New Program Aids Students with Special Needs

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO)– Project SEARCH is helping Midlands’ teens with special needs transition from school to the workplace. Like all parents, Judith Gillings has hopes and dreams for her daughter. She says, “That she’ll be independent every mom with special needs or any parent with special needs would want that for their child.” Gillings’ daughter Judith is one step closer to that independence thanks to Project SEARCH, a school to work transition program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The high schooler says,”I’m hoping to improve on work experience for me to be able to go out and be prepared in the real world.” Judith is one of 6 students who will spend their final year of high school interning at Palmetto Health Baptist Parkridge where they’ll get hands on training in hopes of obtaining competitive employment. Melinda Moore with the Arc of the Midlands says,”You name it, the job, it’s basically been created here. So, they’ll walk out with six or seven different types of job experiences from this program.” Officials say that 85% of students are placed in a job following the completion of the program. According to Moore,”Our job coaches that are part of this team will go out and doing what we call job development. They’ll start looking for community partners, start showing them their resumes and the skills learned and then they’ll help them get placed in those positions and then they’ll actually follow them along.” Giving students the guidance to prevail through a potentially rocky transition… “I am so happy that I am here. It’s great for me to be here today because I mean, I thank God for me to be here,” says Judith. And helping parents realize goals for their children. Her mother says,”She will have that independence.”