Gesher Program Overview—“Bridges to the Future”
Vocational
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Students with disabilities often confront numerous challenges as they transition from high school to adult life, including employment and independent living barriers, social isolation, discrimination, and difficulty in accessing and coordinating services. Comprehensive transition planning and programming is essential if students with disabilities are to assume adult roles that reflect full and equal participation in our society. It is clear that planning efforts must promote the participation of students, families, school staff, and representatives from community agencies and businesses. Our program is designed to ensure positive adult outcomes for students through a sequential system-wide implementation of an age appropriate, community-based model that is committed to improving post-school outcomes of students with disabilities.
Mission
The Bridges Program provides individualized support, which allows students ages 18-21 in special education to transition successfully from their role of “high school” students to their new role as adults in the community.
Semester Abroad
A unique program offered to the “Bridges” students, when appropriate, is a semester abroad. School programs have had the responsibility of developing the student’s academic needs working in concert with parents to ensure the growth of student independence and self-reliance. The later is a particular challenge as family dynamics interplay with the student who is challenged. In addition to course work in self-advocacy and self-determination, money management, functional reading and personal grooming and hygiene, and independent living, students will cycle through a series of work placements during their semester abroad. Students are provided instruction in the history and culture of the people indigenous to the region.
Program Description
Our stateside program provides a bridge...from school to work and was developed in theory to attack the staggering unemployment of young people with disabilities by helping them enter work before they exit school and, thereby, establish the foundation for independent living through meaningful work based on their potential. The primary goals of our program are (a) to provide students with disabilities, job training and work experience that will enhance their employment potential, and (b) to enhance opportunities for growth through independent living.
Unique and critical features of this program include: the location of the instruction will be entirely community-based and in age-appropriate environments, which include community and a 3 year vocational college like location, as well as work sites throughout the community; instructional design will be highly individualized, based on the IEP and person centered assessment, and highly contextual, emphasizing community experiences, especially those that are work-based; there will be collaborative instruction whereby Kulanu Academy teachers and staff will work in close association with adult agency staff who will serve the students upon school exit; and the targeted instructional outcomes will include students exiting their secondary program with a job intended for long term employment, as well as ongoing support from appropriate adult service entities.
Since programming is developed individually for each student, there is no generic “program” that every student enters. Instead, students and their vocational team will identify needs and goals. Then program staff will implement training experiences to help the student reach those goals. While job development, work experiences, job coaching and paid employment support will comprise a major component of the program, support will also be available to investigate postsecondary education, locate recreation/leisure opportunities, develop independent living skills, connect to community resources, and develop social/interpersonal skills. Working collaboratively with adult service agencies will be a significant aspect of the program.