“To see the friendships forming, peer support and just the fun they have being together doing things gives me pure joy.”

– Great Prospects CEO Michelle Jericevich

Nearing the end of a year in high school, young people with disabilities — just like their non-disabled classmates — dream of a summer full of fun and friendship. Warm weather and long, sunny days create a universal need to mark this season as an exciting break from the fall-through-spring routine.

While young adults with special needs enjoy many of the same outings and activities that other high school students do, providing them requires more organization, planning, and supervision. There’s also a need to prevent “summer slide” with techniques aimed specifically at helping participants retain the knowledge and skills they acquired over the previous academic year.

At Great Prospects, we meet these needs with our Summer Friends program for individuals with developmental disabilities aged 16 to 21 who are still attending high school. They join participants in the regular Therapeutic Day Program (TDP) during the summer as well as on teacher workdays, school holidays, and other breaks throughout the year.

What Summer Friends Do

The summer program mirrors the Therapeutic Day Program, and as with everything else Great Prospects does, it features a low 7:1 ratio of staff to participants and emphasizes quality over quantity. The daytime, weekday sessions promote participants’ well-being on all levels: physical fitness, social interaction, building self-confidence and independence, safely engaging with the wider community, retaining acquired skills, and learning new ones. It involves:

Therapeutic sessions such as:
- Adaptive fitness including cardiovascular fitness, strength training, and flexibility
- Adaptive yoga
- Adaptive pickleball
- Kickboxing
Speech, art, and music therapy

Outings to stores, libraries, and parks

Friday Funday:
- Lunches at restaurants like Chick-fil-A, Panera, Moe's, Panda Express, and pizzerias
- Outings to the movies, karaoke, mini golf, bowling, museums, and more

Activities for skill retention:
- Social games
- Technology time
- Focus weeks

Summer Friends participants love having places to go and fun things to do with their buddies, while their parents and guardians benefit from free time to attend to their own projects and needs. Both participants and their families gain the advantage of learning about the Therapeutic Day Program as a long-term option once the young adults age out of the school system. Several Summer Friends have successfully transitioned into the TDP after high school.

Along with activities to enrich various aspects of participants’ lives, the proper duration is key to achieving summer program goals for youths, whether with or without disabilities. That was the conclusion of a 2019 consensus study by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine titled “Shaping Summertime Experiences: Opportunities to Promote Healthy Development and Well-Being for Children and Youth.”

The researchers found that participants benefit the most from programs lasting at least 5 weeks, especially when they attend them for multiple summers. Summer Friends is a 6-week program that lasts from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Dates for 2025 are June 2-27 and July 7-18.

Throughout the year, like members of other Great Prospects programs, Summer Friends are eligible for Emergency Drop-In by simply calling ahead of their arrival. If dropping in Monday through Thursday, they need to bring lunch, a snack, and enough water to stay well-hydrated throughout the day. Lunch and water are provided during Friday Funday outings.

What GP Participants, Staff, and Parents Like About Summer Friends

Participants in previous Summer Friends programs found different activities to enjoy. TJ said his favorite activities were coloring and exercising for physical fitness. James said he liked making friends like Nicole and Ansley, going to the library and the park, and bowling.

Great Prospects staff members say what they enjoy most about the program is making new friends and helping them with their transition from high school. They’re pleased that the Summer Friends have received the program very well. One staffer said, “All participants love the community aspects, adventures, and therapeutics — kickboxing, fitness, yoga” as well as the varied outings and activities on Friday Fundays. “They enjoy meeting new friends, balancing each other’s personalities and supporting strengths as they get to know the habits of each other.”

Having the opportunity to help one young man in Summer Friends improve his daily life made a big impression on a staff member who recalled, “We have had a participant that attended and will attend again that learned that he has choices to make throughout the day. When he came to the program he would hoard items and try to function in isolation. While in the program … he is learning to share and function in a group setting. The hope is that he will take these lessons home and back to school.”

Parents whose high schoolers have enjoyed Summer Friends say the program has increased their sons’ and daughters’ social skills and improved their speech and physical fitness. Moms and dads are happy to hear their children becoming more communicative and sharing stories about their days with pals at Great Prospects.

When asked what they hope participants and parents take away from their experience with the Summer Friends program, the staff at Great Prospects said, “The knowledge that there is something constructive once high school has ended. That they can start a new phase of their lives with support and kindness. That the social and therapeutic aspects of GP help all participants become the best versions of themselves.”

Great Prospects: Empowering Special People

At Great Prospects, empowering special people is our superpower! With programs designed to foster independence, inclusion, and growth, we create opportunities for young adults with disabilities to reach their full potential.

CEO Michelle Jericevich founded the nonprofit group in 2010 because she wanted the best for her daughter, Indya, who has cytomegalovirus plus cerebral palsy with epilepsy disorder. After her daughter graduated from high school, Michelle couldn’t find the type of program they needed in the Atlanta area at the time, so she started one. Today, Indya, an outgoing woman who loves music, traveling, dancing, her puppy, and the many friends she’s made at Great Prospects, is thriving in its Therapeutic Day Program.

The Great Prospects team has a deep understanding of the needs of young people with disabilities who are transitioning to full adulthood. And they know how painful it can be to encounter rude or ignorant people who don’t know how to act around someone with special needs.

Michelle remembers a particularly upsetting experience she and Indya endured when her daughter was younger and needed ankle braces. When the family was out in public, Michelle said, “People stared, and it made my son especially angry that these stares were directed at his sister.”

While a simple question about the braces would have been fine, she explained, the family had to put up with upsetting glances and whispers instead. Experiences like this only strengthened Michelle’s resolve to do whatever she could to see that every disabled person she encountered was treated with respect, compassion, and courtesy.

If you have a developmentally disabled daughter or son in high school and want to consider enrolling them in this year’s Summer Friends program, click here to see the program’s flier. For more information about Great Prospects, give us a call at (770) 314-4243.

Summer Friends Program: Adventures That Build Skills