News

The Young Adult Program (YAP) extends beyond the core curriculum and academic goals: YAP students explored learning opportunities such as life skills and job skills. Lifelong fitness was an important goal, and an adaptive tricycle provided a fun way to work on that goal. With the adaptive trike, students were not limited by issues that prevented them from riding a traditional bicycle or tricycle, such as balance and coordination issues, low muscle tone, or physical impairments. The YAP Adaptive Tricycle (Rifton Model #R140) featured a large base of support, trunk and waist safety belts, Velcro straps, and a pulley system for the pedals. A firm brake locked the wheels to provide safe mounting and dismounting. A detachable rear steering bar allowed staff to steer and push students, offering opportunities for even the most inexperienced riders. The adjustable seat and handlebars accommodated riders of diverse sizes.

Goals included fitness, coordination, balance, and endurance. Developmental aspects were also addressed: learning to ride a recumbent bicycle could lead to learning to ride an upright trike. Therapeutic benefits of tricycling included lower extremity strengthening, reciprocal leg motion patterning, balancing skills, using visual skills and spatial patterning skills, and social interaction with peers and neighbors.

Social aspects included being part of a cycling class, as well as rides on school grounds and into the community. Dan Hunt also hoped to build a trike “cycling club” whose members could meet with volunteers and other local cyclists. The program explored collaboration with PEAC, an Ypsilanti-based advocacy and cycling training program for people with disabilities (referenced at http://www.bikeprogram.org/).

The Young Adult Program is built for community involvement and life skill growth. Our students thrive on exercise and have shown that they need to move their bodies in order to focus in the classroom and on the job site. Our project is asking for exercise equipment that we can use with our students DAILY so that they can learn how to exercise their bodies and learn more about personal health. Our young adults would benefit from learning different exercises and routines that they can use in their everyday lives!

The Young Adult Program is built for community involvement and life skill growth. Our students need an alternative for daily Community Based Instruction (CBI) during distance learning, and for those that have or will return to the classroom. Our project is asking for activities that mimic CBI to help students work on their skills and then applying them to the community when ready. Our young adults would benefit from using these life skills activities by applying them to their everyday lives!

The Young Adult Program focuses on providing students with these opportunities to fulfill a healthy and independent lifestyle in the community upon graduation at 26 years of age.. Instruction is focused on a more functional approach to provide students with the skills necessary to build their level of independence to the greatest extent possible. Students are given real life experiences that they can apply in their daily lives outside of the classroom walls. With the help of this grant, students will be given new experiences in their community that do not put the financial burden on parents.

I am looking for flexible seating options for my classroom of students with special needs. My students would benefit from flexible seating because of the different sensory needs that they have. The furniture in my classroom is not conducive to their personal learning styles or sensory needs.

I am a first year teacher looking to recreate a classroom that I took over. My goal is to create a functional room that meets the unique needs of my students by dedicating spaces to call their own. I plan to design a layout that is flexible and organized that benefits their learning styles. In addition, I want to create a comfortable learning environment where students feel at ease.