Starting in March, the YAI Westbury Long Island Employment Services program has been partnering with the Microsoft Store at Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City to participate in private courses to introduce the people we support to technology to enrich their personal and professional lives. Through this initiative, YAI has been able to collaborate with the Microsoft Community Educators in selecting and tailoring Microsoft's curriculum for people with I/DD. Examples of courses that YAI participants have been able to take include: 

Get Creative with 3D in Windows 10, where participants learn to express their ideas and imaginations in three dimensions by manipulating and personalizing 3D models and creating their own 3D designs

Minecraft Hour of Code, which challenges people to use programming to learn how creativity and problem solving come together

Fundamentals of Word, which empowers people to learn the many new features of Word 2016 to improve productivity at both home and at work

The program has been so well received that we are looking to expand this partnership to YAI in Suffolk County, New York City, and Westchester. Technology is a great way to empower people and bring them together!