From Temple Grandin School Co-Founder and Executive Director, Jen Wilger:

Since its beginning, TGS has been about relationships. Among the many environmental accommodations provided to neurodiverse students at TGS and elsewhere, “small classes with caring teachers” tops the list. Unless this commitment is in place, other interventions fall short. Our goal here has always been to provide a transformative community of understanding for these very special students. Understanding is a core value, and for nearly 100 families to date, the way their students have experienced understanding relationships at TGS has made a positive impact on their lives.

Since 1960, Search Institute has studied youth development, with the vision that all youth have what they need to thrive. More recently, in 2013, Search published a research-based framework for nourishing the relationships that young people may experience in their families, friendships, schools, and communities. The Developmental Relationships Framework identifies the following five elements that contribute to powerful, often life-changing relationships – just the kind of relationships we seek to cultivate at TGS! Here’s how we incorporate these elements at Temple Grandin School:

• Express Care – By listening, believing and encouraging, we show each student that they matter to us!
• Challenge Growth – We gently push students to grow from their strengths, and acknowledge their challenges.
• Provide Support – Our environment provides the right support to help students accomplish their academic and social tasks.
• Share Power – Our students’ needs guide our programming decisions, and they are encouraged to participate in leadership through sharing their interests.
• Expand Possibilities – We expose students to new places, people, and ideas that can help them grow.

Developmental Relationships Framework, Copyright © 2018 by Search Institute®, 3001 Broadway Street NE, Suite 310, Minneapolis MN 55413; 800-888-7828; www.search-institute.org. Used with permission.

To learn more, watch Search Institute’s YouTube video included above (two minutes long).

We share these key elements with you here, and challenge you to incorporate them into your relationships with your own students or other teens in your life. After ten years, we can confidently say that nurturing relationships lead to positive outcomes for TGS students!