Skip to main content

Live, Virtual Life Skills Courses for Individuals with Autism & IDD

IDD Learning Lab

IDD Learning Lab is an innovative online education program designed to teach practical independent living skills to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism.

Through live, interactive virtual courses, participants gain the confidence and tools needed to live more independently — wherever they are.

How to Enroll

Enrollment currently happens in two simple steps:

Step 1: Complete Our Enrollment Form

Complete our enrollment form

Step 2: Create a Free Student Account

Visit STRIVE WorldWIDE and click “Sign Up” in the top right corner to create your free student account.

👉 [Create Free Student Account at STRIVE WorldWIDE]

Once both steps are completed, our team will contact you with next steps and course details.

If you have questions or prefer to enroll directly, please email kristin@themissionproject.org

For more information check out our recent webinar.

Upcoming Course Schedule

Join us online for 5 weeks. Next Term starts 9/21/26

Mon & Wed (11am – 12pm CST) Responsibility and Decision Making
Mon & Wed (12:30 – 1:30pm CST) Time Management & Organization
Tues & Thurs (3:30pm – 4:30pm CST) Brain Fitness
Tues & Thurs (5:00 – 6:00pm CST) Healthy Relationships

All courses are held live via Zoom

This course covers all aspects of social relationships: how to meet new friends and partners, get to know each other, build a positive connection, and set boundaries. We will discuss healthy vs unhealthy relationships, explore sexual identity, and how to make safe choices around sex.

*Disclaimer: This course will cover many sensitive or mature topics, including abuse, sex; sexuality, gender identity, and sexual identity. We understand that relationships can be complicated and are here to help.

By the end of this course, you will be able to…

  • Define social relationship
  • Recall characteristics of healthy and unhealthy relationships
  • Describe the differences between non-romantic and romantic relationships
  • Explore what it means to have a sexual identity
    List positive traits to look for in a social relationship (friendship or partner)
  • Outline reasons for seeking a partner (or not)
  • Outline safe and healthy ways to find a social relationship
  • Identify the steps of getting to know a new social relationship
  • Explain how to make healthy decisions about sex

So much to do, so little time; or so you thought! In this course, you can take back control of your time by learning about procrastination, identifying your time wasters, and discovering tools that can help you organize. You will learn to estimate, visualize, and prioritize based on your values and goals, and will create a personalized plan for managing your time – let’s do this!

 By the end of this course, you will be able to….

  • Recognize the importance of time management and organization
  • Recognize causes of procrastination
  • Identify your time wasters
  • Describe techniques to overcome procrastination
  • Outline strategies for reducing time wasters
  • Identify priorities (based upon values and goals)
  • Present a personalized plan for managing your time

Your brain is like a muscle, and it can get stronger with exercise just like the rest of your body! Using games, puzzles, and interactive scenarios you will learn how to exercise your brain to increase your memory, boost your mental flexibility and problem-solving skills, decrease your distractions, and more. Let’s get our brains in tip-top shape!

By the end of this course, you will be able to…

  • Define Executive Functioning
  • Identify strategies for working memory that can be used in your daily life
  • Practice finding multiple solutions to a problem
  • Recognize routines and practice performing them in a different way
  • Identify your common distractions
  • Practice ignoring distractions, negative thoughts, and unwanted behaviors

Responsibility & Decision Making

This course will help you build the skills you need to make good decisions and take responsibility in your everyday life. You’ll learn how to stop, think, and choose your next steps. You’ll practice making smart choices, solving problems, and handling mistakes when they happen.

By the end of this course, learners will…

  • Demonstrate responsibility through independent living role-play scenarios
  • Identify the factors that influence decision-making
  • Explain why someone might make a different choice
  • Identify positive and negative possible outcomes
  • Choose a decision-making strategy and demonstrate its use
  • Outline a plan to follow through with a decision
  • List coping strategies available to them
  • Classify issues into small problems, medium problems, and catastrophes

Financial Assistance

We believe cost should never be a barrier to independence.

IDD Learning Lab offers scholarship options for eligible participants.

👉 Learn About Scholarship Opportunities

Need a Computer?

Qualifying applicants may also be eligible for a free computer through our partnership with KC Digital Drive.

What Participants Learn

Courses focus on real-world skills including:

  • Personal safety

  • Money management

  • Healthy relationships

  • Internet safety

  • Time management

  • Cooking and meal planning

  • Independent decision making

All courses are live, interactive, and designed with neurodiverse learners in mind.

Why IDD Learning Lab?

Many individuals face barriers to in-person programming due to:

  • Transportation challenges

  • Geographic limitations

  • Scheduling conflicts

  • Confidence concerns

Our virtual model removes those barriers and expands access statewide.

Step 1: Enroll Here

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Name(Required)
Preferred Contact Method(Required)
Please provide your address(Required)
Support Person's Name(Required)
Are you a new or returning learner?(Required)
Mondays and Wednesdays from 6-7pm.
Optional
Payment Plan
Please provide your payment plan (you must have applied for and been approved for scholarships at this link: https://forms.gle/UrD1KhyFDMKhVre49
Skip to content