Autism is on the rise. Thousands of children are entering into adulthood and adequate support systems do not exist. Important issues parents face are how to teach my child functional skills for independence, how to access specialized education, where to find affordable education and, where will my child live as he/she grows up. 

Did you know adults living with ASD have shockingly low independent living skills with less than 5% living on their own. 45% require 24 hour care and live with their aging parents. Less than 10% have necessary independent day-to-day household skills such as laundry, chores, and meal preparation. Our program attempts to address these staggering statistics.

What will happen to my child when I am not here anymore?

My name is Nina Jain, and I share these same thoughts and worries as you. I have a 13 year old child with Autism. I created Able2learn Inc., a social enterprise,  to address some of these issues.  I wanted to help families and teachers to access meaningful materials to teach our children the skills they require to be independent. Able2learn is a self funded family project.  Unfortunately, I will not be able to sustain it forever. if you enjoy the materials, please be a part of our Give Up A Latte for A Day Fundraising Campaign. 

The aim of the company is to teach basic literacy and functional skills for independence by presenting educational materials in a visual manner, with built in data sheets and lesson plans. The company provides thousands of free pages of resources in independent daily living skills, cooking, social skills, education, math, reading, science, behavioural regulation, guidance, songs, games and instructional videos for all children including those with special needs. The highlight of our programs is our  cooking  modules which allows a child to learn visually. By allowing your child to feel and smell food , we hope to address the issues of food sensitivities so many of our children face on a daily basis.

Cooking is not only important to learn independent daily living skills but can also teach vocational skills in culinary, and academic skills, reading, social skills, speech development, auditory processing, following directions, sequencing, and learning fine motor skills. I have created supplementary materials with each cooking program that focuses on basic literacy and a data sheet for the busy parent or teacher. Don’t forget to download our cooking lesson plan ideas to teach basic literacy and language. There are tool and ingredient flashcards that can be used as visual aids in the kitchen and speech development. All of our visual recipes are made with colour coded measuring cups to help the child who is unable to distinguish between measuring cup sizes. Visit Able2learn shop to buy your colour coded measuring cups and spoons. 

All children learn differently and are at different levels, thus many of our visual recipes can be found in different reading levels.

As a society we need to do a better job at preparing our children for adulthood and providing them the resources they require to be successful. There are many programs and services available to parents today, however the high cost can sometimes make access a deterrent. Able2learn is attempting to address this issue by becoming a free online educational platform and information site. While not perfect, we have made an attempt to address these issues with our materials. I hope by incorporating my materials into your child’s life, you will be able to improve your child’s ability in the areas of independent living, literacy and language. I want every child to succeed and to be able to demonstrate their abilities.

All children are different, and there educational plan reflects the individual. I hope you are able to use some of our programs and tailor it to your child’s needs. Keep us posted. I can only improve what I have when I hear from you.