Life Skills Club Toowoomba

At Greater Heights, we recognise the need for clients to develop confidence using their skills out in the real world with other people. We offer the Greater Heights Clubs for tweens, teens and adults so that they are supported to apply a wide range of skills to practical situations while meeting friends and increasing their inclusion and social participation with others.

What is the Greater Heights Life Skills Club?

The Greater Heights Life Skills Clubs provide skills-based learning opportunities to increase participants’ capacity to independently access and engage in the community. Participants work collaboratively to increase functional skills through the following:

planting, growing, and harvesting produce from the onsite Community Garden – “Plant Your Own”,
improving food repertoire through principles of the SOS (Sequential Oral Sensory) approach where applicable to individual participants. This therapeutic method encourages participants to work through the “Steps to Eating” (e.g., picking, looking at, smelling, touching, tasting, listening to) with food to learn about and be exposed to new foods in a fun and safe way. Food “experiments” are also be conducted to help participants learn about the physical properties of food as part of the SOS approach.
reading and cooking healthy recipes in a small group, whilst learning about nutrition and food safety,
learning to make budget friendly shopping lists,
supermarket visits to practice their budgeting and label reading skills,
mealtime experiences,
social competencies where participants work with others to plan toward a shared goal, listen to other’s ideas, share roles and responsibilities, and spend time around food in a social setting,
tailored experiences for each Club, for example, ordering and paying at a coffee shop may be a goal for some Club members.

What are the benefits of the Greater Heights Life Skills Club?

Each club session is an opportunity to develop friendships in a realistic social setting, with participants eating together each session. Club sessions are facilitated by an Accredited Practising Dietitian from Greater Heights Therapy Services with over a decade’s experience in both paediatric and adult dietetics, and a qualified Teacher, who has over 34 years of experience working with people with diverse needs. The program is designed in consultation with a highly experienced Speech Pathologist, Occupational Therapist and Psychologist, and these services are provided to club participants as required.