• Daily Living Skills
• Instruction and Therapy
• Community
• The Work Experience Program
• Entry into the Life Program

Daily Living Skills
Brushing teeth. Preparing a meal. Cleaning living quarters. All are important, practical daily living skills, and all are taught in the L.I.F.E. program, along with a host of other functional skills.

The L.I.F.E. staff teaches these skills in the most logical, understandable ways possible. For example, rather than teach students dressing skills in a classroom setting, the staff works with the students where they utilize those skills, showing them how to dress in physical education classes.

Students are also taught leisure skills such as bowling, video games, crafts, and table games to develop interest in independent activities as well as those requiring a partner or group. These skills are essential in providing students the opportunity to be active during times when they are not in school or working.

Instruction and Therapy

The L.I.F.E. program provides additional services that are integrated into the classroom setting as needed from the speech and language therapist, the physical therapist, and the orientation and mobility instructors. Everyone participates in physical education twice a week, along with other subjects that may include art, horticulture, music, computer, foods, and typing. Each class is staffed by a teacher and one or two aides. This allows the staff to provide one-on-one instruction both in the classroom and in the community as needed.

Community

All L.I.F.E. students are involved in community-based instruction which is designed to build the skills students will need in order to live and work successfully as adults in the world at large.

Students learn how to shop for groceries and personal items and how to bank. They take part in community activities such as bowling and eating in restaurants. And they learn to use various facilities available to them, such as the public library and public recreation programs. The Overbrook staff focuses on providing students of all ability levels with on-site opportunities to develop skills.

These activities are essential for growing and communicating outside of Overbrook, and they also help reinforce through practical application the skills the students have learned in school, such as using money, communicating with others, employing reading and braille skills, using appropriate behavior, and developing residual vision and hearing.

The Work Experience Program

When students enter the L.I.F.E. program at Overbrook, they automatically also enter the Work Experience Program, known as the TECH Program (Training, Employment, Careers, Habilitation).

Students under the age of 16 years participate in the pre-vocational training program. There they learn such skills as packaging, assembling, and making bows for gifts and decorations as well as basic office skills. Students may also work on campus in various locations, at jobs that range from setting tables in the cafeteria to cleaning bathrooms to loading vending machines. Additionally, they learn work behavior skills, such as punching in and out, locating their work station, and counting work completed at the end of the day.

Once L.I.F.E. students turn 16 and receive working papers through their home school district, they can begin working in the on-campus licensed workshop on tasks like packaging plumbing supplies and operating heat sealing, blister pack, and other machines. They can also work in off-campus job placements at fast food restaurants, community centers, nursing homes, stores, and other places.

Pre-vocational students receive an allowance for training activities, and that money is used for instructional purposes. Students working in the workshop and out of school are paid by their employers.

Entry into the L.I.F.E. Program

In general, L.I.F.E. students are referred to Overbrook School for the Blind by their local school district.

Each student who is accepted into the L.I.F.E. program is carefully assessed, and the staff designs an Individualized Education Plan to meet each student's needs. Progress is reviewed on a regular basis by the staff and outside consultants and in conjunction with the student's parents and local school district.

For more information on the L.I.F.E. program, students 12 to 21 years old, please contact:

• Lauri Wilde  at (215) 877-0313 or email lauri at laure@obs.org
• L.I.F.E. Program students 6 to 11 years old contact:
  JoAnn McNamee at (215) 877-0313 or email Joanne at JoAnn@obs.org