Life Skills Program

Where pre-teens and teens build the confidence to do life on their own terms.

Ordering your own meal at a restaurant. Planting seeds and watching them become dinner. Asking someone at the grocery store where to find what you need—and feeling good about it. These are the moments that add up to independence, and they’re exactly what we practice every day in CTC’s Life Skills Program.

Led by our occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists, the program helps pre-teens and teenagers grow into capable, self-sufficient young people—at home, out in the community, and in their friendships. Along the way, our clients also learn something just as important: how to be a kind and supportive peer.

Instrumental activities of daily living, or IADLs, are the practical skills that make independent living possible. They’re what young people need to take part fully in home, school, community, and work life—and they’re the foundation for the transition into adulthood.

In our program, clients roll up their sleeves and practice the real thing:

We take it a step further with our own vegetable garden, where clients plant, tend, and harvest produce from seed to plate. Growing food is a hands-on way to learn patience, responsibility, and where a healthy meal really comes from—and there’s nothing quite like cooking with something you grew yourself.

So much of independence comes down to communication. In the Life Skills Program, clients build the social confidence to navigate everyday interactions—like asking a grocery store employee for help, ordering food at a restaurant, or simply striking up a friendly conversation.

Just as importantly, they learn how to relate to their peers: how to listen, take turns, offer encouragement, and show up as a good friend. These are the skills that turn a group of kids into a community.

Real life rarely happens solo. Our clients work as a team to plan and pull off shared goals—deciding on a menu, dividing up tasks, and bringing a group dinner or event to life together. It’s a fun, low-pressure way to practice decision-making, cooperation, and follow-through, and to feel the pride of creating something as a team.

We help young people understand everyday health—what it means to take care of their bodies and feel their best. A big part of that is discovering movement they can enjoy for life. Through lifetime sports and activities like yoga, clients learn that staying active isn’t a chore; it’s a path to better physical health, a calmer mind, and stronger emotional wellbeing.

Woven through everything we do, the program also strengthens the core skills that help young people manage their own lives:

If you’d like to find out whether CTC’s Life Skills Program is the right fit for your pre-teen or teen, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out today to get started.