| Welcome to summer, Montana Transition Listserv members! Due to the number of transition-related learning opportunities, publications and resources we have to share with you this month, we are sending out the June Transition and Employment Projects Tidbits in two parts. This is Part 1...Part 2 will arrive in your email in-boxes shortly. We hope you find the information timely, interesting and useful.
Learning Opportunities:
7/19/11: "Parent-to-Parent: Critical Skills for Your Child to Develop"
8/16/11: "Portfolios - What are they? How can they be used?"
9/20/11: "Using Portfolios for Health Care Needs"
10/18/11: "Identifying and Communicating Support Needs"
11/15/11: "Rural Work Experience"
All sessions are from 1:00-2:30 Mountain Time. There is no cost to register. Session fliers and registration information will be sent to Montana Transition Listserv members. To join the Montana Transition Listserv, go to the Transition and Employment Projects Home Page and enter your email address in the box provided. Archives of previous webinars are available.
13th Annual Autism Summer Institute
August 8-10, 2011
Nashua, New Hampshire
Registration Fees: Professional: $399; Students/Parents/Self-Advocates: $349
The ASI represents a unique opportunity for family members to sit side by side with other members of their children's education teams as they develop a new vision for their student's education, hear from internationally recognized self-advocates who have autism, and learn about the latest evidence-based practices.
Discovery & Job Development for Individuals with Autism
October 4-5, 2011
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Tuition: $245
Everyone can work, and this training, in collaboration with Blue Sky Planning, using examples from across the country, reveals best practice in Customized Employment meeting the unique and often complex circumstances of individuals with significant disabilities. This training also partially fulfills Certification in Community Employment from the Association of Community Rehabilitation Educators (ACRE). RSVP to blueskyplanning@gmail.com; for questions about training content, contact Cary at cgriffin@griffinhammis.com
2011 State of the Art Conference on Postsecondary Education and Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities
November 3-4, 2011
Fairfax, Virginia
The conference will provide an opportunity for colleges and universities, researchers, program staff, parents and self-advocates to discuss the current state of research and practice in the field.
Montana Youth in Transition Conference
November 9-11, 2011
Great Falls, Montana
Transitioning from life after high school is a big process. You are not alone! Come meet other youth, parents, teachers and professionals to see all the resources that are waiting to work with you.
Alliance for Full Participation: Real Jobs--It's Everyone's Business
November 17-19, 2011
Washington, DC
Be a part of a national conference that seeks to find solutions to the challenges facing increasing integrated employment for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The Training Resource Network offers on-demand training covering a variety of topics including Orientation to Disabilities, Person-Centered Planning, Task Analysis, Customizing and Job Carving, Ending Disability Segregation and Employment First Principles. Sessions run 35 to 90 minutes and can be paused and repeated as needed. The purchase price includes 24-hour access for 3 days.
Online Autism Internet Modules cover a wide variety of topics, including Discrete Trial Training, Social Narratives, and an Overview of Social Skills Functioning and Programming.
Montana News
The University of Montana Rural Institute recently updated and re-released our Transition Assessment and Planning Guide. This tool was developed as a guide to assist youth, families and support staff to conceptualize and plan for the young person's transition from school to adult life by taking a strengths-based, student-centered approach. In using the guide, teams can identify post-secondary goals, relevant skills and experiences that will lead to the achievement of those goals, the student's present levels of performance within environments that are meaningful to them, and accommodations and supports that are currently working for the student.
Save the date! The Montana Youth In Transition Conference will be held in Great Falls November 9-11, 20011.
A Contest!
The Arc is sponsoring the "Achieve with us" contest. Enter and you could win a trip to Washington, D.C. for you or someone you know. Individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities, their families, friends and caregivers are invited to submit their story of achievement by someone with I/DD. Deadline for entries is July 14th, 2011.
Employment
Federal Workforce: Practices to Increase the Employment of Individuals with Disabilities [PDF] features testimony about strategies to improve the rate of federal employment of individuals with disabilities. Forum participants identified the most significant barrier keeping people with disabilities from the workplace as attitudinal (biases against people with disabilities and low expectations because of a focus on disability instead of ability).
Adult Autism & Employment - A Guide for Vocational Rehabilitation Professionals [PDF]
from the Disability Policy and Studies office at the University of Missouri discusses the aspects of Autism Spectrum Disorders that can affect a person's job performance and how accommodations on the job and in the work environment can help.
Cary Griffin, Senior Partner with Griffin-Hammis Associates, LLC, recently shared a link to Customized and Supported Employment examples from their Minnesota TA & Training Center project and from their Microenterprise and Customized Employment project with the Ohio Rehab Services Commission.
The State Employment Leadership Network (SELN) has created an updated list of Employment First resources [PDF] from across the country.
Facts Are Stubborn Things [YouTube Video] covers "Employment & Disability for a New Century" and "Litigation, Accommodation, and Innovation."
The DisabilitiesAtWork.org April newsletter discusses tax incentives for private employers who hire and employ people with disabilities.
The National Technical Assistance and Research Leadership Center at Rutgers University recently published the results of their research into the hiring, training and retention of people with disabilities in the workplace. Ready and Able: Addressing Labor Market Needs and Building Productive Careers for People with Disabilities Through Collaborative Approaches [PDF] discusses key findings, such as: "Employers respond to a business case for employing people with disabilities; innovative collaborations with and between workforce-supplying organizations enable employer efforts to recruit, hire, train, and support employees with disabilities; collaborations ensure that workers are qualified and productive; and successful collaborations nurture and reward continuous leadership."
The official theme of the October 2011 National Disability Employment Awareness Month will be Profit by Investing in Workers with Disabilities . This theme promotes the contributions of workers with disabilities and serves to inform the public that these workers represent a highly skilled talent pool that can help employers compete in a global economy.
Job Seekers with Disabilities at One-Stop Career Centers: An Examination of Registration for Wagner-Peyser Funded Employment Services, 2002 to 2009 examines trends over time on a national and state-by-state basis in the percentage of job seekers with disabilities who register for the Wagner-Peyser Employment Service and identify as having a disability.
Adding Value to Small Businesses introduces Add Us In, a new U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) initiative that aims to assist small businesses - including the rapidly increasing number of those owned by diverse individuals - to employ people with disabilities.
Parent Resources
Ready, Set, Fly: A Parent's Guide to Teaching Life Skills [PDF] covers such topics as money management, social skills, nutrition, self-care, work skills, housing and transportation, community resources, and learning about candidates in elections. This guide will help families help their young adults gain the skills they need to live as independently and as well as possible.
The NCWD/Youth's latest Info Brief, Helping Youth Develop Soft Skills for Job Success: Tips for Parents and Families, offers suggestions to help parents and family members work with young adults to develop the "soft skills" essential for on-the-job success.
Reflections from a Different Journey: What Adults with Disabilities Wish All Parents Knew
from editors Stan Klein, Ph.D. and John Kemp offers a collection of essays from people who have lived the disability experience offering their perspective on what all parents of children with disabilities should know as they guide their children into adulthood.
A newly released report, 2010 FAST Family Support Survey: National Results [PDF], summarizes the results of a 2010 national Internet survey of parents or relatives of children and youth with disabilities, age 11 to 39. Areas addressed include transition supports and how families learned about those supports. The report was prepared by the Institute on Community Integration for PACER Center's FAST (Family Advocacy and Support Training) Project, an Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) Project of National Significance.
Still in the Shadows with Their Future Uncertain: Family and Individual Needs for Disability Supports is the summary report of findings from The Arc's FINDS (Family and Individual Needs for Disability Supports) survey.
Sincerely,
Kim Brown
MT Transition Listserv
(Please note: the Transition
and Employment Projects at the University of Montana Rural Institute shares information and resources our listserv members may find of interest. We do not endorse the web sites or workshop contents or their providers, and we assume no responsibility for the validity of information provided on sites or in sessions not hosted by our agency.) |
