Vista Vocational & Life Skills Center


Location: Westbrook, CT
Program Type: Post-secondary, residential, apartment living, independent living, vocational
Established: 1989
Age Range: 18 and older
Specialties: Vista serves adults with neurologically based disabilities, including Autism Spectrum disorders, pervasive developmental delay, brain injury, and learning disabilities.
Website: http://www.vistavocational.org
Phone: (860) 399-8080


Vista Vocational & Life Skills Center is a private, nonprofit training program serving 165 adults with disabilities. Vista’s mission is to provide services and resources on an individualized basis to assist adults with disabilities to live an independent and successful life. Founded twenty years ago, Vista’s nationally accredited post-secondary program offers holistic training designed to help adults with disabilities transition from home and school to community living. Vocational and life skills training is focused in 4 areas: social development, career development, independent living, and community involvement. Vista’s dedicated staff works as a team with individual students and members to help them succeed at work and live as independently as possible in the community.

Vista attracts students from across the United States into its program, which is fully accredited by NCASES, the National Commission for the Accreditation of Special Education Services. Vista’s campus includes five communities along the shoreline of south central Connecticut. These lovely New England towns provide the safe, convenient, scenic environment students and members thrive in as they learn the skills for a more independent life. Midway between Boston and New York, Vista’s location offers local and regional resources, as well as proximity to metropolitan areas.

Vista’s three-year Entrance Program provides a two-year residential program in a dormitory setting in Westbrook, followed by a third year in the nearby Guilford Transition apartments. After graduation, Vista students may become members of the Outreach Program and live independently in their own homes or apartments in the community, while continuing to receive support services from Vista as needed. In the Outreach Program, Vista offers long term support services, helping its members to live safely and effectively in the local community. Vista’s extended campus includes 5 shoreline towns linked by public transportation and vista’s own transportation system, which supplements the public one.

From the day they arrive at Vista, Entrance Program students hold training positions that can lead to paid employment. They acquire pre-employment skills such as how to dress, how to interview for a job, and the appropriate social skills needed for competitive employment. They participate in job-specific skills training in worksites and internships. To provide optimal services, Vista staff members focus on the complexities of each individual’s strengths and weaknesses and train to these factors. Training is also aligned to the goals and dreams of each individual, respecting their feelings and taking their skills into account. Approximately 90% of Outreach Program members are in paid employment.

At Vista, a person’s disability, whether it is called a learning disability, epilepsy, an Autism Spectrum disorder, or traumatic brain injury is not the defining factor for the individual. While we acknowledge its existence, we look to the spirit, talents, and hopes of our students and members. For this is where potential and promise lie and where future success is imminent.

For More Information
Contact Vista Vocational & Life Skills Center at

• Web http://www.vistavocational.org
• Phone (860) 399-8080
• Email admissions@vistavocational.org