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Changing chaos to clean
Students categorized and alphabetized hundreds of pic syms, so specialists can now access what they need quickly. Dyslexia and reading challenges could have made this especially difficult, but students employed a variety of clever adaptive strategies to g
Every month, School Social Worker Maria Tantillo and her seniors at Therapeutic Day Program find new ways to give back. Their latest project was a challenging one, helping out the busy specialists in the Autism Department at Rochester Tech Park. The six students turned a nightmare closet full of scattered books, games, cartons, files, scheduling resources and picture symbol cards (pic syms) into a beautifully organized storage space.

“The kids did an amazing job,” said Autism Specialist Jacqueline Kurcoba. “When my colleagues came into the room, they were amazed at how awesome it looked. It really helped get us organized and takes time away from searching for what we need.”
 
Feature photo: Students worked together, patiently cutting Velcro strips for specialists to use when creating their schedules.
 
This page: Students categorized and alphabetized hundreds of pic syms, so specialists can now access what they need quickly. Dyslexia and reading challenges could have made this especially difficult, but students employed a variety of clever adaptive strategies to get the job done.