Watch the video about ABLE accounts–It’s worth the 5 minutes you’ll spend
Don’t you want to be ABLE to do more and get ready for the future?
Entrepreneurship with disability
What to do they do, these entrepreneurs who have disabilities? These are the friends we know who are entrepreneurs.
- A man sells technology and trains new users, as well as consulting on accessibility solutions
- A young woman buys toys wholesale and sells retail by word of mouth and face to face, as well as helping to build toyanimal.info
- A young man and his wife run a food service operation in a state building in Michigan
- Some write fiction
- Some draw
What you need is a product or a service, a way to tell people about it, and your enthusiastic commitment to your idea! Don’t give up. Write and tell us about it. We’ll tell others about you and share your information.
For more, read this article from the UK: https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2015/nov/19/disabled-entrepreneurs-are-facing-too-many-barriers?CMP=share_btn_tw
Tell us your story!
“Not Tommy”: Smart and Safe, Part 2
Read “Not Tommy”: Smart and Safe, Part 1
Katie was visiting Tommy at least once a day most days. Maggie and Katie’s dad worried a little, but didn’t want Katie to worry. After all, this was her first time having her own place away from her parents. Maggie and Jim, Katie’s dad, were also enjoying the time with Katie’s younger siblings. Everyone was breathing a little easier, having some space from each other.
One evening, Katie called, sounding upset. “Mom, he insulted me so much. I mean, he was trying to get me to stay in his apartment when I decided I better leave. He was kissing me and touching me on my bottom and on my breasts and saying silly things.”
“Who?” asked Maggie.
It was Tommy. He’d been drinking, and with his self-control impaired, he decided to try to take advantage of Katie’s somewhat diminished capacity to make decisions. But, when she tried to leave, he hugged her to make her stay. She was determined to leave, and he insulted her by trying to make her stay, Katie said later.
Maggie went over to Katie’s apartment and talked it all out. Maggie knew that whatever else had happened, Tommy had committed assault when he tried to keep her from leaving against her will.
“I even went back up there after I called you, Mom, just to yell at him and tell him he couldn’t do stuff like that and that he insulted me.”
By now, Katie had told her mom a lot of details, and Katie’s mom had called Katie’s dad to tell him the details. They all agreed that Maggie would stay over at Katie’s place, just in case. In the morning, Katie told her story to the management of the apartment complex, who called the police.
Katie was very open with the police officer, who was quite respectful to her. This surprised Maggie, because Katie is naive and seems younger than her 26 years. Still, the officer treated her like an adult. Maggie had a chance to thank him later.
The case was turned over to the prosecutor’s office, who decided not to press charges. Of course, Tommy had his own version of the events.
Grown-up kids have grown-up problems. No parent would wish this situation on a young adult child, but Maggie was reassured that Katie could manage herself in a tight situation, could recognize when it was time to get out, and could communicate clearly when asked to relate what happened. This was just about the best thing Maggie could ask for…no one can protect their kids from every problem, but all parents can help kids learn to speak up for themselves and take charge to leave a bad situation.
Transition services in school: What is required by IDEA law and regulations?
TRANSITION SERVICES [20 U.S.C. Sec. 1401(34)]
Transition Services means a coordinated set of activities for a student with a disability designed within a results-oriented process that is focused on improving the academic and functional achievement of the child with a disability to facilitate the child’s movement from school to post-school activities, including postsecondary education, vocational education, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation. The coordinated set of activities is based on each student’s needs, taking into account the student’s strengths, preferences and interests, and includes instruction, related services, community experiences, the development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives, and, if appropriate, the acquisition of daily living skills and provision of a functional vocational evaluation.
Transition Services means a coordinated set of activities for a student with a disability designed within a results-oriented process that is focused on improving the academic and functional achievement of the child with a disability to facilitate the child’s movement from school to post-school activities, including postsecondary education, vocational education, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation. The coordinated set of activities is based on each student’s needs, taking into account the student’s strengths, preferences and interests, and includes instruction, related services, community experiences, the development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives, and, if appropriate, the acquisition of daily living skills and provision of a functional vocational evaluation.
How this might be done for your high school age child with disabilities
Ask that a transition assessment be performed to determine her current strengths, preferences, and interests. Have a discussion of those results at the IEP meeting. The coordinated services mentioned above can be provided by anyone, for instance, several of my daughter’s were provided by us, her parents. Depending on the age of your child, strengths, preferences, and interests should be driving course and program choices. Teachers (and parents and anyone else) can find information at the National Technical Assistance Center for Transition, NTACT. NTACT Website
Some districts choose to use a class setting to do many assessments and career awareness stuff, but that is not a federal requirement! If your child has to miss time with a therapist or specialized instruction because a transition “class” has to fit in the schedule, you probably need to find another solution. These are often classes that waste a lot of time, time that kids with disabilities don’t always have.
READY Tool: Readiness Evaluation of Transition to Adulthood for Deaf-Blind Youth
By Charlotte Cushman
READY Tool: Readiness Evaluation of Transition to Adulthood for Deaf-Blind Youth is an online resource from the National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB). It is designed to help transition teams, composed of an individual who is deafblind, parents, and professionals, identify essential activities that should be carried out during the transition process from school to adult life. The completed tool can be used to generate a plan of action and develop goals and objectives for the IEP (Individualized Education Program) and transition plans.
The tool is divided according to age ranges:
- Prior to age 14
- Age 14-17
- Age 18-21
- Age 22-26
Each section includes the following:
- Transition Assessment
- Transition-Related Education Programming
- Team Collaboration/Team Adjustments
There are links to numerous activities, checklists, and other documents to support teams of students who are deafblind.
A form for recording progress towards best practices is available to download for free in PDF format in each of the sections.
What to do when you meet a sighted person–from Vision Aware
What To Do when You Meet a Sighted Person
People who use their eyes to acquire information about the world are called sighted people or “people who are sighted.” Legal “sight” means any visual acuity greater than 20/200 in the better eye without correction or an angle of vision wider than 20 degrees. Sighted people enjoy rich, full, lives, as they work, play, and raise families. They run businesses, hold public offices, and teach your children.
Sighted people cannot function well in low lighting conditions and are usually helpless in total darkness. Their homes are usually brightly lit at great expense, as are businesses that cater to the sighted consumer.
How Can I Best Communicate with Sighted People?
Sighted people are accustomed to viewing the world in visual terms. This means that in many situations, they will not be able to communicate orally and may resort to pointing or other gesturing. They may also use subtle facial expressions to convey feelings in social situations. Calmly alert the sighted person to his or her surroundings by speaking slowly, in a normal tone of voice. There is no need to raise your voice when addressing a sighted person.
How Do Sighted People Get Around?
People who are sighted may walk or ride public transportation, but most choose to travel long distances by operating their own motor vehicles, usually one passenger to a car. They have gone through many hours of extensive training to learn the rules of the road in order to further their independence. Once that road to freedom has been mastered, sighted people earn a legal classification and a driver’s license, which allows them to operate a private vehicle relatively safely and independently.
How Can I Assist a Sighted Person?
At times, sighted people may need help finding things, especially when operating a motor vehicle. Your advance knowledge of routes and landmarks, particularly bumps in the road, turns, and traffic lights, will assist the “driver” in finding the way quickly and easily. Your knowledge of building layouts can also assist the sighted person in navigating complex shopping malls and offices. Sighted people tend to be very proud and will not ask directly for assistance. Be gentle, yet firm.
How Do Sighted People Read?
Sighted people read via a system called “print.” Print is a series of images drawn in a two-dimensional plane. Because the person who is sighted relies exclusively on visual information, his or her attention span tends to fade quickly when reading long texts. People who are sighted generally have a poorly developed sense of touch. Braille is completely foreign to the sighted person and he or she will take longer to learn the code and be severely limited by his or her existing visual senses.
How Do Sighted People Use Computers?
Computer information is presented to sighted people in a “Graphical User Interface” or GUI. Sighted people often suffer from hand-eye coordination problems. To accommodate this difficulty, people who are sighted use a “mouse,” a handy device that slides along the desk top to save confusing keystrokes. With one button, the sighted person can move around his or her computer screen quickly and easily.
People who are sighted are not accustomed to synthetic speech and may have great difficulty understanding even the clearest synthesizer. Be patient and be prepared to explain many times how your computer equipment works.
How Can I Support a Sighted Person?
People who are sighted do not want your charity. They want to live, work and play alongside you on an equal basis. The best thing you can do to support sighted people in your community is to open yourself to their world. These citizens are vital contributing members of the community, real people with thoughts and feelings, hopes and dreams, and a story to tell. Take a sighted person to lunch today!
Time for Transition: Putting the Pieces Together for Parents
There is no charge for this event. Breakfast and lunch are provided.
Registration starts at 9:30 a.m. Sessions from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Michigan Library and Historical Center 702 W. Kalamazoo St. Lansing, MI 48909
Learn More and Register Online: Time for Transition
Registration by November 19, 2018
Presented by Michigan Department of Education–Low Incidence Outreach and the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons
How can I explore a career if I can’t go to the place where people work?
Here’s a link to Exploring Careers Virtually, a presentation that is full of resources and connections for young adults with disabilities and their families. It came from Youth Career Connect, a project of the US Department of Labor. It covers the topics listed below:
- How to connect students to the workplace virtually to learn about careers.
- How to navigate the CareerOneStop, Get My Future portal (structure and uses).
- Other platforms (free platforms; state-focused platforms; subscription sites)
What do you think? How can a young person explore a career like lab science, or office management, or welding, without going into the place where that job happens? Tell us about it.
Low Income and Subsidized Housing
Here’s more good information on kinds of affordable housing. There’s a real shortage of housing for people with very low incomes. It helps to get more familiar with what is our there. Affordable Housing Online just started a “premium service” that has a fee, but I get lots of information without paying for the premium service.
“Not Tommy”: Smart and Safe, Part 1
Katie’s mom and dad were so proud of her. She’d gotten her own apartment, and was really happy about it. Of course, it’d only been a day or two since they finished moving her in. She was 24, and had collected a bunch of furniture over the past couple of years, so she was ready to make the big step of moving to her own place. Tommy and Rick, two other residents helped Katie and her dad carry in the furniture.
Katie’s favorite thing was to go out shopping to find the little toys that were her hobby and obsession. She was anxious and focused on getting to go shopping all the time. After just a day at the apartment complex, Katie, who had autism and tends to be too friendly, asked Tommy to take her to a nearby resale shop. Tommy took her to the shop and a nearby garden store, and then out to Wendy’s. Katie said later that she’d offered to pay for their lunches at Wendy’s, but Tommy insisted on buying.
Katie’s mom, Maggie, was a little surprised that Katie wasn’t home when she arrived at the apartment that afternoon. An older gent sitting outside the building said that Katie had gone off with Tommy for a while. They must be back, the gent said, because, “there’s Tommy’s truck. I imagine your daughter is up sitting with Tommy.”
Just a minute later, Katie came down from Tommy’s apartment, and he followed, carrying two plastic totes. Katie had told Tommy that she needed a couple of those totes for her toys and other things in the apartment. Katie’s dad wanted his totes back, the ones Katie had used to transport her things to the apartment.
Katie would sometimes feel like everyone was correcting her and scolding her. She tended to overreact when corrected by family members, so Maggie talked very gently with Katie after Tommy left to go back up to his place.
“Katie, how did that happen that you went out with Tommy? How did you know if it would be OK?”
And Katie replied, with her characteristic naivete, “I asked him to take me to the resale shop. When I got in his truck, I asked Tommy if he was the kind of person who might hurt me or try to make out with me. And he said no, he is not that kind of person and wouldn’t do that.”
“But Katie,” Maggie asked, “What if he were that kind of person and you asked that question, I mean, not Tommy, but someone else?”
Katie was a bit naïve, but she understood. She replied, “Well, I guess a person who wanted to hurt me might say the same thing Tommy said.”
“Not Tommy,” Maggie said, “But someone else. You’re right, a person who intended to hurt you might say the same thing, that he wasn’t going to hurt you. It’s hard to know when it’s the truth.”
Maggie didn’t want to keep Katie from meeting new people, and didn’t want Katie to get frightened of the mostly very kind people around her, including Tommy. “With someone else,” Maggie said, “not Tommy, of course, but with anyone else, you need to be very careful. And your dad and I want to have the phone numbers of your friends. And we want you to have your phone with you.”
Still, Maggie was a bit worried about Tommy. Although she said “not Tommy”, she was thinking, “maybe Tommy.”
Stay tuned for the rest of the story in a few days…
Photo by Mircea Iancu on Pexels.com
