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The state Assembly gave final approval Thursday to a bill extending education services by one year for disabled students who saw critical programs frozen during the coronavirus pandemic.
The proposal, which received a rare bipartisan vote in the chamber, needs only Gov. Phil Murphy s approval to become law.
“It’s a great day. It validates the supports and services these young people have lacked and will now be able to access, said Mercedes Witowsky, executive director of the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities. It gives them hope and an option not to fall off that cliff,”
“Falling off a cliff” is how advocates and families of people with disabilities describe the transition to life after 21
After year lost to COVID, NJ moves to extend education classes for students with disabilities
mycentraljersey.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mycentraljersey.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
After year lost to COVID, NJ moves to extend education classes for students with disabilities
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His mother is trying to keep him from falling.
It s not a real cliff it s a metaphor that families and advocates of people with disabilities use to describe the transition to life after they turn 21 and age out of special education programs.
John is 20 and has severe autism. The life he has known since the age of 3 will soon change when he turns 21 and no longer is eligible for special education programs, said his mother, Patricia Miller of West Orange.
“It’s been a difficult year for everyone, but for our kids who have autism it’s been extremely difficult,” she said. It was a year of interrupted routines, raised tensions and halted therapy. To top it all off, John and others like him across the state are about to “fall off a cliff.”
His mother is trying to keep him from falling.
It s not a real cliff it s a metaphor that families and advocates of people with disabilities use to describe the transition to life after they turn 21 and age out of special education programs.
John is 20 and has severe autism. The life he has known since the age of 3 will soon change when he turns 21 and no longer is eligible for special education programs, said his mother, Patricia Miller of West Orange.
“It’s been a difficult year for everyone, but for our kids who have autism it’s been extremely difficult,” she said. It was a year of interrupted routines, raised tensions and halted therapy. To top it all off, John and others like him across the state are about to “fall off a cliff.”