Important programs helping students with disabilities learn job skills, travel training, and independent living

This week on Bridging Philly, Racquel Williams talks with Kathy Rafter, Cara Gimble and Cait Pringle from Abington Senior High School. The school has two programs for young adults, ages 18-21, with IEPs, or Individualized Education Programs. ACTIVE academy and STRIVE utilizes the classroom and community to teach students vocational, travel training, and independent living skills. Students are given opportunities to practice these skills in the classroom, at their job site, and in the community.

Our newsmaker this week is Nile Livingston, a public muralist with deep Philly roots. She uses her community connections to inform her work while also using her art as a form of representation for those same communities. Recently she’s gotten a lot of attention for two high profile mural commissions at both the children’s hospital of Philadelphia and another in the Gayborhood.

This week's Philly Rising Changemaker is Dr. Bernadette Wheeler. By day, she is a gynecologist at the University of Pennsylvania. But Wheeler says her passion is the nonprofit store named in honor of her son Eric, who has Down syndrome. You can find Something Different by Eric at 814 W. Lancaster Ave., where the goal is not to make a profit, but to create a community.

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