Parents Meet, Discuss Special Ed Students
Parents of children set to graduate high school with developmental and physical disabilities gathered recently in Reseda to discuss the tough transition between school and the workplace faced by special education students.
Social service groups and government agencies from the San Fernando Valley presented programs offered for all degrees of disabilities, ranging from sheltered care to job coaching. The meeting was arranged by the Career and Transition Services Unit of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s special education department to help ease anxious parents, said coordinator Marilyn Gruen.
“This is a trying and scary time for parents,” Gruen said.
Parents of students at Leichman, Miller, North Hollywood and Polytechnic high schools and Lokrantz Elementary were invited, said Gruen, and made up a crowd of more than 100. Gruen said there are many levels of transitional care that can be provided to new graduates with special needs.
Supported living care allows the person to live in an apartment of their choosing but has someone on call 24 hours a day to help out. Agency housing is a situation in which disabled people live in their own apartments in a condominium complex with a resident counselor.
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