{"id":101044,"date":"2024-12-17T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/?p=101044"},"modified":"2024-12-12T20:13:22","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T09:13:22","slug":"holiday-program-open-to-neurodivergent-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/holiday-program-open-to-neurodivergent-youth\/","title":{"rendered":"Holiday program open to neurodivergent youth"},"content":{"rendered":"

A SCHOOL holiday program aimed at empowering neurodivergent young people and fostering connections through a shared interest in technology will be held between 6 and 27 January on Mondays, Saturdays and Sundays at the Long Gully Neighbourhood Centre.<\/p>\n

The holiday sessions will be run by Tech Together’s Troy Tzotzis \u2013 a primary school teacher, disability worker, mentor and self-described passionate supporter of neurodivergent youth.<\/p>\n

Mr Tzotzis said a typical session involves Lego, retro games, gaming PCs and all sorts of consoles, as well as card games.<\/p>\n

“Depending on the participant, we might do some Lego when they first come in or some gaming,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Then we’ll break it up in the middle of the session with a card game \u2013 something fun and short \u2013 then sit around the table and talk.<\/p>\n

“We might do some VR after that, or more Lego.<\/p>\n

“The goal is ultimately to get kids out of the house and help them find a safe space and encourage communication through tasks and activities.<\/p>\n

“Isolation for neurodivergent young people is very common, and it’s a big issue.<\/p>\n

“The lack of communication with others, and some anxiety around that, is common for some of the participants we have.<\/p>\n

“That’s why sometimes I get them to come in and check out the space first, to see how they feel about it.”<\/p>\n

He said he’s decorated the room at the Neighbourhood Centre with posters, Minecraft blocks, lanterns and an arcade machine.<\/p>\n

“I’ve done that on purpose,” he said.<\/p>\n

“If the kids walk in and the lighting is right and the room doesn’t look too clinical or off-putting, they feel more comfortable.<\/p>\n

“I’ve found that as soon as they come in, they don’t want to leave.”<\/p>\n

For further information and to make a booking, visit the Tech Together website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A SCHOOL holiday program aimed at empowering neurodivergent young people and fostering connections through a shared interest in technology will be held between 6 and 27 January on Mondays, Saturdays and Sundays at the Long Gully Neighbourhood Centre. The holiday sessions will be run by Tech Together’s Troy Tzotzis \u2013 a primary school teacher, disability […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":101045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-101044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHoliday program open to neurodivergent youth - Bendigo Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Join the holiday program for neurodivergent youth at Long Gully Neighbourhood Centre, focusing on tech, gaming, and building connections.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/holiday-program-open-to-neurodivergent-youth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Holiday program open to neurodivergent youth - 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