Programs and Services

Academics
Since 2002, Adapted Arts & Science for EVS Students has served students who are visually impaired or blind with yearlong, school-based teaching residencies. Adapted Arts & Science is a partnership with Educational Vision Services (EVS), “the largest education program in the world serving children who are blind or visually impaired, serving about 1,100 students, ages 5-21, in New York City.”

With yearlong residencies in social studies and marine science, Adapted Arts & Science tailors content to the needs of EVS students and aligns lessons to state and local learning standards. The project promotes

• academic achievement by integrating school- and community-based resources
• social development through experiential learning
• independent travel skills through its focus on Landmapping and map reading content.

With generous support from The Lavelle Fund for the Blind, The Joseph Leroy and Ann C. Warner Fund and Independence Community Foundation, Adapted Arts & Science serves more than 75 students each year in Brooklyn and Queens.

CANY is pleased to partner with New York Aquarium, Lower East Side Tenement Museum and Rocking the Boat to bring diverse community resources to EVS students.

Read NY Aquarium Educator Melissa Carp's article on adapting marine science

Click here to hear audio excerpts of the CANY-EVS Immigration Project

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Workforce Development
Over 65 percent of working-age adults with disabilities are unemployed. Of those who do work, nearly one third earn an income below the poverty level. And people with disabilities are nearly twice as likely as people without disabilities to have an annual household income of $15,000 or less. (2004 Harris Poll)

With funding from the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD), through its Opportunities for People Through Services program, CANY’s Job Readiness and Placement for Inclusion Students responds to this challenge. Job Readiness and Placement provides vocational training and supported employment to 16 students with significant developmental disabilities each year. In collaboration with the transition teams of special education schools in Brooklyn and Staten Island, Job Readiness and Placement helps young adults to develop the skills they need to get and keep a job.

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Project for Science & Seamanship
For two weeks each summer, students with and without visual disabilities come together to participate in the inclusive Project for Science & Seamanship. Made possible by the generous support of The Lavelle Fund for the Blind, Science & Seamanship is a hands-on, on-the-water adventure that emphasizes real-world science and stewardship, teamwork and leadership development.

In 2007, Science & Seamanship is pleased to be working with schooner Pioneer and Rocking the Boat to provide a diverse and unforgettable learning experience.

View the WNBC feature story about the Project for Science & Seamanship: "Visually Impaired Kids Go To Camp"

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Counseling, Referral, and
Transition Services
With generous support from The FAR Fund, this year CANY will provide individual and family counseling, service coordination for graduating students, and information and referral services to families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. This new program complements existing academic, socialization and respite offerings and brings us closer to our goal of providing a comprehensive continuum of services to people with disabilities.

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Respite
In partnership with the NYC Department of Education’s Brooklyn Occupational Training Center, P77k and The Hungerford School, each year CANY provides more than 4,000 hours of Holiday Respite to dozens of young adults with developmental disabilities and their families.

Our young people explore New York. Activities that range from programs with the Museum of Modern Art and Sony Wonder Lab, to horseback riding to sailing are the hallmark of CANY’s commitment to maximizing community participation for students with disabilities.

Generous support from OMRDD, and the Brooklyn and Staten Island Developmental Disabilities Services Offices make this project possible.

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Cultural Arts Initiative
The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation generously supports CANY’s new Cultural Arts Initiative. Working with the Museum Access Consortium and New York State Institute on Disability, the Cultural Arts Initiative will expand the annual EVS Family Day to increase community inclusion, and connect OMRDD- and EVS-eligible students to new cultural institutions for programs that emphasize repeat visitations and sustained interaction.

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Professional Development
The Museum Access Consortium (MAC) provides information and training to museum professionals, educators, advocates and all parties interested in improving access to NYC cultural institutions for visitors with disabilities. MAC workshops are wide ranging in their subject matter and have included such topics as:

• Effective Inclusion for Students with Disabilities
• Planning and Fundraising for Accessibility
• Disability and the 21st-Century Museum
• Awareness, Programming and Institutional Development
• Case Studies in Multi-modal Learning
• Maneuvering the DOE Re-Reorganization – Reaching Out to Schools and Students with Disabilities
• Welcoming Families with Disabilities: Parents Speak Out

Please contact the Museum Access Consortium for more information about upcoming events, or to receive a copy of the Abilities!/MAC 2007 Member Survey on citywide museum accessibility.

Click here to view the MAC-CANY Featured Project in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities newsletter, Cross Ties

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