Community Travel Program Level Five

This is the last year of the community travel program. At this level students should be able to travel about indoor and outdoor environments as members of an independent team. They should be safe, efficient, and responsible. All lessons are student designed at the first meeting of the year.

Outcome Objectives

The student will have the following experiences:

01. Experience new environments (malls, museums, etc.)

The student will attain the following knowledge (be able to repeat to the teacher):

01. Describe the layouts and services of new environments

The student will demonstrate competence in the following:

01. Travel independently (or with a team of students) to destinations with no staff (or other adult) support
02. Self-familiarize to a new destination without staff guidance
03. Plan yearly lessons with team members

Lesson One

01. Model the morning with staff ignoring the student team while they do the checklist on their own.
02. Review IEP objectives for the year
03. Students decide personal objectives for the year
04. Expected outcomes for this lesson: establish the years destinations; independent lesson
05. Review savings account
06. Review key concepts learned over the past five years: independence; responsibility, team work, self-familiarization; independent lesson
07. Problem for this day: A five year old blind boy moves in next door to you. He is smart and sweet, pretty much a normal kid. He comes to you crying one day and says that he doesn't want to be blind anymore. It isn't fair that everyone else can see but he has to grow up never knowing what it's like to see. What would you say to your little friend? Have you ever had feelings similar to this? Explain your feelings
08. Students travel independently to Fashion Square Mall, meet in the food court and design lessons for the year. Staff joins them to review.

Student Selected Destinations Form

01. Destination for September

02. Destination for October

03. Destination for November

04. Destination for December

05. Destination for January

06. Destination for February

07. Destination for March

08. Destination for April

09. Destination for May

Checklist for Independent Lessons

Unlike last year when you were given an assignment to do during independent lessons, this year you must be prepared to tell us what you have planned to do for the day. If you come to the lesson without a list of activities planned for the day, you will have to spend the first part of the lesson making a plan. Daily plans must include the following:

1. Time set aside to discuss the problem of the month. When and where you will do this (subject to modification after you see what your teammates have designed for their day)

2. Time and place you want to eat lunch. This year you may eat alone if you wish, or eat with only one or more of your teammates; you no longer have to eat as a group.

3. The time you will meet the bus to return to the center (with time built in to get coats out of lockers; if appropriate).

4. We encourage you to call one or more of your teammates (or call them all) and make a mutual plan.

5. It is okay to get help from parents or teachers when you design your daily lesson

Community Travel Organization Sheet

1. List four places you will go today, in order:

A.

B.

C.

D.

2. List your goals for each of the places above:

A.

B.

C.

D.

3. How long will it take you to finish each goal:

A.

B.

C.

D.

Destinations

We offer students the following list of destinations to choose from. Students can select from this list or they may think of their own destinations.

Malls

1. Fashion Square
2. Birch Run
3. Bay City
4. Midland
5. Genessee
6. Greenacres
City Centers
1. Saginaw
2. Bay City
3. Midland
4. Flint
5. Chesaning
6. Frankenmuth
7. St. Charles
8. Freeland, Hemlock, Merrill
Department Stores and Hypermarkets
1. Meijer
2. K-Mart
3. Target
4. Best Buy
5. Sams
6. Walmart
Grocery Stores
1. Kessels
2. Kroger
4. Meijer
Restaurants
1. Hunan (Chinese)
2. Krzysiak's House (Polish)
3. Bavarian Inn (German)
4. Casa Del Rey (Mexican) 5. Zorbas (Greek)
6. Olive Garden (Italian)
Recreation
1. Bowling
2. Biking (rails to trails)
3. Wheelchair exercise course
4. Movies
5. Party (games. videos, special foods)
6. Chuckie Cheese
Museums/Nature Centers
01. Saginaw Castle Museum
02. Japanese Tea House
03. Dow Gardens/cultural center
04. Children's museums in Flint and Ann Arbor
05. Impressions Five in Lansing, Zoo
06. Chippewa Nature Center
07. Saginaw Art Museum
08. Pierce Nature Center
09. Birch Run Wildlife Center
10. Bay City State Park
11. Delta College Planetarium
Special Destinations
01. Bay City river walk
02. Saginaw (or other cities) YMCA or YWCA
03. Drivers training seminar (Saginaw Community Hospital)
04. Midland cultural center
05. Orienteering treasure hunts ("Road Rallys", orienteering courses)
06. Delta College
07. Saginaw Valley State University
08. Frankenmuth river boat ride
09. Saginaw River Walk
10. Lake Orion: Paws with a Cause
11. Japanese tea house
12. Saginaw Medical Supply
13. Crossroads Village (after May 10)
14. Rowing House in Bay City
15. Meet other disabled students (invite them to meet us for a "conference", or party)
16. Group homes
17. Olympic games (fund raisers; get sponsors, game playing: board games, card games, etc.)
18. Saginaw Valley Rehab Center
19. Saginaw Zoo
20. Airport(s)
21. Detroit: (sports event, museums, Greenfield Village, libraries, zoo, science center, etc.)
22. Beach (Lake Huron State Parks)
23. Picnic (local parks)
24. Factories
25. Hospitals
26. Get hair cut or styled
27. Make a movie
28. Put on a handicap art show (work on poetry, sculpture, etc.)
29. Cultural days: study a culture like Japans and feature: Foods (restaurants); Language; Dress; Music/songs/dance, Geography/History/architecture (museums); Books/videos; Airlines
30. Saginaw News
31. Freedom Driving Aids in Bay City
32. Volunteer job sites
33. Tour STS bus depot
34. Special sports events
35. Family outings (to malls, museums)
36. Visit consumer/governmental/private organizations
37. A fishing trip
Tag A-Long Teams Sometimes advanced teams "tag along" with a less experienced team of students. While the staff teaches a lesson with the younger team, the tag along group is free to shop or socialize as they please. The staff is available for sporadic observation of the advanced team or in case of emergencies.

Advanced Problem Solving 01. A five year old blind boy moves in next door to you. He is smart and sweet, pretty much a normal kid. He comes to you crying one day and says that he doesn't want to be blind anymore. It isn't fair that everyone else can see but he has to grow up never knowing what it's like to see. What would you say to your little friend? Have you ever had feelings similar to this? Explain your feelings

02. During a planning session to decide where you will go this year or next (or maybe while you and your friends are just sitting around talking), you decide that all the destinations seem boring. You want to do something novel, adventurous, exciting. How might you go about looking for new ideas? Make a plan to research your ideas. (Go to the library, leave a message on a modem, write letters, make phone calls, look in the newspaper special sections, etc.).

03. You decide that it is no fun just hanging out with the guys (or gals) and you want to meet members of the opposite sex; maybe go on some dates. What can you do to improve your chances for more social involvement? Why is it difficult for handicapped people to develop a strong social network (or go on dates, or get married?) What can you do that is assertive and interesting to help solve this problem? (join organizations, find other people like you who are also looking for social contact, take the initiative, join political action groups, church groups).

04. You go to Midland to the cultural center and discover that it is not accessible to wheelchairs. This makes you very mad. Are you right to be mad? Concerned? What can you do about this? What does the law say?

05. Your wheelchair breaks down. Crippled Childrens (Medicaid) says you are not eligible for coverage (the reason isn't clear to you). You don't have insurance to cover the chair because you are too old (your parents no longer cover you, and the public schools no longer have a legal responsibility for your well being). You don't have a job yet. What is wrong here? What are you going to do about this?

06. You are hanging around the house every day with nothing to do. You wish you had a job, but no one will hire you. Your parents love you, but they have spent most of their lives helping you grow up and would now like to enjoy their retirement years; they wish you would find a place to live outside their home and that you find something productive to do. How do you feel about this? What can you do about this? What action plan do you have to make your wishes come true? Act on your plan.

07. After you complete the community travel program, you are asked to do an exit interview. Since you are almost graduates of the program, consider the answer to these questions: How did the program help you? What skills did you learn? How does this program emotionally help students? What could you do, as an older, more experienced student, to help teach younger students in the program. (What would you do?) How can we make this program more worthwhile or relevant for older students? (What would you do to make the program better?)

08. While sitting home on a Saturday morning, you suddenly feel very bored. List five things you could do to make your day more interesting or adventurous. At least three of your answers should involve self initiated travel plans.

09. During a planning session to decide destinations for the year, one of your team members wants to go to a bar (maybe Hooters in Bay City). You think maybe your grandmother may disapprove of this. Why would your grandmother (or any relative) disapprove of where you went? If your team decides to still go to the bar, even if someone may object, what might you do to diffuse problems before you go?

10. Ever heard of the food pyramid? Why is knowledge of the food groups important for someone about to leave home and live on their own for the first time?

11. Pretend you have five hundred dollars a month to spend now that you are out living in your own apartment. Make a budget so that your five hundred dollars lasts the whole month. (Let the students try this on their own, then point out everything that they missed; insurance, utilities, food, recreation, clothing, transportation, savings, health care)

12. All human beings are born and all human beings must die. None of us can escape this result. What are some of your thoughts about death? Do you know anyone who has died? How did you feel? Did they know they were dying, and how did they handle it?