On-site Training
At KIT, we pride ourselves on the consistent positive feedback we receive from Clubs after training workshops. We are passionate about helping include members of all abilities and those with behavioral challenges in Boys & Girls Clubs, and that passion comes across to our learners. Our highly-experienced trainers make disability inclusion and behavior support training engaging for your staff. Let KIT help you learn the tools necessary to create a high quality Club experience for every member!
After nearly 20 years of training experience, KIT has a wealth of knowledge and experience regarding disability inclusion–from basic to advanced.
Recommended Training Topics for BGCA
Including youth with disabilities in your Club can be challenging at times. But, nothing is more rewarding than witnessing a Club member make a new friend, enjoy a game or experience an accomplishment. This highly-interactive workshop will allow participants to face their fears involved with inclusion (i.e., “I don’t know what to do! I don’t know anything about disability!”) through activities designed to promote an understanding of disability inclusion to support all youth at your Club.
Learning Objectives:
- Accurately define socially responsible language.
- Given a list, determine which statements are consistent with the philosophy of inclusion.
- List three ideas that reflect the philosophy of inclusion to address one of the identified barriers to inclusion in a Club setting.
Let’s be honest, many Club members will display a behavioral challenge if the environment is “off”. This workshop will focus on how to prevent negative behaviors before they occur and how to create Club environments that offer positive behavior support to youth with behavioral challenges. You will leave with a new lens with which to evaluate your Club spaces and learn practical and inexpensive changes which can better support the diverse needs and preferences of your members.
Learning Objectives:
- Accurately restate the purpose of behavior in your own words.
- Redesign one Club space to include three adaptations using physical, sensory, and social-emotional considerations to support positive behavior.
Have you ever said, “Help! I wasn’t trained for this!” when facing challenging behavior at your Club? Then this is the workshop for you! KIT will share concrete, practical strategies to support individual youth needs in a group setting. Learn how to identify triggers that influence behavior, then use scenarios to define behavior problems and develop simple plans focused on teaching skills. The workshop concludes with a hands-on exploration of respectful behavior support tools.
Learning Objectives:
- List the correct “ABC’s” of behavior in one scenario.
- Compose a statement of the problem that does not place blame on the child in a scenario.
- Design a practical behavior support plan that addresses the problem identified in a scenario.
There are a lot of demands placed on a Club member during the day. We see many youth having trouble managing stress in group settings, navigating transitions, and meeting expectations during activities. This training explores distinct types of coping difficulties and how they can create challenges in achieving an optimal Club experience. Join KIT as we learn practical, effective ways to teach coping skills to youth in planned and everyday activities.
Learning Objectives:
- Using the coping difficulties presented, describe what you have observed during competitive activities.
- Plan a Club activity that will reinforce one of the healthy coping messages discussed in the session.
- Role play the correct timing and wording to use when offering calming tools.
One in 68 children have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the United States, so chances are you will have at least one member with ASD in your Club. In this session, KIT will introduce you to a different perspective on ASD and explore how some of the perceived challenges about ASD can actually be viewed as strengths. Learners will hear directly from youth with ASD through videos and the trainer will share stories about how a little creativity leads to simple but effective support strategies.
Learning objectives:
- Link specific behaviors of children/youth with autism to the diagnosis criteria for ASD.
- Describe autism in your own words, using a strength-based approach.
- Develop one strength-based strategy that matches the needs of a child with ASD in a scenario.
Handling aggressive behavior can be a scary (and common) experience in your Club role. KIT understands and has developed this training to provide the information and tools to prepare you for when these situations arise. We will start by examining how perceptions drive our responses to aggressive behavior. Learners then explore different characteristics of youth who use aggression and the underlying influences. The workshop concludes with a course of action for responding to aggressive behavior and an in-depth focus on how to develop environmental supports in your Club.
Learning Objectives:
- Given a scenario, role-play one lens for interpreting and responding to behavior: blame, punishment, or communication.
- Design or improve upon two environmental supports for youth who use aggressive behavior in your Club to help them feel safe and connected.
Additional Training Topics
This training session will help managers explore their skills for supporting staff in improving inclusive practices within their programs. Discuss and practice using assessments to create attainable goals for both children and staff. You will also learn coaching and mentoring techniques and be given an easy-to-use worksheet to implement child and staff support strategies.
Learning Objectives:
- Write 2 goals for a child/youth in your program based on the assessment completed during the session
- In a role play, accurately demonstrate 2 strategies to assist staff to support a child/youth
- Given a scenario, complete the Implementing Strategies worksheet
Every child wants to make friends, and your program can help them. Many times, children with disabilities struggle with initiating and maintaining friendships. In this workshop, participants will learn how to help all children develop their social skills.
Learning Objectives:
- Practice an activity to remove the barriers to friendships for children with and without disabilities
- Apply a social mapping tool to examine friendship interactions
- Develop a plan to enhance friendship interactions in a scenario
This workshop explains the concept of responsive communication and covers staff responsibilities for helping children and youth send and receive communication messages. Learners will have opportunities to explore their learning styles and get hands-on practice using verbal and non-verbal support strategies.
Learning Objectives:
- Reflect on your own learning style and answer questions about how it affects communication
- Role play 3 verbal support strategies during simulated play with a partner
- Plan 2 non-verbal support strategies to support responsive communication
A powerful introduction to inclusion for summer camp staff, this workshop provides the basic skills necessary in a “top tips for inclusion” format. Topics covered include accommodations for day camps, confidentiality, working with families, positive behavior supports, and strategies for supporting friendships.
Learning Objectives:
- List 3 things you need to know in order to serve all children at camp
- Summarize 3 things you can do to support inclusion at your camp
- Discuss 3 resources for supporting inclusion
Chances are you serve children with ADHD every day in your existing programs. Explore myths about children with ADHD and discover what to look for as you design your program. Help all children be successful by preventing challenging behaviors with positive support strategies.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify 6 possible visual distractions for a child with ADHD
- Describe 3 observation signs or signals depicted during a role play
- Collaborate with a partner to apply 3 accommodations to a scenario
Childhood has changed dramatically over the last 20 years. This training covers the changing landscape of childhood and how to create opportunities for children to develop social-emotional skills like coping and self-regulation. Additionally, we discuss specific techniques on what to teach and how to teach skills.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the relationship between emotions and learning
- List 3 social skills that can be promoted in your own environment
- Recall 3 techniques for supporting children’s social-emotional needs
Tweens and teens deal with a lot of emotional highs and lows. They feel great one minute but sad and tearful the next. Creating a welcoming and supportive environment during these often turbulent years requires intentional planning. This session will explore the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional changes that are happening so staff can support tweens and teens. Participants will learn to create accepting cultures within their programs and provide a safe environment for tweens and teens to thrive.
Learning Objectives:
- Accurately define “Safe Space” in your own words
- Correctly identify 1 staff skill required to create a welcoming and safe environment with equal opportunity for contribution, voice, and choice for all youth
- Create a plan to implement an accommodation for 1 youth in your program utilizing the peer engagement strategies taught in the training
This workshop will assist participants in learning strategies that use group process to involve children/youth in planning the program, as well as gaining experience in activity planning to meet the needs and interests of their children/youth.
Learning Objectives:
- List 3 group process techniques that can be used to engage children in program planning
- Demonstrate 2 techniques that can be used to include children & youth in program planning
- Complete an Activity Planning Form using ideas generated during the session
Making your program accessible to children with disabilities requires creative and responsive accommodations. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) addresses the necessity of making accommodations for children with disabilities so they can participate in community programs. This workshop provides insight into what constitutes a “respectful accommodation,” including specific examples for children with various disabilities.
Learning Objectives:
- List 3 sources of information on designing accommodations in an out-of-school time environment
- Sketch at least 3 qualities an inclusion facilitator should possess
- Employ 4 accommodations to support inclusion for a child depicted in a scenario
Staff members in inclusive programs fall into one of three roles: support, bridge, and coach. Through activities, learners explore their thoughts about inclusive programs and making accommodations. Using case studies, specific staff responsibilities are outlined and reinforced.
Learning Objectives:
- Sketch at least 3 essential qualities staff should possess in an inclusive program
- Apply staff responsibilities to support children in 2 scenarios: Design accommodations and social supports for the child in scenario #1
- Develop a plan to monitor safety for the child in scenario #2
Children come to your program as part of a family unit. Learning to create a partnership with a child’s family will help you provide the best service to all children. Learn to communicate successfully with parents, how to set up a positive relationship, and what to do when challenges arise.
Learning Objectives:
- List 5 types of knowledge that parents and providers each bring to a partnership
- Describe 2 ways to build rapport with families
- Practice discussing a concern with a family through a role play scenario
KIT offers up to three (2 hour) training modules per day for a fee of $2,500.00 plus travel expenses. In general, the participant cap is 75 per training module. All materials are included in this fee. If you would like to discuss what a training event could look like for your Club or conference, please fill out the below information and a KIT representative will contact you shortly.
Partnership Statement:
Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Kids Included Together (KIT) have entered into a formal partnership to open more opportunities to children with disabilities by providing inclusion training and support to staff members at 4,300 local Boys & Girls Clubs across the United States. The goal of this partnership is to support Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s broader goal of creating safe, positive and inclusive environments for all children and youth.