Our mission is to empower children and adults with developmental disabilities to achieve their potential based on personal choices, abilities and interests...

Westchester Arc
Herbert Katzenberg Center
121 Westmoreland Avenue
White Plains, NY 10606
(914) 949-9300
info@westchesterarc.org

24-hour
Crisis Intervention:
(914) 949-8200

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Mashal Gonzalez, community integration coordinator, leads a session on communication skills.

Local Students Explore “Choices”

Westchester Arc’s “Choices” program has partnered with Tuckahoe High School to teach job and life skills to students with developmental disabilities. This is the first time that “Choices”—a combination of day habilitation and supported employment services that helps young adults prepare for the adult world—has worked with a public school district in the classroom.

Seven freshmen attend weekly classes taught by Mashal Gonzalez, Westchester Arc community integration coordinator, who developed a new curriculum adapted from Stansfield Transition Planning. The 25-week program has 96 lesson plans, known as CATS (Career Achievement Training Series), which help students identify options relating to their career goals and life ambitions.

A recent session, “Friends! Keeping Old Ones, Making New Ones,” covered personal relationships. Through role-play, essay writing and other creative exercises, students learned about:

  • initiating conversation
  • making a good impression
  • adapting behavior to strangers, friends and co-workers
  • getting past pre-conceived notions and stereotypes.

Another class, “Employability! The Name of the Game,” addressed how to develop job skills, find suitable employment and identify career choices.

“A person’s teenage years are pivotal to their development. Yet, they aren’t always easy,” comments Mashal.

Classes have helped students build friendships and self-confidence.

“It’s really helpful for young adults to see that there are others who share similar concerns and experiences. This class enables freshmen to develop a solid peer network, one that they can turn to for friendship and support during their high school years. Most importantly, it shows students that they will always have “Choices.”