SMYRNA, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Tennessee Rehabilitation Center, which helps people with special needs learn workforce skills, abruptly closed its doors this week due to the state government shutdown, forcing students like Michelle Kiewell's son to pack up and leave campus immediately.

"Mom, I have to leave campus. I'm like, What? What do you mean you've got to leave campus? They told me to pack up my stuff," Kiewell said. "He has a hard time explaining things anyway. So he was just kind of like, What's going on?"

The government shutdown, now the third largest in American history, shows no signs of ending soon. For families at the Smyrna campus, the closure came without warning, disrupting students who were making progress in their programs.

Kiewell's son was scheduled to begin his internshi

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