Recreation Opportunities
Autism Aspergers Friends Society (AAFS): Provides respite care in a social and recreational environment for adults on the spectrum.
Beast-Mode Fitness: An exercise program for male and female teens and young adults with autism who want to learn how to become more physically active in their lives.
Between Friends: Provides quality social, recreation, and development opportunities for people with disabilities.
Bloom Wellness Collective: Bloom is on a journey to make dance and expressive arts accessible to those living with disabilities. They use movement as a catalyst for self-expression, connection, sustainable health, emotional regulation, and, above all, joy, as Bloom continues to ignite imagination through thoughtful programs and intentional interactions. Their goal is acceptance over integration, and they strive towards this goal by fostering an inclusive and diverse community where everyone feels heard, valued, and accepted. Each of their programs is specially designed to meet the needs, goals, and interests of its participants, irrespective of their age or abilities.
Calgary Adapted Hub powered by Jumpstart (CAH): Here to help you find the right program. Utilizing their program navigation service they aim to support families, educators, and allied health professionals with finding a program that is a good fit for a group or an individual child interested in participating in sport and recreation. Their collective of Calgary-based organizations is committed to providing quality sport and recreation opportunities for children, youth, and families living with disabilities.
Calgary Public Library – Special Services: A wide range of specialized materials, facilities, and programs are available for people of all ages with special needs.
Canadian Adaptive Snowsports Association Calgary (CADS): A volunteer-based organization dedicated to assisting those living with a disability to lead richer and fuller lives through active participation in recreational and competitive skiing and snowboarding. CADS promotes adaptive sport by teaching people with disabilities how to ski/snowboard by using skills and equipment tailored to their individual needs. CADS programming consists of 8 two hour sessions which typically tun in January to February on Friday evenings at Canada Olympic Park (COP).
City of Calgary Recreation Discovery Guide: An online directory which lists the agencies and organizations which offer recreational programs for those living with a disability. This guide should be used as a starting point to guide your search for active recreational programs for you or your family members.
Community Kitchen (Calgary Women’s Centre): The Community Kitchen program is for women with developmental disabilities. It includes finding recipes and cooking group meals to making crafts and planning activities together, offers participants opportunities to learn new skills, build relationships and get involved with the community. The program runs every second Friday from Sept-June, and once a month in July/Aug. Individuals can register on the website, or drop-in.
Disabled Sailing Association of Alberta (DSAA): A largely volunteer-based organization that provides recreational opportunities for children and adults with disabilities. DSAA believes in giving opportunity, accessibility, and independence to those who are living with a disability. Provides specially adapted sail boats, sailing programs, and facilities for people with various disabilities. There are individual as well as community sails. For more information on programming, please visit their website.
Equine Facilitated Wellness: Provides an opportunity for people to partner with a horse on the journey towards Emotional Growth, Self- Awareness and Healing. Horses offer us genuine, honest, authentic feedback which provides a unique opportunity for personal growth. Rein Forth offers one on one Equine Facilitated wellness sessions, Group workshops, Summer Camps and Team Builds as well as some Introductory Western Pleasure riding lessons. Bookings as available.
Independent Living Resource Centre Calgary: Offers seasonal programs that provide a broad range of fun activities for adults and seniors.
Inside Out Theatre: Offers community-based drama programs to Calgarians with disabilities that foster a love of theatre, the joy of community, and the rewards of self-expression.
Mount Royal University: Offers many fitness and recreational opportunities for people with disabilities.
Music with Bryan: These are small, inclusive, group-directed sing-a-long music classes for people of all ages and abilities to express themselves through the wonder of song. Join a small group of friends who meet weekly — it’s a great way to spend an hour at home, at a park, or wherever you are out in the world!
National Access Arts Centre: Offers a variety of classes and workshops for adults (18+), with programs available to both PDD and non-PDD clients. Programming is split between visual arts and performing arts; studio sessions are offered in addition to workshops as part of the visual arts program, and the performing arts programming includes both dance and theatre.
Opening Gaits: Provides children and adults with disabilities the opportunity to experience all the benefits of riding on and spending time with a horse.
Rocky Mountain Adaptive (RMA): An adaptive sport organization whose aim is to provide any individual (both youth and adults) with a disability the chance to access all sport, recreational and adventure activities in the Canadian Rockies.
The Sage Mustang, Lifeskills Unbridled | Sandra Graham B.Ed.; M.A.: Certified Equine Assisted Learning Facilitator & Certified Horse Powered Reading Facilitator. The Sage Mustang partners with previously untouched wild mustangs to provide an amazing experience that enhances personal growth. This innovative opportunity offers powerful solutions to acquire invaluable knowledge, skills, and experiences through engaging, fun, objective-based learning activities that will last a lifetime! Sessions will begin in spring, weather dependent. Individual sessions are available by request while group sessions are scheduled.
Spectrum Yoga and Wellness Ltd: A mobile yoga company that teaches city-wide, offering therapeutic yoga classes for children, adults, and seniors with neurological and physical disabilities. They teach private, semi-private, and public classes, which are individualized specifically to meet each person’s needs and abilities. Spectrum Yoga and Wellness also offers Developmental and Behavioral aide supports (PUF, PDD, and FSCD), as well as community aide supports and respite services. Siblings, family members, and community aides are also welcome to participate and assist.
Splashtemp.com: Provides water temperatures for city of Calgary swimming pools and hotels. Pools are ranked as ‘most accessible’, ‘most family fun’, or ‘most relaxful’, with a number of other searchable features. This includes if the facility has life jackets, hot tubs, waterslides, type of pool entry, and many more items.
Universal Rehabilitation Service Agency (URSA): Their Wholistic Day Programs offers a variety of community-based day programs where participants experience a variety of social situations on a daily basis, both within their community and the outlying areas. Participants must have a developmental disability, be at least 18 years old, and require partial to total assistance with activities of daily living.
Social Skills Programs
Adult Social Knowledge (Scope Society): Adult Social Knowledge (ASK) is a program that focuses on social skills development for adults 18+ that have been diagnosed with a developmental disability. Participants will gain knowledge and skills through a variety of social topics and activities.
Eckert Psychology: Offers social skills coaching by developing knowledge and practical skills to help understand and behave in accordance with social rules and convention, fostering opportunities for personal dignity and new friendships, and safeguarding against abuse.
GrowU: GrowU offers courses for young adults with disabilities to develop tools and strategies so they can live their best adult life. Courses focus on building skills for success in all areas of life, using a wide variety of teaching techniques and strategies tailored to students’ needs.
Program for the Education and Enrichment of Social Skills for Young Adults (University of Calgary): PEERS-YA is designed for adults ages 19-28 with an autism spectrum disorder who are themselves motivated and interested to participate. The program consists of evidence-based and empirically-supported interventions designed to help motivated adults learn how to make and keep friends. Individuals are taught and shown important social skills, and are given the opportunity to practice these skills during socialization activities.