The goal of every good school is to help children grow into happy, productive adults. After graduation, some ASD students will return home and find jobs. Others might live at home and attend a nearby college or university. But for some students life after school means independence – and we want to help make that transition a successful one. Alabama School for the Deaf’s independent living program is for students who have demonstrated an ability to manage their time and their academic and social lives while making consistently good grades.
Junior and senior girls live in apartments located in the Jemison House, a restored Victorian-era house. Here they can prepare snacks and light meals, wash their clothes, study and socialize in an environment similar to that of a college dorm. Junior and senior boys in the independent living program live at Grace Hall, an 1870 historic building that used to be a gym but is now converted to dorms. Students in the independent living program have a little less supervision and a lot more responsibility for taking care of themselves -- good practice for when they leave school.