Lionsgate Academy continues to expand its experiences for students in which they can learn “on the job” skills with support from the classroom.
Naturalistic teaching strategies (ie, instruction in its natural setting) has been confirmed by the National Autism Center’s National Standards Project (2009) as an established practice for teaching individuals with Autism. With the knowledge of this research based information, the transitions department allows students to work/volunteer in natural settings. Currently, students are working/volunteering in various sites:
Feed My Starving Children (7th and 8th grade)
ARC’s Value Village (9th through 12th grade)
Lionsgate Academy food service, technology department and physical plant (all grades)
DNR’s Fishin’ in the Neighborhood (Spring of 2011)
Lionsgate Academy Community Garden (Spring of 2011)
These sites, and more to come, provide real and practical settings for job skills acquisition. Further, students are not only exposed to new working environments… they are also instructed in the classroom as to their strengths and areas of growth.
