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YILAGA's Independent Living Skills Training provides knowledge, skill and the tools for people with disabilities to live independently and Age Gracefully. Our goal is to promote the full integration of these populations into the community.

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Individuals with disabilities, a graduate from a special school and above 18 years or older are eligible.

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YILAGA's Independent Living Skills Training is designed to increase an individual's level of independence. Our menu of services includes:

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1. Functional daily living skills

   • Provide enough training to our students so that they understand that they have to take responsibilities of their daily timetable for activities such as sleep, eating meals, entertainment, to name a few

2. Fiscal management and budgeting

   • ​Raise enough awareness of money transactions in situations such as buying a ticket on public transportation, and paying for a meal or groceries. 

3. Personal hygiene and appearance

   • Fulfils the necessity for our students to be self-sufficient with the matter of taking care of  their personal hygiene and appearance.

4. Travel training

   • ​Instills a sense of confidence in our students so that they can travel using public  transportation in groups and under supervision without awkwardness and anxiety.

5. Communication skills training

   • ​Gestures, such as pointing, making eye contact and non-verbal communication is an important complement to verbal communications for this population of students. This aspect is an important focus area in our program.

6. Cooking and meal preparation

   • ​From grocery shopping for ingredients, through chopping of vegetables, and actually cooking under supervision, the curriculum includes a meal-plan based approach to train students in becoming aware of how the food that they eat is procured and prepared.

7. Household management

   • ​As a complement to personal hygiene, students are trained in keeping their living quarters clean, neat, and tidy. Sweeping and mopping the floor, dusting furniture, and doing the laundry constitute activities inside of the house. Maintaining the yard is the primary activity outside of the home.

8. Personal Emergency preparedness

   • ​With the effects of climate change being felt, the emergency preparedness training includes the ability to be displaced temporarily from familiar surroundings and adapt to new ones.

9. Peer support

   • ​Involvement with support groups such as parent groups, community groups or faith-based groups, are encouraged as a means for our students to integrate our students and their relatives with larger focus groups.

10. Self-advocacy training

    • ​Whether it be seeking guidance and mentoring for job-seekers, or interacting with government agencies for benefits and entitlements, our program curriculum includes self-advocacy in it in order that our students are prepared for life events.