Illinois School for the Visually Impaired

658 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 • E-mail: ISVI


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TRANSITIONAL SERVICES

 

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.

From ISVI Curriculum Guide of August, 2009

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