Transcript 

00:00:00 Speaker 1 

Welcome to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of Western New York Independent Living. Our guest today is April Fearby, children and youth with special health care needs program specialist at Independent Living of the Genesee Region (ILGR). And I'm your host, Ernie Churchwell. Welcome to the program, April. 

00:00:19 Speaker 2 

Thank you for having me, Ernie. 

00:00:21 Speaker 1 

It's our pleasure. And you're here because you are the one in charge of an exciting event which will take place at our Batavia office later this month, “Transition planning, life after high school”. 

Now that sounds like it's going to be for students, but I gather that you have a broader audience in mind. Who is this event for? 

00:00:42 Speaker 2 

Yes, so this event specifically is geared towards parents with children who have special health care needs or disabilities of any sort between the ages of 13 and 21. Due to the time of day it's geared towards parents and professionals. 

But we always encourage in any of our events that if the students are available to come, they are more than welcome. 

00:01:08 Speaker 1 

Ah, and so people have a time frame in mind. Can you tell us when and where it is? 

00:01:17 Speaker 2 

Absolutely. So, it'll be Tuesday, April 30th, and from 9:00 a.m. till 11:00 a.m., it'll be right at our independent living office in Batavia, and that is 319 W Main St., Batavia. It's the old Pepsi building. And we will be providing a light lunch or a light breakfast rather. Excuse me, we're not quite till lunchtime then. 

00:01:39 Speaker 1 

All right. And for the benefit of the locals, it's now known as the Crickler Executive Business Center, I believe. 

00:01:47 Speaker 2 

Yes it is, and we are under the green awning, on the side. 

00:01:52 Speaker 1 

Terrific. And can you tell us for those parents that participate, what sort of things will be looking to learn? 

00:02:02 Speaker 2 

Absolutely. So, we will be covering topics such as what questions do we ask our CSE team for our students that are looking to transition out of high school. 

00:02:14 Speaker 2 

So, I do want to just say some people will be asking, well, why would my 13-year-old be starting to care about these questions. The more you plan ahead, the better it is. So, we cover why we're starting at that age as well and what IEP ideas we can put in place at that early age, all the way up to senior year, it's never too late. And then also options for the students. You know what? What do we have open and available in our communities? And then we also talk about community supports and services to continue even after high school. 

00:02:51 Speaker 1 

Speaking of community supports, I believe you have some other community organizations that are partners in this effort. Who are they? 

00:02:59 Speaker 2 

Yes. So, in collaboration with New York State Education Department, we're welcoming Laura Hurwitz and Jennifer Cacioppo from Monroe BOCES. They are part of the Mid-West School-Age Family and Community Engagement Center (SA FACE Center). They are the ones who cover Genesee and parts of Orleans County. Typically, we also include Parent Network, who is the Mid-West Schoo-Age FACE Center, and also part of that partnership that covers the rest of Orleans County. So, we utilize both for our transition planning workshops, but this time we are having Laura and Jennifer here with us. 

00:03:40 Speaker 1 

And is Go Health in there somewhere also? 

00:03:43 Speaker 2 

So, I am uniquely contracted. I work for Independent Living, but the Genesee Orleans County Department of Health contracts us to run the Children Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN ) program. So, I just organized the workshop and that's how we all work together wonderfully. 

00:04:05 Speaker 1 

I presume that so you can plan people need to pre-register who are going to participate. 

00:04:11 Speaker 2 

Yes, please. A pre-registration is required just due to some limited seating and to register you can contact me directly here at 585-815-8501. My extension is 401 and you can just leave a message if need be or contact me. 

00:04:32 Speaker 1 

Well, my hats off to you. You're always pushing on to greater and newer frontiers. Thanks for being with us. 

00:04:40 Speaker 2 

Thanks for having me. 

00:04:41 Speaker 1 

You've been listening to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of WNYIL. Our guest today was April Fearby, children and youth with special health care needs program specialist at ILGR. And I've been your host, Ernie Churchwell.