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PROFESSIONAL
EXPERIENCE WITH AT-RISK YOUTH, DISABILITIES, AND DIVERSITY
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For 23 years, I have worked with many people with diverse disabilities,
disorders, and disadvantages.
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Beginning
at Bethany Youth Homes, for seven and a half years, worked with
boys who were:
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fourteen to seventeen years old with emotional impairment and
severe behavior disorders such as attachment disorder, conduct
disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and mental illness.
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fourteen to seventeen years old sexual offenders.
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Then at Grand Rapids Public Schools, for 20 years, I have been working
with students who are:
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sixteen to twenty-six years old with severe cognitive impairment.
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four to sixteen years old with severe emotional impairment and
mental illness.
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eight to twenty-six years old with autism or aspergers syndrome
(from very high to very low functionally and behaviorally).
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charged with weapons or drugs possession in school and were
in danger of permanent expulsion in an interim alternative assessment
placement.
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Facilitated
career development in all of the secondary classrooms mentioned above.
Some of those responsibilities included teaching prevocational skills
in the classroom, developing and job coaching community-based sites,
developing and monitoring job shadowing and work study sites, and
job coaching at Kent Vocational Options and Cedar Springs Center (sheltered
workshops) and D.E.C.C. Industries (a Hope Network Enclave).
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As
Employment Training Specialist at Union High School for 6 years,
facilitated career development through hands-on experiences for
tenth graders with learning disabilities, cognitive
impairment, emotional impairment and
physical impairment . Many of these youth are at-risk
and/or juvenile offenders.
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Worked
on-call at Wedgwood Christian Services serving youth with emotional
impairment , both as a Youth Treatment Specialist
in the youth homes and as a captain on the Crises Response Team.
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Served
as the evening supervisor at Degage Ministries, a restaurant and
coffeehouse serving Heartside residents. This is quite an eye opener
to the lives of the homeless ; those disenfranchised
and marginalized in society.
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Through Degage, special education, and other personal relationships
I have had many experiences with persons with mental illness;
Bipolar Disorder and Borderline
Personality in particular.
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I have also had close friendships with people having Down
Syndrome, Spina Bifida, Dwarfism, Multiple Sclerosis, Paraplegia,
and Quadriplegia.
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From
2006 to 2008, I have been an independent consultant working with
youth in poverty through Michigan Works
and KISD in a WIA Youth Program in 7 high schools. In GRPS, 77%
of youth were in poverty with a higher percentage in special education.
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~Ron Irvine
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