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The Arc of Pennsylvania
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Include Me

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​Include Me is a school-based initiative for students with significant disabilities. The goal of the program is to build the capacity of local school districts across Pennsylvania to inclusively and meaningfully educate students with significant disabilities in general education classrooms and school community.

Include Me provides:

  • On-site technical assistance and consultation for student teams
  • Parent training, and,
  • Professional development

Include Me services are free of charge to participating school districts and parents. Our Include Me School Age Program Overview provides more information. Or email us at info@thearcpa.org.

Include Me is an initiative of The Arc of Pennsylvania. Funding for the project is provided by The Pennsylvania Bureau of Special Education The Arc of Pennsylvania is grateful to our funder for allowing us the opportunity to serve school-age children with disabilities throughout Pennsylvania.

 

Resources and Training Opportunities

Training Courses – The Arc of PA’s Include Me program offers a variety of professional development trainings for school-based educators and support staff. You can find our 2026-2027 Professional Development guide here. (Able to link to the PDF?)  In addition, The Arc of PA offers professional certificates in ACRE, Customized Employment, and Intentional Teaching. Scholarships to audit the classes are available for educators and parents/guardians of students with disabilities in Pennsylvania. The same trainings can be provided to parents of Include Me partnered school districts on a case-by-case basis. Please reach out to Nick Webster, nwebster@includemepa.org, to learn more.

Transition Age Supports – The Include Me team hosts monthly webinars designed to help parents and educators better prepare their students for life after school. Find links to register for upcoming webinars or access our previous webinars and resources.

 

Student Engagement


Include Me Connection Club – Our Include Me Connection Club is an online creative social club for any 3rd-6th grade students. Club participation and 2x a month sessions are designed for all learners. Students engage in interactive games, puzzles, and activities that help promote teamwork, self-awareness, self-expression, and creative problem-solving skills.

Book Studies –Our “Disability Acceptance through Literature” virtual book studies foster greater disability awareness for different age groups. Learners explore positive representation of characters with a disability in each book. In addition, our team carefully creates accessibility tools to eliminate barriers and provide access to reading/listening material. Book study programs are also available for partnering IM Schools.

Pre-Employment Training Through Drama – To support the preparation of high school students for life after school, Include Me has created a program where students use drama activities to practice communication skills and build professional behaviors. Through role-playing, storytelling, and creative challenges, students practice teamwork, self-expression, and problem-solving skills to support their success on the job and in the community. The facilitated program is subject to availability for partnering IM schools.

Include Me PA’s News and Tools

Subscribe to our Include Me program newsletter to get the latest on our program!


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NEW Module Just Arrived - Trauma-Informed Care. Visit our E-Learning Module Series. This series provides information and strategies for teachers, families, and paras to support the education of all students.

The Arc of Pennsylvania’s Making Employment Work course is an ACRE Basic Certification Training. In order to receive certification, participants must attend a 3 day, in-person training and then complete a self-paced, online curriculum. Completing this certification course will qualify individuals to provide Supported Employment services with Pennsylvania’s Office of Vocational Rehabilitation and Office of Developmental Programs. Our training combines lessons learned from traditional Supported Employment and Customized Employment techniques.

Arc Discovery Employment Transitions (ADEPT) is The Arc of Pennsylvania’s customized employment program. The Arc of Pennsylvania supports individuals with significant impact of disability to seek and maintain customized employment in their community. As a result, The Arc of Pennsylvania’s consultants are trained and nationally certified by Marc Gold & Associates, a national leader in customized employment, to provide Discovery, Customized Employment Job Development, and Systematic Instruction to individuals with disabilities in Pennsylvania who are seeking employment. In addition to providing customized employment services, The Arc of Pennsylvania hosts several certification courses with Marc Gold & Associates for individuals and organizations interested in national certification in Discovery, Job Development, and Systematic Instruction.

Include Me is a new model for inclusive education and gaining meaningful employment for Pennsylvania’s students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Arc of Pennsylvania and Include Me believe all individuals with significant impact of developmental and intellectual disability deserve equal educational and competitive employment rights. Our mission, build and strengthen the inclusive education capacity for all public-school students, and discover meaningful employment opportunities meeting Pennsylvania employee and employer needs. Include Me strives to ensure all impacted students have equal access to all aspects of life and the community throughout their lifespan.

Include Me is an initiative that was part of the agreement on final terms between the plaintiffs and the Pennsylvania Department of Education in the Gaskin Settlement Agreement. We were initially assigned to work with school districts with the lowest inclusion rates. After the initial success, we have grown in reputation among school districts. Currently districts voluntarily chose our services, which are provided free of charge to the district. In addition to our School Age services, we offer transition-age services to help teams plan a path to customized employment for students transitioning from high school.

Donation Refund Policy

We are grateful for your donation and support of our organization. If you have made an error in making your donation or change your mind about contributing to our organization please contact us. Refunds are returned using the original method of payment. If you made your donation by credit card, your refund will be credited to that same credit card.

Automated Recurring Donation Cancellation

Ongoing support is important to enabling projects to continue their work, so we encourage donors to continue to contribute to projects over time. But if you must cancel your recurring donation, please notify us.

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