When Ronan O’Driscoll’s son walks into his afternoon session at Learningo, he has a smile on his face — a reaction his father says doesn’t always come easily in traditional school settings. 

His son Martin, 19, lives with severe autism, ADHD and a developmental delay. 

O’Driscoll says Martin has struggled with anxiety and some behavioural issues, so he’s only able to attend his Halifax-area high school for one to two hours a day, a couple days per week. 

To supplement his time away from school, Martin also attends Learningo, a non-profit program that offers alternative education to youth aged five to 25 on the autism spectrum, or with other complex needs. 

“It’s all about … being happy with his life,” said O’Driscoll, who is also on the organization’s board. “He doesn’t tell you what he’s feeling and things like that. So to see that he’s coming here, he’s relaxed and you know, when you’re relaxed, you learn things.” 

The organization has been around since 2016 but now has a new space in the Bedford Place Mall where it runs its “co-schooling” program. 

Executive director Emily Robar says students learn a wide array of skills from emotional regulation, functional communication and literacy, to behavioural and life skills. 

“We’re able to use our rapport and our skill sets to break those skills down, and try to teach them in a different environment so that they could be successful everywhere else that they go,” said Robar. 

She said some participants attend public school part time, and there’s open communication between Learningo and public school staff. 

Other participants are primarily homeschooled. 

“I am enjoying school today,” said 22-year-old Sam Clayton, whose favourite activity at Learningo is doing word searches and spending time with his teachers. 

“I like reading books,” Riley Holmes, 7, said enthusiastically. 

There are about 15 to 20 people on staff at Learningo, including behavioural analysts, educational assistants, as well as social work, psychology and recreational therapy students. 

Staff typically work with one to two students at a time to ensure they’re getting the support they need, which Robar said is often not possible in the public school system. 

“[Parents] want more energy directed specifically to their child, and sometimes the school system can’t do that just based on resources or levels of training for certain staff, or the ability to handle certain levels of crisis,” she said. 

“Sometimes I think in the school system, it’s more of a case of ‘well, there are so many shortages, there’s so many needs. Let’s just kind of keep them in the corner and keep it all calm,’ right?” said O’Driscoll. “Something that comes up a lot is staffing issues for, let’s say, educational assistants.”

A two-hour co-schooling session costs $75 per student, and Robar said some families are able to pay for it using respite funding allotted from government. 

They also have an after-school program, as well as March break and summer offerings that are slightly less costly.

She said the organization uses fundraising and grants to pay for overhead costs and equipment but does not yet have a recurring funding source to help the group expand and lower costs for families.

But still, Learningo has a waitlist for its co-schooling program, which Robar said highlights the demand for this type of service.

“Families are willing to do whatever it takes to get supports for their children,” she said. 

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