“An environment, by design, that adapts and includes learners at all stages and ages.”
Indie, 2024.
The Future Deserves Better.
Indie exists to address the ever-growing barriers to equitable and accessible learning opportunities for neurodivergent and disabled children. Beginning as early as two years old, neurodivergent and disabled children are disproportionately excluded from traditional learning environments for reasons such as speech delays, challenges with daily living skills such as toileting, behavioral challenges and even medical complexity.
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As a core aspect of our philosophy, children and families who participate in our programs can expect:
A representative learning environment, where children are met exactly where they are
Multi-sensory engagement and support
Flexible seating to support a variety of learning styles
Accommodations for wheelchair/mobility device users
Zero potty training requirements.
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We operate within a social model of therapy, which means that children do not need a diagnosis of autism to participate in our programs. We welcome and celebrate children of all backgrounds and abilities.
Our Team.
Jessica Costa M.S., BCBA, LBA and Bri Hicks are passionate educators with a combined 25+ years of educational leadership and delivery of naturalistic therapy services for children between the ages of 16 months and 11 years. Our independent learning company was founded out of a need for accessible learning environments for children of all abilities. Our combined expertise and personal experience within traditional learning environments such as schools and clinics, gives us a unique window into the pros and cons of the existing systems.
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Indie Learning Co. started as a small initiative to help children and families maintain their learning goals through the Covid-19 pandemic. We noticed that our students, primarily Autistic and disabled children, were left without crucial learning supports as traditional schools and therapeutic services shut down due to the pandemic. We began making adapted home learning kits, filled with hand-made books, activities and visual supports that families could use to build skills at home.
As we transitioned back to the clinic setting in 2021, we grew to recognize the gaps that traditional educational and therapeutic services had in serving children with diverse learning needs. We attempted to make meaningful change within our roles, but ultimately grew to recognize that our values were severely misaligned with the practices of our field. In 2022, we decided to step away from the field and form an independent learning company that embodied our values.