The primary goal of Students for LIFE is to provide the right tools to individuals with disabilities, tools they are frequently missing, so they can become as independent and as fully involved in their community as they want to be. Never is this support more needed than when individuals transition from the supported environments of school and family living situations into a potentially chaotic environment they often encounter after graduation. For example, their inability to independently fix their own meals, their choice of an inappropriately priced apartment without access to a transit line, or their ignorance of how to procure groceries and budget for these expenditures, all deficits previously masked by the supports no longer available to them, would have adverse impacts on their health individually or collectively removing the possibility of effective meal preparation and consumption.
The Students for LIFE program addresses these issues by providing soft skills and independent living skills curricula to local students with disabilities, most having IEP’s, to help prepare them for employment or other post-secondary outcomes. In many cases, the Students for LIFE program can reach these individuals prior to their arrival at the transition age, thereby providing them the tools, resources, awareness and encouragement to identify potential problems and avoid or address them in a timely manner. These classes, offered in two phases, builds the skills that are essential for healthy living.
Click here to view the Students for LIFE Youth Transition Collaborative Presentation https://youtu.be/9Tz4QIOGyZM