Education

The majority of students with developmental disabilities are primarily segregated and do not participate in extracurricular activities with the general population. There is a need to facilitate their participation in these and other recreational activities. Only 40% of students with disabilities in New Mexico complete high school. In the Gadsden District, the number of students with developmental disabilities who spend at least 80% of their time in regular classes has increased over past years, but is still less than half of such students.

What El Poder de los Jovenes Project is doing to find a solution:

Through involvement in El Poder de los Jovenes Project, young people will increase their chances of graduating high school with a standard diploma. In education, we expect that there will be increased participation of students with developmental disabilities in regular school classes, and that these students will be more likely to receive standard high school diplomas. Young people with disabilities who receive training in self-advocacy and learn how to direct their own IEP’s (Individualized Education Plans) will participate more fully in the IEP processes, and IEP teams will be more likely to recommend placement in regular rather than special education classes. Involvement in post-secondary and vocational training will be increased, improving the likelihood that individuals with disabilities will find and continue employment in integrated work settings.

The approach is a “center with out walls” coordinated out of The Arc of New Mexico’s southern office in Anthony, but with activities taking place in local communities throughout the project area. Services focus on promoting a variety of positive outcomes for young people with developmental disabilities and their families.

El Poder de los Jovenes project works in collaboration with:

• The Southwest Transition Cadre and The Southern Dona Ana County Training Collaborative to provide trainings within the area of the Gadsden Schools, consisting of the following partners The Arc of New Mexico, Community Means All People Coalition, Mentoring Diverse Abilities-DVR , Parents Reaching Out, The Ability Center and Protection & Advocacy.

Family involvement has been integral to the center’s operations. El Poder de los Jovenes helps parents and family members develop the skills to be better advocates for their children and to support young people with developmental disabilities in achieving independent lives. Materials and resources are gathered and disseminated through the center, translating them into Spanish and recasting them in a more user friendly formats to make them more accessible to center participants.

An Annual Youth Conference is held during the early fall in Las Cruces, New Mexico to bring youth, their family members and the community together to learn about topics identified by the project advisory committee. The project provides an over night stay and youth get to experience a sense of independence!

Please refer to the Upcoming Events page to get to the local Training Calendar and for Information about State Conferences for persons with disabilities.

You may call 505-882-9208 or toll free 1-866-882-9208 at The Anthony office of The Arc of New Mexico for information and referral to your education questions.

Other Resources:

• http://www.gisd.k12.nm.us/sped/sped.html
• http://www.nmtransition.org
• http://www.youthhood.org
• http://www.parentsreachingout.org
• http://www.heath.gwu.edu/
• http://addyic.org