This page contains excerpted descriptions and curriculum components of analogous/similar programs in other regions.

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Minnesota Intermediate School District 287 Special Education Program

Student Profile

We serve a wide array of students with diverse abilities and disabilities who have s strong desire to develop the necessary skills to be as independent and successful as they can be in their community. Learners work cooperatively with their Advisor to develop an individualized transition plan as part of their IEP. Most VECTOR students have at least one secondary diagnosis. Disability categories served are MMI, PI, OHI, D/HH, Deaf/Blind, VI, TBI, SLD, EBD, SP/L and Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Mission/Goals

To provide transition services to young adults with disabilities as they progress from an educational setting toward living and working independently in the community.

Components

Academic Skills:

A functional curricula with instruction in reading (Language Arts), writing and math with emphasis on skill development necessary to function as independently as possible as an adult, and to maximize their success in formal career and technical training programs. Study Skills classes are offered to prepare students for learning in higher educational settings.

Social/Behavior:

Personal responsibility/self advocacy - Assist students as they develop skills in taking responsibility for their own life plans, to understand their disability and learn to articulate accommodations needed in school, community, home, and the work place. Curriculum incorporates instruction in problem solving and development of age appropriate social skills.

Vocational Skills:

Transition courses taught are “Career Awareness” and “Employability Skills”. Course content areas are job searching, interviewing, company policies and benefits, and an understanding of the skills necessary to maintain a job. Full time Work Experience Coordinators (WEC’s) are part of each individual’s education team. The WEC’s supervise Vocational Trainers and utilize a Community-based Vocational Assessment to document student worker’s strengths and needs on the job. Community-based career and technical training are a part of nearly every students’ school day. Career and Technical training options available to VECTOR students in the community are:

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Key Training Center (Citrus County, Florida)

Classroom Instruction

Each client is unique. Bonded by common developmental disabilities, all clients with mental retardation have tremendous potential. At the Key Training Center's Adult Day Training Program, clients receive structured classroom instruction and important individual staff attention to thrive as full citizen partners.

The comprehensive scope of adult day training programs begins with self care and concludes with community based employment. In between, a variety of targeted training help clients function more normally in everyday life.

Personal hygiene and grooming are taught in the self-care program. Daily living skills include hands-on learning about meal planning, cooking, nutrition, cleaning, exercise, laundry, sewing, public transportation, traffic signals, and safety.

Social skills include maintaining positive relationships at home, work, and play. Basic knowledge includes course work for reading, writing, money management, telling time and making change. Human growth and development focuses on health, family concepts and relationships with other people.

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Hope Center (Miami, Florida)

Adult Day Training Services are provided in both classrooms and in a sheltered workshop. Through our day training program, people have the opportunity to participate in daily valued routines and learn new social and adaptive skills. In the classrooms, a variety of extracurricular and survival education skills are taught to allow our clientele to participate in meaningful activities, become more autonomous and access the community safely. We partner with the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Adult Education Program, the Blank Family Foundation and Bank Atlantic to supplement the training programs we offer.

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Warren-Yazoo Mental Health, Developmental Disability Program (Michigan) 

For Developmentally Disabled (DD) adults, the work activity center provides basic education, training in daily living skills, and paid employment. The goal of the Work Activity Center is to help each individual gain new skills, self-esteem, and the pride of accomplishment. The Center offers practical education in:

Contract services and jobs are coordinated with area industries and businesses. The clients are trained to perform specific work activities and are paid according to the work produced. Some Yazoo Multiflex jobs and services are:

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