This summer, the Center will be offering a special program for high school youth to increase their skills in several areas, offer opportunities to participate in daily living experiences that are realistic and practical, and explore career and employment options through community service, job shadowing, and take trips to educational facilities in Anchorage!

Because blindness and visual impairment create a sense of separateness from peers, this Summer Program incorporates socialization along with instruction and training in skills to increase self-reliance and independence. The basis for this program is the “Core Curriculum for Blind and Visually Impaired Students, Including those with Additional Disabilities” (the National Agenda) which calls for expanded, supplemental instruction to include:

orientation and mobility
social interaction skills
independent living skills
recreation and leisure skills
career education
use of assistive technology

With regard to career exploration, the National Agenda states:

There is a need for…career education offered specifically for blind and visually impaired students. …Career education in an expanded core curriculum will provide the…student opportunities to explore strengths and interests in a systematic, well-planned manner. …the disadvantage facing the visually impaired learner is the lack of information about work and jobs that the sighted student acquires by observation.

Though school districts address several of the items above, not all can be covered within an average school year largely due to the need to meet academic requirements. As eloquently illustrated by a Special Education Teacher in rural Alaska in response to questions about observed changes in her visually impaired student who had attended a similar program at the Center:

Some of the changes are not easily measurable in the school setting. I think that much of the benefit comes from traveling, meeting other individuals with similar needs, and having an opportunity to talk in a small group about difficulties. These benefits do not necessarily show in the school setting.

I think improvement in our student’s case would require follow up opportunities for using skills introduced such as mobility … and living skills. We do not have time in our day for her to practice, improve or learn these skills. I know from working with students that having a variety of settings in which skills can be used reinforces and strengthens skills.

There is also concern about regression in learned skills over the summer. Without practice and guidance in appropriate methods and techniques, students may lose ground during the summer hiatus which then requires time spent in review when the new school year begins.

To address these issues, the Center will provide a ten-day

Summer Program from July 15^th – 25^th, 2008

for blind and visually impaired students ages 14 through graduation. Those who are at least 16 years of age and/or entering junior year in high school may be determined eligible to receive services from the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), a valuable resource for them as they transition into higher education or employment. Elements of this program include:

• creation of tailored instructional plans for each student as part of the overall program offerings
• provision of brief assessments in Activities of Daily Living, Braille, Orientation and Mobility, Assistive Technology, and Manual Skills on which to base targeted instruction
• low vision assessments to determine devices that would maximize remaining sight
• opportunities for job shadowing and community service experiences in areas of individual student interest
• practical experience in application of daily living skills that includes budgeting along with meal planning, shopping, and preparation in teams, exploration of realistic housing options and costs for setup, and factors to consider in deciding where to live
• career exploration to include interest testing and instruction along with resume writing and practice in interviewing
• recreational opportunities that involve use of adaptive skills as well as fun
• experience in designing, preparing for, and hosting a special event on the final day to which family and Center supporters will be invited
• field trips to the offices of valuable resources such as the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and a Job Center as well as to educational institutions such as University of Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Pacific University to become familiar with the Disability Support Services in each
• provision of a special Family Day in which parents and others important to the students may come and observe instruction to increase their information about and knowledge of vision impairment and to help them develop realistic expectations of the abilities their children.

Instructional classes will be combined with recreational and career-oriented activities. Most of the assignments will have practical application to real-life experiences and be completed in teams to increase negotiating and deliberation skills. Job shadowing opportunities will be arranged for each student to expand information about different careers so that they will have a better basis from which to make future educational and vocational choices.

Classes for students at the Center will be directed toward meeting the Goals, Objectives, and Performance Indicators including:

successful techniques to employ with personal hygiene, financial and home management, nutrition and meal preparation, and shopping in an extensive Activities of Daily Living curriculum;

• instruction to permit students to become proficient, as appropriate, in reading and writing Braille;
• Computer Skills development using “talking” computers and other technological assistive devices to expand vocational opportunities and provide students with ways of accessing the larger world of the internet as well as email;
• Manual Skills which includes a woodshop and the use of power tools as well as the creation of other products in order to increase dexterity while building self-confidence; and
• Orientation and Mobility in which students are taught the use of long white canes and other tools in order to be able to travel safely in residential as ell as business areas.

The social exchange between the students will provide a mini-support group that can be accessed via email throughout the year. Also, parents will have an unparalleled chance to meet others facing the same situations with the same questions and concerns. While not measurable, this interaction by both will diminish the sometimes overwhelming sense of isolation and foster an extended support system throughout Alaska.