HOMES Program

Due to the increasing demands placed upon students with visual impairments in their academic programs, there exists a need to find a way to effectively provide instruction in the area of life skills.

The Home Orientation and Mobility Experiences at School (HOMES) Program provides students who are blind or visual impaired with the opportunity to meet one day a month to learn compensatory skills, to carry out career exploration activities, to acquire orientation and mobility skills, and to practice appropriate social skills in a variety of educational and community settings.

Intermediate Unit 1 currently operates two HOMES programs: one based at the Fayette County Association for the Blind, and one based at the IU1 Educational Campus at Laboratory.

The primary program goal for the HOMES Program is to increase each student’s level of independence in the following life skills areas:

Food preparation skills
Shopping skills
Laundry skills
Cleaning skills
Recreation and leisure skills
Money management skills
Socialization skills
Orientation and mobility skills integrated across all instructional areas

Every year a theme is established and lessons focus on activities to build skills in that area. Themes from the past include money management, going green, back to basics, health and nutrition, and career cruising.

Forms

HOMES Permission Slip

What Students Think About HOMES

"I love HOMES. I love all of the project that we do. As a group, we have had a lot of good times. We have had great laughs and I’ve made good friends. I plan to have many more good times at HOMES!"

A.B., Grade 8

"HOMES is fun and I learned a lot. The friends I’ve met are great."

K.M., Grade 8

"There are so many things I could say about HOMES. I have been going there for 12 years and now I am graduating. I have washed dishes, done laundry, cooked without burning the building down, learned proper table manners, learned to balance a checkbook, bowled, ice skated and fell on my face. I live to tell the tale. HOMES has been one of the biggest parts of my life."

N.V., Grade 12