In its first year of release to the general public, the Styer-Fitzgerald Functional Academics Curriculum has become the functional academics program of choice for teachers in major metropolitan, suburban, and rural school districts.

Teachers report successful use in meeting the needs of their students in self-contained life skills programs at the elementary and secondary level, including programs that serve students with autism, in resource rooms, in off-campus transition programs, and in treatment centers. They see their students make continuing, individualized, documented progress in multiple content areas. Universities have also included it as a resource in their teacher training programs.

If you would like firsthand contact with someone using the Styer-Fitzgerald Functional Academics Curriculum or would like to know more about locations of adoption or have other questions, click here to contact the publishers.

A Parent and Educator

Over the past twelve years, we have watched our daughter Megan grow and learn in the Snohomish School District. Because of her special needs, we chose to place Meg in a self-contained room in which we felt she would receive more one-on-one attention thereby creating a successful academic and social experience for her. It seemed that with each passing year our frustration as well as our daughters grew. Each new classroom and teacher posed new challenges.  Although skilled and certainly dedicated, these teachers weren't given the tools necessary to meet these challenges. Being an educator myself, I know that special education classrooms vary in structure and content depending on the individual needs of each child.  There are always so many different variables, and no set curriculum for teachers to follow.  How to address and meet the needs of each individual is, in my mind, the most difficult part of the job. 

Four years ago, Megan entered a classroom that was utilizing the Styer-Fitzgerald Program for Functional Academics. What a huge difference this has made in our daughter's life. Within this program, Megan has flourished both academically and socially. It is well organized and structured in such a way that it fosters a sense of independence. There are clear expectations, and each child finds success at their own level. If implemented from the youngest grade levels, there will be a sense of continuity for not only the children, but for their teachers and parents as well.  I have never seen a program that works so well for every child in the room!

~Katie Harrell

A Special Programs Director

Students are finding great success with the Styer-Fitzgerald Functional Academics curriculum at the secondary level. The program is based on a highly structured environment with high expectations for students. With individualized programs and schedules, students are consistently engaged in meaningful learning, including functional academics, employment training, and living skills. Embedded throughout the curriculum is an emphasis on creating a social community with peers in and out of the classroom. Students are not marginalized in this program; rather they are rightfully an integral part of their school and neighborhood community. Visitors are encouraged to see this program in action. Here they will see students' abilities, not their disabilities.
 
Jennifer Norton
Executive Director of Special Programs
Snohomish School District
Snohomish, Washington

An Occupational Therapist

>As an occupational therapist with a long history of working within the schools, I thoroughly endorse The Styer-Fitzgerald Program for Functional Academics!  I have seen it work first hand, both with experienced and a newly graduated educator. Not only does it translate academics into truly useful and functional skills for students of widely varying academic abilities, it provides a framework for transitioning between grade levels and programs AND into the "real world" of home and community function. Students learn skills that are timely and needed in their adult lives, applying them in a multi-skill manner and directly into community use. Pride in accomplishment, confidence in applying skills in meaningful action, handling daily tasks that were previously beyond reach and dramatic increases in the elusive sense of personal empowerment are all things I have directly seen in students engaged in this program.  Not only does it provide teachers with a logical framework for teaching functional academics, it provides the students with the skills they need - and that is our ultimate goal.

~ Linda Kautz, OTR

A Para-Educator

I had been working as a para-educator in a self-contained Life Skills program for a year before Suzanne Fitzgerald came to teach in our classroom. The immediate changes in our students were astounding. The students in our classroom have been with us for 2-3 years now.  They started using the Styer-Fitzgerald Program for Functional Academics as 7^th graders. I am constantly amazed by what this program has done for our students and their families. For example, we have a student whose parents were told she would never read. She is not only reading now, but she went online and planned a family vacation to Palm Springs! Her mother was so excited she bought the tickets and the whole family went! Another student couldn't count to 5 when he came to our program. He now counts to 12, tells time on an analog clock, and "buys" groceries up to $5! Suzanne and her program set very high expectations for our students, and they meet those challenges every day!  I have watched them grow into confident high school students, thriving on the structure and consistency that this program provides, meeting new friends every day and changing not only their own lives, but the lives of all that meet them. I feel privileged to be part of this program!

~ Sally Semenock

Parents

The difference in Ian going through the program Mrs. Fitzgerald has implemented in the Life Skills classroom has been phenomenal.  We have seen him grow from a very shy, cautious, and "limited" boy into a confident young man, willing to explore new possibilities in his relationships and learning. Not only explore but excel. Family and friends have commented on the progress Ian has attained. We feel confident, with the continuation of Ian's education in this program, that he will be able to realize his full potential.  We are very pleased that Ian has been fortunate to participate in such a great program. Thank you Mrs. Fitzgerald!!!

~ Charles & Katherine Riley

What good is teaching an autistic child the name of a zoo animal when he can't request a cup of water?  What good is teaching him to add and subtract if he can't figure out how to purchase a meal or something else he wants?  I have always believed that my autistic son needed first to be taught how to get his present and future needs met including his need to be employed or a good volunteer. Anything after that was a delightful bonus.  Dr. Styer's curriculum is centered on functional needs with the future adult in mind. I deeply regret that her curriculum was not in place for Nathan beginning in preschool. Nathan has flourished in her program, but I despair thinking of how much further ahead he would be now if it had been. I understand a parent's thinking about their preschooler. We all want a fairy godmother to wave her wand and make the autism go away. Dr. Styer's approach to teaching our children is the next best thing.

~ B.J. Waterhouse