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Brochures
Advocacy
Advocacy is the process of enabling individuals to reach their maximum potential. Advocacy can be accomplished by providing training, support, information, resources, and referrals to individuals and their families. The main premise of advocacy is to assure equality of opportunity, full participation in life, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency.
Assistive Technology
Assistive technology is any device that directly assists an individual with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of materials. Assistive technology is any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.
California Academy on Transition Studies (CATS)
The goal of CATS is to create a smooth transition from childhood to adulthood for at-risk individuals, including those with disabilities.
Early Childhood
(Birth to 5 years of age, IFSP) - Young children with exceptional needs and their families go through many transitions in the first five years of life. As a toddler, a child may transition to a play group or center-based service agency. At age three, the child may be referred to a regular preschool or an integrated special education preschool, including home visits and family support services. As the child turns five years of age, another transition process begins. The purpose of transition services in early childhood is to improve the early identification of children with disabilities and to provide services to develop skills an prevent additional disabling situations.
Financial Management
Financial management consists of making an overall financial plan which reflects your personal goals, providing income, controlling expenditures, solving specific financial problems. All of these factors can lead to making your financial management successful. Successful management also requires three personal qualities; awareness of problems and alternative solutions, the ability to control your emotions, and financial discipline .
Independent living
Independent living is a way of controlling one's life based on acceptable options that will minimize the reliance on others. This includes managing one's actions, participating in one's community, fulfilling a range of social roles, and making decisions.
Post-secondary
Involvement in colleges and universities has been very limited for people with disabilities. It is important for students to know there are options in education after high school such as technical and community colleges, skills/occupational centers, and universities. Many high schools now offer programs to help students make the transition into post-secondary training more successful, by including courses or curriculum components that address skills necessary for mastering post-secondary academics. Post-secondary education is an avenue to leadership roles.
Public Transportation
Public transportation is any means of mobility (bus, train, metro, taxi) available for use at a minimal cost. Public transportation must be accessible to individuals using wheelchairs or any other type of assistive device.
Recreation/Community integration
Individuals with disabilities, especially those with recent onset, experience extreme changes in their lives. Social isolation, lowered self-esteem, increased conflict in interpersonal relationships, loss of independence, and alteration of personal appearance are examples of some of these changes. By providing recreational opportunites, empowerment in both the physical and emotional realms becomes possible.
School-age (IEP)
An IEP is an Individualized Education Program that is prepared for every child who is identified as having a disability. This written statement indicates the present levels of functioning, long- and short-range goals, services to be provided, and plans for initiating and evaluating services. The IEP consists of the following components: 1) a statement of needed transition services, 2) annual goals in each service area, 3) educational and related services needed, and 4) interagency responsibilities and linkages. School-to-work (Young adult, ITP) An ITP is an individualized Transition Plan for yound adults between the ages of 14 and 21 years of age. An ITP includes the following components: 1) a statement of needed transition services, 2) annual goals in each service area, 3) educational and related services needed, and 4) interagency responsibilities and linkages.
Self-Advocacy
Self-advocacy is the process of acting and speaking on behalf of oneself. Self-advocacy is important because it helps create independence by taking charge of one's life.
SSI/Medi-Cal
SSI and Medi-Cal are public aid programs available to individuals with disabilities and their families to help supplement the total income. SSI and Medi-Cal are related, but you need to apply for them separately.
Supported employment
Supported employment is a rehabilitation and developmental service which provides support to individuals with severe disabilities who need assistance in obtaining and maintaining employment. Such services might include job coaching, counseling, assistive technology, or personalized workstations. The ultimate goal of supported employment is to advocate for the client to learn independent living skills.
Transition
Transition is multifaceted in that it encompasses the life span of an individual. It includes life changes, adjustments, and cumulative experiences that occur throughout one's life.
Work-to-retirement
Planning is critical for a secure retirement. Without planning, an individual is likely to retire with an inadequate income. Some constraints in financial planning for retirement include: lack of basic information as to what benefits to expect after retirement; lack of analytical skills to interpret and analyze information related to particular circumstances; unrealistic expectations about the potential for generating income through work after retirement, lack of knowledge about the amount of money that will have been saved by retirement, and the lack of understanding about how one's current income is related to one's future retirement income.