Videos
Specialists in Autism Diagnosis & Treatment Since 2006
Student Videos
Get your future on track at New Directions
In this interview, we talk with one of our students about her first six months at New Directions for Young Adults. Her anxiety at starting quickly turned to excitement thanks to the welcoming staff and students. Now, she has completed a semester of summer classes and obtained employment. Someone will always be available to help with any aspect of your life at New Directions.
This Student Shares His Achievements at NDFYA
The student shares his achievements with those considering joining the New Directions program. At New Directions, we provide transitional services for typical young adults with unique challenges. Many of our clients come from colleges and universities from different parts of the United States and abroad. New Directions is dedicated to helping these students to become successful and independent.
New Directions: Exit Interview with Graduating Student
A student who is about to graduate from the New Directions for Youngs Adults program after spending 1-year at the program. This young lady discussed her experiences acquiring a Teacher’s Aid certification by utilizing academic support. Also discussed are her experiences improving her social skills, making friends, developing life management skills, and maintaining a healthy living environment.
New Directions for Young Adults is a transitional living program that provides support and
direction to young adults with a variety of clinical needs, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and helps our clients (with Autism and without) develop the skills necessary for independent living.
Individualized treatment plans are developed for autistic young adults and typical young adults with failure to thrive related issues. Treatment plans are developed by our expert clinical staff using Direction Therapy CMT, a multi-disciplinary clinical approach that targets the specific services needs for each individual served by the New Directions for Young Adults program.
Student shares her New Directions experiences and how she created healthy habits and routines
NDFYA Music Group
Here’s a sneak peak of New Directions for Young Adults rocking music group.
His Experience With Betterment at NDFYA
This Student shares his experience with personal growth at NDFYA. The Direction Therapy approach helps to prepare young adults for an independent life. It brings together therapeutic services including psychology and psychiatry, vocational training, academic support services, and life management skill training into a comprehensive service plan. Each client’s Direction Therapy service plan guides services and clinical treatment. This initial plan is developed by our clinical professionals using a combination of current and historical information about the student and family.
Parents Videos
A Life Changing Experience for The Entire Family
In this video, a mother whose son is on the autism spectrum speaks about what the New Directions program experience meant to not just to her son, but to her entire family. Though her son was close to young adulthood, it was challenging for her to be away from him. She quickly realized the therapists and support staff had a great deal of respect for her son and that they genuinely liked him. This realization allowed her to relax into the situation. She also learned a lot about what her son’s personal definition of friendship and speaks about how New Directions helped him to alter his construct of what a friend is to help him transition into living on his own. She ends with a heartwarming story about the friendships he made at New Directions and how they have carried on into his adult life.
To learn more about how New Directions team and staff can help your young adult transition to independence, schedule a call with our admissions team today!
Choosing a Transition Program for Your Young Adult
You have a lot of concerns as a parent. It has reached the point where you believe a transition program is really the best choice for your young adult.
You know your young adult needs more than you’re able to provide. But you still have a lot of questions:
- Is this the right kind of program?
- Will he or she learn the necessary skills for independent living?
- Does the staff truly care about your young adult’s success?
- Will your young adult make friends and find things to do that he or she enjoys?
Our Staff
We work hard to hire staff members who are qualified for their roles, but also care about the young adults entrusted to us and their progress. Our staff members are not judgmental about the difficulties faced by the students in our program and do what they can to help students overcome those difficulties. At least one member of our staff is available at all hours of the day, seven days a week. If at any point your young adult needs assistance or even just someone to talk to, they can call.Life Skills
Your young adult needs more than an education and a job to thrive on their own. They also must understand the importance of time management, keeping the house clean, and paying bills on time. Participating in classes that teach these skills is an integral part of our program. By assigning roommates, we provide students with an initial connection within the program. At the same time, students have someone else around to remind them to keep up with these chores.Social Activities
Just as life skills are required, so are our social activities. Being able to interact with others is something many of our students struggle with. Being around others who have similar problems will encourage your young adult to develop relationships. With the wide range of students we accept into the program, they will meet people they connect with, and who have different strengths and weaknesses. By making these events required, we also prevent your young adult from falling back into the same behaviors that led to your enrolling them in our program.Have Other Questions?
This post is by no means an exhaustive list of everything parents worry about when it comes to choosing a transition program. Many of your questions will be specific to your young adult’s situation. We always welcome questions from prospective families, so please don’t hesitate to contact us. We hope to hear from you soon!From Rehab to Transition Program to Successfully Independent
Her daughter was very dependent.
This mother would receive 25 calls a day. They were all about “ridiculous” things, she says, and were distracting her from her own job.
She dealt with discord between her daughter and her husband. And getting her daughter to attend family events was difficult.
The young woman didn’t know how to drive. She refused to take public transportation. She didn’t budget her money well.
But That’s All Changed
After completing a rehab program, the staff there suggested her daughter come here to NDFYA to transition out of the “lockdown” of life in the rehab program. The young woman especially needed to work on her social and life skills.
It was the first time this young woman had been responsible for herself. The first time she was required to make her own decisions. The idea was scary to her mother, but she also knew her daughter needed “the opportunity to live independently and make the right choices.”
After what her mother describes as a “rocky start,” this young woman began making progress.
Beyond the Program
Now she’s been back home for a few years, where she continues to practice everything she learned at NDFYA.
That young woman who didn’t want to spend time with her family now looks forward to the gatherings. She visited her father every day during his recent extended hospital stay. She’s learned how to drive and takes the bus when she needs to. She saves money.
And she no longer calls her mother 25 times a day.
Staff Videos
Staff Experience: Victoria Palmer
Staff Experience: Shannon C
Staff Experience: Thea
What Our Clients/Parents Say
Louisa Shingler2023-06-06NDFYA has been a great program for our son. He has achieved maturity and independence as well as improved social skills and navigation since participating in NDFYA’s multidisciplinary program. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the program to other neurodiverse young people and their families.
Staci Ross2023-06-06Our son has been with New Directions for 2 1/2 years. He has had some good days and some bad days. The staff is always there to support him. They help guide him to be an independent adult. There are many services available to meet every young adults needs. My son is thriving and I owe it all to the staff for working with him and our family.
Linda Stein2023-06-06Kind, warm and organized program that has the best interests at heart for the students. Our adult child is thriving, so happy there and has many friends, learning life and social skills. The program coordinators keep us advised of how things are going and we all work together to achieve the best result possible. I am so grateful for New Directions. They have provided so much guidance and love, giving our whole family new found happiness and hope for the future.
Andy Pond2022-12-16They do an excellent job of working with parents and their young adult kids —-helping them get “launched”.
Sherry2022-11-26New Directions serves young adults who "fall through the cracks" of other systems. We're glad we found the program for our daughter.
Doina Chiacu2022-11-25Highly recommend New Directions for young people trying to find their way in life. The staff is excellent - dedicated, professional, caring. They offer an array of services from therapy to academic and job support. A team of professionals evaluates your child's needs and meet regularly to discuss their progress, as well as meeting with parents regularly to keep them updated. Our son left the program more than a year ago but still uses services from a couple of members of their staff - he really clicked with them. These people really make a difference.
Edmund Hollander2022-11-20Our daughter has been at New Directions for a year now. She loves being there and is making progress. Her therapist and job coach are wonderful caring people as are her mentors and staff.
Karen R2022-11-19New Directions for Young Adults is positively changing lives, one client at a time with their years of clinical experience, dedication, genuine kindness and support! They have a multitude of services that have been professionally designed with proven results. Dr. Rubin, the Founder and Executive Director of New Directions for Young Adults, has a hands-on approach and oversees the entire day-to-day operation with brilliance. Dr. Rubin is a class act. Dr. Michael Kellen, Clinical Psychologist, is one of the finest professionals I have had the pleasure of meeting. Dr. Kellen is a superb observer, assessing and offering insights on each client he works with. We are very grateful for the time he's spent in counseling our son. It has truly changed his life! Thank you Dr. Kellen, we appreciate your expertise and all you do. Paula Katz, the Director of Vocational Services, is exceptional at her role. Paula genuinely cares about all her students and will go above and beyond working tirelessly with each student, as their job coach. I strongly and wholeheartedly recommended New Directions for Young Adults.
Tim Donmoyer2022-11-18Life changing experience for our daughter. The nurturing, attentive staff and safe environment enabled our daughter (high functioning autistic with eating disorder) to regain her independence, make better life choices and build self esteem. Thanks to all!
M G2022-11-17It’s been a long haul but we firmly believe our son is in the best place possible for his long-term independence. Staff is wonderful and experienced. We are seeing improvement. Lots of services offered including therapy, tutoring, job placement assistance and social events. Our son wishes he had come here after graduating high school instead of going straight to college. He’s now getting the right amount of support to move forward.
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