop

Students in the OPTIONS Program have just completed the three-week “Balancing Relationships Workshop” with great success! The workshop was designed to help build confidence in social settings and to find a balance between Program obligations and peer relationships. There were three gender specific social strategy meetings each Sunday, which allowed for open discussion about the daily skills needed to create and maintain positive friendships. The topics of discussion included finding balance with yourself first, restoring natural harmony, introducing yourself to others, levels of friendships, dating etiquette and many other social skills.

One student responded by saying, “I have never had a support group where so much revolved around my daily life. It just fits perfectly into my transition to OPTIONS!”

The OPTIONS Recreation Program was designed to help facilitate the workshop. The students signed up for Co-Ed activities each weekend, but also had the opportunity to participate in mandatory gender specific activities. The activities helped build a bond between students and created a safe nourishing environment for them to step out of their comfort zone.

The “Balancing Relationships Workshop” provided the foundation for the students to grow upon over the semester. Since then, the OPTIONS Program has seen an increase in student participation and some students have created new friendships within the Program and in the community.

During the first three weeks of the workshop, students participated

in gender specific sessions on building relationships.

OPTIONS students first were able to utilize new skills in familiar

environments such as single-sex rec activities and at school.

Co-ed recreational activities allowed students to use skills &

strategies when interacting with the opposite sex.

Scott Donovan, OPTIONS faculty, said that since the workshop, he has seen great results. Students are obviously taking the time to think about what balancing a relationship means and acting accordingly.

The OPTIONS (Optimizing Potential Through Individualized, On-going, Nurtured Successes) Program at Brehm is a comprehensive transitional program for students with learning disabilities who have graduated from high school, earned their GED, or who have chosen to defer graduation in order to participate in a transitional program.