Why Talisman
From Fear to Hope
As students enter the more socially and academically complex preteen and teen years, their challenges become amplified and students often become disengaged, angry, or sad. Parents who have seen the wonderful strengths of their child over the years see these strengths start to get fade beneath mounting frustrations and disappointments. 
This creates pressure and concerns for student and parents: what will today bring? What can tomorrow become? What does the future hold?
Talisman Semesters can help restore the bright, successful future.
Talisman Programs has been working with adolescents with autism spectrum disorder and ADHD for more than thirty years. Our leadership team has decades of experience and a passion for helping people live successful, happy, productive lives.
What do we do?
Talisman is an intentionally small program which we feel improves our students’ opportunity for personal and academic development.
- We are only for males which allows us to best focus on their unique needs.
- With semester-long enrollment, we can build a strong community and develop skills individually and as a group.
- Experiential, meaningful academics bring learning to life and help students reengage in a critical part of their development.
- Individual plans for each student to focus on the areas of greatest academic, social, health, and living skill needs for the semester.
- Social and independent living skills allow the months spent at Talisman to have an impact for years to come.
After decades of working with this age group with these unique strengths, we understand how to build lasting skills and success. Block by block, step by step, we have helped thousands of Talisman teens become happier, healthier, more productive versions of themselves.
We are passionate about this work and we value the opportunity to work with these exceptional young men.