Johnstone Ashura Patrick, a 23-year-old student, is one of the interns enrolled in the inABLE Coding for Interns project. The project is a scholarship program in which inABLE graduates learn employable skills such as website design, web application development, and basic computer maintenance. Johnstone will complete the inABLE internship program in 2021.

This new internship program has ten interns who have completed the highest level of the Computer-Lab-for-the-Blind program and graduated from high school. The 9-month in-lab training began in January 2020, but due to the closure of the schools’ Covid-19, the interns are working remotely from home thanks to a partnership with DFID.

InABLE quickly implemented distance learning to allow these graduates to safely continue their internship projects at home. Online programs such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams are used by inABLE computer instructors to mentor and train students. Interns communicate frequently with their computer instructors.

Because of remote learning, 100% of the planned HTML section of the syllabus, as well as an introduction to CSS and JavaScript, has been completed. Because special needs students frequently have varying levels of computer skills, some learners may grasp both the JavaScript and CSS concepts more quickly in order to progress at a faster pace. Having said that, the intern program is tailored to each individual’s learning needs to ensure that all interns complete the curriculum by March 2021 and are ready to find work.

Note: Johnstone Ashura Patrick interviewed by  inABLE Public Relations Officer, Esther Njeri Mwangi (Watch video). He looks forward to becoming a special needs teacher and empowering special needs students with assistive technology skills.