Nitzan's Adult Life-Skills Program is based in our Onim Residential Center. Located in K'far Saba, Onim is a two-year boarding facility designed to prepare young adults with severe learning disabilities (aged 18-25) for independent living. The Onim Residential Center is home to 21 residents. Approximately 70 graduates of the program currently reside in 28 supervised apartments in surrounding communities.
Until the establishment of the Onim Center, Israeli adults with severe learning disabilities were often improperly diagnosed as either mentally ill or mentally retarded. Nitzan's Adult Life-Skills Program has improved this condition by providing a holistic response to the needs of adults with severe learning disabilities. This approach instills in these individuals the occupational and practical skills that can ease their integration into the wider community.
The Onim Center handles some of the most difficult cases that reach Nitzan because they involve learning disabilities that have gone untreated for many years. Adults with severe learning disabilities have often struggled for their whole lives, usually without leaving the protective care of their parents or of a protected employment framework. The Onim Center helps adults with learning disabilities escape this cycle of dependency by finding employment in the open market, where they can earn dignified wages and endeavor to advance themselves
The program provides a non-verbal approach to the acquisition of daily life skills. The Nitzan Onim Adult Life-Skills Program is built on practical performance workshops including elements such as house maintenance, taking apart and building simple household items, building basic furniture and more. In addition, therapeutic groups meet in open space and address participant needs in a non-verbal way. The program integrates music, movement, and art activities. |
