Growing Together at Yachad: Giulietta’s Social Journey

For quite some time now, Giulietta has been an active part of the Yachad program, an inclusive space where individuals build friendships, develop social skills, and participate in meaningful group activities. Yachad has truly become a community for Giulietta.

Building Confidence Through Connection

Each session at Yachad begins with an hour of free choice. This is one of Giulietta’s favourite parts of the evening. During this time, Giulietta is encouraged to communicate using her iPad. Her support worker prompts her to ask friends if they want to play, helping her become more familiar with her peers’ names and navigate her “Yachad” folder independently. This aligns with her program goals of initiating interactions and understanding the basics of group participation.

Giulietta loves playing hangman with friends. By practicing how to ask, “Do you want to play hangman?” Giulietta is learning how to take initiative, and connect with the people around her. She also practices responding “yes” or “no” on her iPad when friends guess letters, a simple but effective way to communicate and help her understand turn-taking.

Over time, she is working toward fully taking part in tasks such as:

• Playing hangman with peers

• Using her device to communicate during games

• Engaging in group tasks like meal prep

• Following routines during discussions

Social Circle: Finding Her Voice

After free choice, the group gathers for Social Circle, an essential part of Giulietta’s goals for learning how to participate in group discussions. Each session includes a “question of the day,” giving everyone a chance to share their thoughts.

With support, Giulietta creates a full sentence on her iPad to answer the question. This activity helps her:

• Demonstrate an understanding of group conversations

• Express her ideas using her iPad

• Listen to others and wait for her turn

Meal Preparation

The final part of the evening is a communal dinner. Although Giulietta doesn’t stay for the meal itself, she plays a meaningful and active role in preparing it. The routine begins with her getting out her adaptive vegetable cutter, signaling that she is ready to participate. She engages right from the start, responding with “yes” or “no” when the group comes around to ask each participant if they want to cut certain vegetables.

As she begins her task, Giulietta communicates with her support worker, practicing sentence formation by saying things like, “I need to cut cucumber,” or naming whatever vegetable she is working on. This step not only reinforces her language skills, but also gives her a sense of control and agency in the activity. She carefully cuts each vegetable, contributing to the preparation in a meaningful way.

When she finishes a batch, Giulietta communicates that she is all done and patiently waits for the next vegetable to be offered. This rhythm allows her to be an active part of the group routine, while also building independence and confidence in her abilities. Through this simple yet structured participation, Giulietta is able to contribute meaningfully to a shared activity and experience the satisfaction of helping the group, even without staying for the meal itself.