Transition Work Experience Program


​Winters Center for Autism is committed to enhancing the quality of life for adults with autism through job creation training and placement while helping caring Long Island businesses to develop and implement programs to employ people with autism. The Transition Programs currently operate out of two community settings; one at Winters Bros Waste Systems of Long Island in West Babylon, NY and the other at Long Island Select Healthcare (LISH) in Central Islip, NY. 
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The Transition Work Experience Program offers participants with autism and other developmental disabilities ages 18+ who have completed high school, the opportunity to learn the vocational, social and independent living skills important for employment success. The Center’s Transition Programs offer hands-on skill development to harness the potential of each person and discover the job that may best fit his or her abilities. ​
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Job Skills
​Training

  • Customer service 
  • Retail
  • Office skills
  • Computer skills
  • Warehouse 
  • Custodial & cleaning

Workplace Skills Training

  • Coworker relationships
  • Workplace and personal safety
  • Hygiene and attire 
  • Stress management 
  • Community & customer relationships

Strategies &
​Supports 

  • Modeling
  • Direct instruction
  • Prompting & fading
  • Task analysis
  • Graphic organizers
  • ​Systematic reinforcement

​At Winters Center for Autism we evaluate each participant’s aptitude and interest using the Assessment of Functional Living Skills (Partington & Mueller, 2015) and a person-centered approach.   We help each participant explore their aptitude and interest throughout the assessment and teaching process.  
 
The Transition Work Experience Program will maintain a ratio of 1 support staff for every 3 participants throughout the program.  Because the training is conducted in a place of business, participants need to be able to: 
  • follow simple one-step directions (verbal or visual)
  • follow safety protocols set forth by worksite and support staff
  • use coping strategies to communicate frustration or anger
  • use public restroom with minimal assistance
  • have no recent history of elopement 

​The Transition Work Experience Program:
  • Operates 52 weeks per year
  • Meets two days per week for 2 hours (120 minutes each session)
  • Offers 3 hours per week of workplace skills training and 1 hour per week of curriculum based strategies and support instruction
  • Tuition is $800 per month
  • Participant must provide own transportation to and from the work site.

Work Experience Program Partners

Impact​
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For more information on the Transition Work Experience Program contact Christine Ponzio
​at (516) 301 - 3531 or via email: cponzio@winterscenterforautism.com ​