Kimberly Young-Pottratz

Helping children with developmental disabilities is what "The 'I Can' Series-Life Skills Books" project is all about. Young-Pottratz developed the program for her special needs students at Mt. Pleasant Middle School. Studies show that students with cognitive disabilities, including autism, learn successfully through visual modeling and dialogue scripts. This project will provide each student with his or her own personal set of books, which depicts them successfully completing specific life skills - such as brushing their teeth or ordering a meal at a restaurant. The students' teachers will determine which specific life skills individual students need to target. By superimposing digital photographs of each student into his or her life skills books, students will have a personalized guide for completing their specific life skills. This program will provide a template for educators to create books that will help special needs students learn how to perform fundamental tasks. Young-Pottratz is a resident of Lake Hopatcong.