Illinois School for the
Visually Impaired 58 East State Street • Jacksonville, Illinois
62650-2130
Toll Free: 800-919-5617 • Voice: 217-479-4400 • TTY: 217-479-4415 • Fax:
217-479-4479 www.isvi.net
Secondary Transitional Experience
Program (STEP)
At the ISVI, STEP is available to high school students 16 years of age and
older. Students may receive high school credit and earn a training stipend while
gaining work experiences and work habits at assigned work stations on the ISVI
campus, such as in the dietary department, in offices, housekeeping, and
laundry. Students may work a varied number of hours on a weekly basis in the
STEP program. During the senior year, students may be assigned career
internships at off-campus work stations at various businesses in the
Jacksonville community.
Transitional Living Program
The Transitional Living Program (TLP) is an integral part of the total ISVI
program and focuses on a realistic preparation of students for life in the work
world. Students are eligible for TLP at age 141/2. The early introduction of the
TLP builds confidence and allows students to progress quicker in their
transition plan. The TLP will enable students to experience opportunities
designed for independence and the development of a responsible adult lifestyle
and will be individualized to accommodate the particular needs of each student.
Students will learn housekeeping, home management, meal planning and
preparation, budgeting, consumerism and decision making.
The Transitional Living Center (TLC) is the only facility of its kind in the
state of Illinois where eligible 5th and 6th year seniors can learn to live in
independent apartment settings. The primary focus of the TLC is community based
employment and job readiness training. Students must work at least one quarter
per school year and be limited to only two extra curricular activities per
school year to be eligible for TLC. Students in the TLC learn advanced cooking,
cleaning, money management, self care and self advocacy.
Transitional Living Program participants will be required to observe all ISVI
rules as outlined in the Parent Student Handbook and the Handbook On: Rights,
Responsibilities, Procedures and athletic activity eligibility will be governed
by the IHSA and NCASB conference rules. The students living in the TLC will also
be required to agree to and sign the TLC Lease and Behavior Contract.
Goals Advocacy Transition Empowerment Shortcourses (GATES)
During the 2007-2008 school year Illinois School for the Visually Impaired (ISVI)
initiated a pilot program of short-term services to students who are blind and
visually impaired who attend local public schools. These courses will address
the vision specific needs of students through direct one-on-one or small group
instruction in the nationally recognized Expanded Core Curriculum for the Blind
and Visually Impaired. Research has shown that students who are blind and
visually impaired must be taught orientation and mobility, social interaction,
and independent-living directly. Daily living skills such as shopping, dining,
attending and participating in recreational activities are a right, not a
privilege for students, including those who are blind and visually impaired.
Responsibilities such as banking, taking care of health needs, and using public
and private services are a part of a
full life for all persons, including those who are blind or visually impaired.
Adoption and implementation of the expanded core curriculum to students who are
blind and visually impaired, including those with additional disabilities, will
assure students the opportunity to develop independence.
GATES short-courses will provide intensive instruction, on a 9-week basis, to
help students acquire the skills needed to go back to their home school
environment and to become independent and successful in the general education
curriculum. Since skill acquisition is vertical in nature, students may benefit
from different levels of the courses at different developmental levels;
therefore, students with visual impairments, ages fourteen to twenty-one, may
receive nine weeks of specialized instruction, per school year in the following
areas: Activities of Daily Living, Orientation and Mobility, Visual Efficiency,
Industrial Technology, Computer/Assistive Technology, and Career Exploration.
