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<p>EDWARDSVILLE &#8212; In a corner of the Gateway Shopping Center, a small group of professionals works to improve the quality of life of adults with special needs.</p><p>And, boy, are they ever accomplishing their goals.</p><p>Amy Roccograndi, Robyn Ruckle and Jacqueline Tona are owners/operators of Reaching Beyond Limits &#8212; the perfect name for their place because that&#8217;s exactly what goes on there every day.</p><p>I stopped by Reaching Beyond Limits this week to meet the owners and their clients. I came away impressed with the work being done there and the amount of fun everyone has along the way.</p><p>James Smith, 20, of Dallas, printed letters and showed them to anyone who would look because he was so proud of his work.</p><p>Sultan Rajjob, 21 of Kingston, was busy creating artwork, while Helen Petrosky, 54, of Wilkes-Barre Township, helped sort supplies to be used in another project.</p><p>John Keegan, 19, of Hanover Township, Christopher Franz, 27, of Forty Fort, and Anthony Flores, 21, of Wilkes-Barre, played catch with a ball, working their eye-hand coordination.</p><p>In her own special corner, Kali Dadurka, 25, of Forty Fort, took a break from the day&#8217;s activities to devote time to what she does best &#8212; rip pages from magazines.</p><p>Roccograndi said nine clients are enrolled in the program and they hope to build on that number. A new client is registered to join the group in January.</p><p>Reaching Beyond Limits was established in 2014 and opened for business in March, 2015, Ruckle said.</p><p>&#8220;We just saw a need for a program like this in the community,&#8221; Roccograndi said.</p><p>Roccograndi and Ruckle said their clients usually graduate from high school at age 21. If they aren&#8217;t enrolled in an adult program, like Reaching Beyond Limits, there&#8217;s a chance they will forget many of the things they learned in school.</p><p>Just about every day, the clients are taken on field trips &#8212; farmers markets, restaurants, shopping, The Lands at Hillside Farms and other destinations. The owners purchased a mini bus to make traveling together easier and more fun.</p><p>For instance, when the group goes to a restaurant, the clients learn how to behave when being seated and ordering. They learn about about wiping their faces, not pushing into people and waiting their turn.</p><p>&#8220;All of this greatly improves their quality of life,&#8221; Ruckle said. &#8220;And we do it in a way that they learn and they have fun learning.&#8221;</p><p>Ruckle and Roccograndi measure outcomes and have seen great improvement in their clients&#8217; social skills. Goals are set for each client and detailed progress notes kept.</p><p>Helen loves to color. She also likes to go shopping to purchase gifts for her nieces and nephews.</p><p>James enjoys dancing &#8212; in fact, James loves to go anywhere.</p><p>&#8220;As soon as he arrives (in the morning), he asks us where we&#8217;re going,&#8221; Roccograndi said.</p><p>Both Ruckle and Roccograndi thoroughly enjoy their jobs and derive special satisfaction from helping their clients improve their quality of life.</p><p>Individuals with special needs can accomplish so much &#8212; if given the opportunity.</p><p>I attended the Victory Sports Christmas Party Friday night. Victory Sports was established in 2011 to offer adults with mental and/or physical challenges fun programs in which to participate. They play baseball, basketball and hold dances.</p><p>Many of the Victory participants are autistic, like most of the clients at Reaching Beyond Limits, although there are several participants with Down syndrome and others with various diagnoses.</p><p>Parents have told the Victory organizers &#8212; I serve as vice president of the board of directors &#8212; they have seen remarkable improvement in their children&#8217;s social skills. They not only want to get out and do more, they enjoy it and they behave much better than in the past.</p><p>That makes it all the more comfortable for people who come in contact with these individuals every day. The end result is more things to do and more fun for all.</p><p>Take Joey Hoffman, of Nanticoke, who is in his mid-30s. Joey never liked to go out of the house, but he joined Victory Sports.</p><p>One day, when we didn&#8217;t have music to play the National Anthem before a game, Joey volunteered to sing. His parents were amazed.</p><p>Joey now sings at every game. He sings the National Anthem, Happy Birthday and anything else he&#8217;s asked to sing. Other players often join in with him.</p><p>Friday night, the Victory Sports participants danced, had fun and extended their reach &#8212; just like clients at Reaching Beyond Limits do every day, thanks to three compassionate and determined individuals in Amy Roccograndi, Robyn Ruckle and Jacqueline Tona.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bill O&#8217;Boyle </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_Oboyle_Bill-2-1-8.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bill O&#8217;Boyle </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121615Reaching1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Emily Bricek, direct care worker, plays catch with clients John Keegan and Anthony Flores recently at Reaching Beyond Limits, an adult day program dedicated to facilitating learning in individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorder. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121615Reaching1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Emily Bricek, direct care worker, plays catch with clients John Keegan and Anthony Flores recently at Reaching Beyond Limits, an adult day program dedicated to facilitating learning in individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorder. </caption1><photoCredit1>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121615Reaching2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Working on life skills are Reaching Beyond Limits clients Sultan Rajjob (back to camera) supervised by Clarissa Davis, direct care worker; James Smith, who practices spelling his name and Helen Petrosky, who matches and folds socks as supervised by Robyn Ruckle, co-owner of the adult day program dedicated to facilitating learning in individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorder. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL121615Reaching2.jpg</photo2><caption2>Working on life skills are Reaching Beyond Limits clients Sultan Rajjob (back to camera) supervised by Clarissa Davis, direct care worker; James Smith, who practices spelling his name and Helen Petrosky, who matches and folds socks as supervised by Robyn Ruckle, co-owner of the adult day program dedicated to facilitating learning in individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorder. </caption2><photoCredit2>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Reaching Beyond Limits enhances quality of life for special needs adults