Who We Are

Adventure Place has been assisting young children and their families since 1972. Our services are open to all families living in Toronto, North Quadrant, with children up to 12 years of age who are experiencing difficulties in one or more of the following areas:

• Development
• Learning
• Communication (Speech and Language)
• Behaviour
• Social and/or Emotional Functioning
• Attention and/or Regulatory Functioning
• Pervasive Developmental Disorders (ASD/PDD)

Adventure Place is a registered charitable organization, fully accredited by Children’s Mental Health Ontario.

Our Mission

To provide comprehensive mental health, social, and developmental services dedicated to the well-being and success of children in their early years and to their families.

Our Philosophy

At Adventure Place, we believe that all children have the right to healthy development and to achieve their full potential.

Our Goals

To reduce the impact of difficulties and special needs.
To help children achieve their potential by building on their strengths and self-esteem.
To increase parental knowledge, competence, and confidence.
To reduce family stress.
To reduce the risk of longer term or more complex difficulties.

Our Values & Principles

Excellence – Our services reflect best practices and are delivered with integrity in a respectful, transparent, and professional manner.

Accessible – Every child with identified needs has an equal right to our services.

Family-Centred – Young children are best served within the context of their families and communities. Parents are our partners in the delivery of service.

Responsive – The earlier a child’s special needs can be identified, assessed, and treated the greater the opportunity for that child to achieve his or her potential.

Inclusive – We promote inclusive practices that encourage the child and family to fully participate in the community.

Compassionate – Our caring and dedicated staff understand the challenges and complexities associated with family life.

Collaborative – Service providers collaborate with other community partners to maximize the capacity and quality of our services.

Our History

In 1965, our founding Executive Director, Clara Will, met with School Board Superintendents to present her plan for keeping young kids with serious difficulties in school.  She wanted to INTEGRATE education and “treatment” in a classroom program within an operating elementary school.   To her, it simply made sense to integrate support for each part of a child’s development within a holistic approach.   Following much advocacy, the North York Board of Education agreed to allow Clara to start up a special classroom for children with autism at Fenside Public School.

One of Clara’s priorities from the start was that everyone needed to understand that “the buck stops here”. No child, no matter how severe the behaviour, would ever be demitted, nor be sent home for any period. She would focus her energies on teaching the child new strategies to cope and remain in the class. Clara never went back on that position.  Her single classroom grew into two the following year.  Children were integrated into regular classes in the same school as each was ready.   This program was very successful and new classes were being modelled after Clara's vision.  Clara transferred from her teaching role and began consulting to the new classes. She did this for two years until such time that she decided to seek funding for a program designed on the school-based model, but for younger children 2 1/2 to 6 years who had various difficulties, including autism.

Adventure Place was founded in 1972 as one Day Program classroom.    By the third year, the classroom-based day program was expanded to include consultation and support to child care and school settings.   The view here was to help children from the day program successfully transition into school and to provide services to children and families in their natural communities and neighbourhoods.

In 1987, Clara started an Early Intervention program to further expand community-based services.  This was the beginning of her vision to have a wide arrary of services available to children and families.   

From 2002-2011, the Ministry of Children and Youth Services funded a variety of new services that allowed Adventure Place to fully realize it's "continuum of service" program model.  This model recognized the importance of prevention, early intervention and treatment.  Programs that were funded during this time included:  Healthy Babies Healthy Children, Better Beginnings Now CapC, Toronto Partnership for Autism Services, Children's Mental Health Initiative; Intensive Child and Family Services, Willowdale Ontario Early Years Centre, Toronto Autism ABA Services and, Mental Health Short Term Intervention. 

Today, Adventure Place offers a unique range of integrated services and, even though it has grown over time, Clara’s original vision of prevention, early intervention, and day treatment was fully realized and remains true today.

Our Founder

Clara Will established Adventure Place in 1972. Her vision to provide a uniquely integrated continuum of service to children and families continues today.

Clara is a pioneer for children’s rights. Her experience teaching in Canada, Denmark, and England provided her with the vision of how things could and should be done to ensure that all children, including those with special needs, have the opportunity to reach their potential by getting the right start in life.

A persistent and relentless leader, Clara Will lobbied the government to raise the first round of financing for Adventure Place. Not only is Clara Will an entrepreneur, community developer, child and family advocate, and a Member of the Order of Canada, but she is also a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, and friend.

“Adventure Place is an outstanding example of the powerful and positive impact that partnerships between government, the educational system and private enterprise can have on the community. Executive Director, Clara Will, has been the dominant force in bringing groups together and securing quality services for the children in the Adventure Place programs. The result is children who are comfortable in and prepared for school. North York is proud and privileged to have joined Adventure Place in creating a better future for children.”

Marguerite Jackson, Former Director of Education, North York Board of Education

Strategic Plan

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Accreditation

Adventure Place is fully accredited by Children’s Mental Health Ontario. The accreditation process assesses the agency’s program, staffing, management, and governance standards to promote and ensure quality assurance. During the most recent accreditation review, the agency achieved the following:

The agency goes through the accreditation process every four years and will be evaluated next in November 2015.