How We Began...

My name is Jess Ballard, and I am a state licensed, master level, cross-categorical special education teacher with over 13 years experience in working with adult group home residents as well as students ranging in ages from 9 through adulthood. I have worked in residential treatment facilities, adult family homes, CBRFs, therapeutic day schools and the public school setting. As a high school cross-categorical special education teacher in Waukesha County, I had the privilege of getting to know and working with many amazing and wonderful young adults and families during my years in education. One thing I began to notice, as I worked with families throughout their students’ high school careers, was a set of questions and concerns that I heard time and time again…at IEP meetings, parent/teacher conferences and open houses…the concerns surrounding that eternal question: “What will we do when school ends? What's next?" For students who were not yet at a place where college or the workforce were independently possible, the horizon beyond high school graduation was a daunting thing to consider. These questions spoke to me and kept me up at night, and I knew that the uncertainty that I felt was nothing compared to what these families and students were feeling. To be perfectly honest, while I could point to a couple of possibilities that might be options for some individuals, for many of my students, I did not have an answer that I truly could feel good about giving.