Teens and adults affected by severe autism and similar developmental challenges do not have enough access to appropriate, affordable education and training opportunities in Ontario.
Little Blue Schoolhouse Support Services is the first step in addressing this dire need within the community. With a curriculum and programming that focuses on life skills, meaningful training opportunities and access to physical fitness, we strive to encourage lifelong learning and development. Kids and adults with severe developmental challenges CAN be productive, accomplished members of the community with the right supports and guidance.
Our goal is to provide the supports and guidance necessary to help as many people as possible affected by severe / lower functioning developmental disabilities be the best they can be.
This is our story:
The Little Blue Schoolhouse was founded by two Barrie parents whose severely autistic son was displaced after Renaissance Academy in Utopia suddenly closed in April 2015.
Greg and Tammy Kliewer started the new centre to ensure their then, 14-year-old son Tavish continued to get the specialized education he needs.
Tavish is affected by severe autism, is non-verbal, has epilepsy and a host of behavioural and intellectual challenges. He is self-injurious and had started to become aggressive to other people as well. And despite collaboration and cooperation between the family and the public school system, Tavish had been unable to safely attend public school for over 2 years.
As a last ditch effort to try to get appropriate supports and educational opportunities in place, Greg and Tammy enrolled Tavish in Renaissance Academy in Utopia, ON (just outside Barrie, ON).
And, it changed his life. The combination of life skills based training, promotion of fitness, community engagement, and opportunities to be independent and productive transformed Tavish from a volatile, aggressive, deeply unhappy kid into someone who is calm, happy and more engaged than he has ever been. He is proud of himself. And it shows.
“Tavish went from somebody who was melting down multiple times a day, hurting himself, covered in bruises, to really happy and content,” Greg said. “You could see he felt accomplished in his total demeanor. He was a completely different kid.”
But then, the Academy abruptly closed its doors on April 24, 2015.
It was devastating but the family simply wasn't willing to let go of the gains Tavish had made and so they opened a small, privately run centre in one of the buildings on the former Renaissance property.
For the first few months, it was funded entirely by the Kliewer family.
The centre isn't a school in the "traditional sense." The goal is to develop functional life skills, not academics.
"In fact, we are not planning to ever offer academic based learning," Tammy said. "Our focus and eventual goal will be to provide services and opportunities to older kids and adults on the autism spectrum for lifelong learning, growth and achievement through access to meaningful learning, training and employment opportunities."
Now headquartered on a beautiful property in the city of Barrie, the centre welcomes teens and adults with moderate to severe autism and other developmental challenges.
Little Blue Schoolhouse Support Services is the first step in addressing this dire need within the community. With a curriculum and programming that focuses on life skills, meaningful training opportunities and access to physical fitness, we strive to encourage lifelong learning and development. Kids and adults with severe developmental challenges CAN be productive, accomplished members of the community with the right supports and guidance.
Our goal is to provide the supports and guidance necessary to help as many people as possible affected by severe / lower functioning developmental disabilities be the best they can be.
This is our story:
The Little Blue Schoolhouse was founded by two Barrie parents whose severely autistic son was displaced after Renaissance Academy in Utopia suddenly closed in April 2015.
Greg and Tammy Kliewer started the new centre to ensure their then, 14-year-old son Tavish continued to get the specialized education he needs.
Tavish is affected by severe autism, is non-verbal, has epilepsy and a host of behavioural and intellectual challenges. He is self-injurious and had started to become aggressive to other people as well. And despite collaboration and cooperation between the family and the public school system, Tavish had been unable to safely attend public school for over 2 years.
As a last ditch effort to try to get appropriate supports and educational opportunities in place, Greg and Tammy enrolled Tavish in Renaissance Academy in Utopia, ON (just outside Barrie, ON).
And, it changed his life. The combination of life skills based training, promotion of fitness, community engagement, and opportunities to be independent and productive transformed Tavish from a volatile, aggressive, deeply unhappy kid into someone who is calm, happy and more engaged than he has ever been. He is proud of himself. And it shows.
“Tavish went from somebody who was melting down multiple times a day, hurting himself, covered in bruises, to really happy and content,” Greg said. “You could see he felt accomplished in his total demeanor. He was a completely different kid.”
But then, the Academy abruptly closed its doors on April 24, 2015.
It was devastating but the family simply wasn't willing to let go of the gains Tavish had made and so they opened a small, privately run centre in one of the buildings on the former Renaissance property.
For the first few months, it was funded entirely by the Kliewer family.
The centre isn't a school in the "traditional sense." The goal is to develop functional life skills, not academics.
"In fact, we are not planning to ever offer academic based learning," Tammy said. "Our focus and eventual goal will be to provide services and opportunities to older kids and adults on the autism spectrum for lifelong learning, growth and achievement through access to meaningful learning, training and employment opportunities."
Now headquartered on a beautiful property in the city of Barrie, the centre welcomes teens and adults with moderate to severe autism and other developmental challenges.
