Keystone Behavior Services ‘Small Town’ made its Kingston debut on Saturday.
KINGSTON, Pennsylvania — A restaurant, photography studio, clothing store and more.
There’s a lot inside Small Town at Keystone Behavior Services inside this building along Market Street in Kingston.
“We’ve created a small, functional community called ‘Little Town’ for children with disabilities,” said Brandon Zlotek, Keystone Behavior Services.
It is open to any child who wants to practice social or functional skills in a life-size but safe setting before going out for real.
“If a child doesn’t understand what’s going on or if they’re overwhelmed or they’re not used to that environment, then very often they’ll engage in an inappropriate type of behavior,” said Jacque Kishbaugh, Small Town at Keystone Behavior. Services.
“So we take them to the store, to the grocery store, and we teach them what it’s like to be in a real grocery store,” Zlotek said.
“Maybe we can’t cut their hair, but we can put them in the chair and we can wash their hair and we can run that hair and that hair dryer and we can keep it on them. And we can touch their hair,” Kishbaugh said.
A groundbreaking ceremony invited many people to come and take a look at the opportunities for their families. The folks at Keystone Behavioral Services are thrilled with the response.
Parents are thrilled with what a place like this will do for their children in the long run.
“I think it’s an incredible difference in the community by really giving kids the opportunity to have real life skills. Where they can apply them in a controlled environment. So they can learn them in a way that really helps them pull them off.” said Ryan Nolan, Duryea.
So many opportunities under one roof mean a lot to parents in the community.
“It absolutely gives them real comfort, giving them a place where they can take their kids, feel safe, and really get them through different areas of life like the grocery store, that restaurant, the hair salon, a cinema and let them feel comfortable in those types of places before going back to the real world,” Nolan said.
Even though the inspiration behind “Small Town” was kids who live with special needs, it’s open to all kids and even offers things like summer camps.
To learn more about Keystone Behavior Services, visit their website by clicking here.
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