Lessons in dating skills
- 17 Feb 06, 12:00 AM
Ouch's UK readers are going to flinch at the use of terms like "mental retardation" in this news story but, discrepancies between US and UK use of language aside, it would be hard to criticise the You and I programme whose goal is to "develop social skills that could eventually lead to dating" for learning disabled 20-somethings who live with their parents in Manhattan. As the programme's co-ordinator, Bobra Fyne, says, "It can be tough for parents to realize that their children are adults who are ready ... for relationships".
This week's session was a pre-Valentine's Day party; there was a Christmas session on gift-giving on a budget; and the group is planning to take a picnic on the Staten Island Ferry at sunset soon.
Sessions usually begin with "an hour devoted to a 'social-sexual' curriculum with sections on feelings, body awareness and self-perception as well as some sex education" and end with an hour of dancing.
You and I's president, Philip Levy, says the programme exists because, "People need to feel that they belong, that they're a part of a community. That they're part of a relationship or relationships, and all of that contributes to a sense of self-esteem, to a sense of pride, to a sense of well-being." And you really can't argue with that.
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