Question:
Can you give us an idea, knowing that all our kids are different in each dev.skill, but what kind of things should be strong points to at least be able tomove to job and group home orapt.? As in a certain grade level of reading or math? also, where canyou find out about other places like this closer to whereever we may be living?Do you know that?
Answer:
Our search was restricted tothe Northeast US, because that is where we are. If you hake all six programs Ilisted and then make a guess about how many adolescents with learningdisabilities exist in the area population of 50 million, you will get an ideaof how far we are from having adequate (and affordable) programs. I am workingon a web page for Chapel Haven. Hopefully we can use that, both to informparents and to coax other programs to make their presence known. These thingsare hard to find.
Now for the harder question, to which I can give opinions .. hopefullyinformed. There is a wide range of living/working opportunities in thecommunity. These pretty much cover the full range of capability (or if you arenegative .. handicap).
Group homes, at least in our area, were initially set up to empty outWillowbrook (one of the most famous) and other institutions. Initially anyonewith a child or adult at home was ignored. Even now, there is a long apparentwaiting list to get into a group home in our area, but in reality it is oftenshorter. There are horror stories about not finding a placement until a yearor two after both parents had died, but the more common situation seems to bethat openings come and are offered to people on the list who turn them downbecause they are not ready to let go of their 'child', yet.
Group homes can accomodate almost every level of handicap. They are mostlystaffed by well meaning but very poorly paid staff. Along with this, there isoccasionally abuse by staff or others, but that isn't the norm. There arebasically no educational or functional level requirements that have to beachieved to become eligible. Things like recreation and sociallization areusually provided .. otherwise it is a pretty isolated setting.
In the best of all worlds, group homes would be a training ground for those whomight be trained to a less restrictive environment. This does happen, but itcan often be hard to move up from a group home to a sheltered apartment.. Thishas caused some parents to be very wary of placing their child in a group home.
Sheltered apartment living places the 'clients' in apartments where there ishelp available and 'drop-by' supervision. This has been done around thecountry at every conceivable level. Many of the people in group homes couldlive in apartments with cooking help or maid service (but certainly not all).In other areas, the clients must be self sufficient enough to have minimumcalls for help and get only a weekly check.
For sheltered apartments to work, there must be daytime activities. This canrange from a workshop to a paying job. Transportation needs to be available(either public or van by some agency). There has to be access to shopping andrecreation.
In my mind, the requirements for a sheltered apartment largely point to livingskills like cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, etc. ... and social skillsof being able to live with others who are handicapped, to have enoughresponsibility to stay out of danger, and to be able to handle the freedomsoffered. This has been successfully worked out over very large functionalranges, although we often do not allow our children to develop the skills athome. This is not because we are bad parents, but because we take care of ourchildren.
The job scene is similar, ranging from workshops where they provide activity(ranging from coloring books to contract routine labor assignments) .. to thehigh end of business employment in mailrooms, offices, etc. There aregovernment programs which do help our kids get jobs. Fast food, supermarkets,and large stores are common employers. Some of these even provide medicalbenefits after some period of employment.. That is necessary if our kids earnenough to lose their SSI benefits.
The biggest requirement for job placement is work ethic. With that,, lots ofjobs come open. Reading, math, and communication skills are often used asbarriers when turning down an applicant, but they usually are over emphasized.
I found that the best way to find jobs for Janet was to get creative myself.She got into child care (as a teen) by my calling up child care agencies andoffering her 'for free'. I got scolded by some, but found one that would takea chance. It worked well and I found summer funding that paid her minimum wagefor two summers. When she moved to elder care, I again talked to a number ofnursing or old peoples home places. The closest had just hired someone andreally didn't need Jan at that point. I had her placed as a volunteer helpintthe nurses' aides in a large Catholic women's home. That worked well, for themost part and Jan worked full days on the weekend. When the public school tookover the program, she was reduced to cleaning chores. I dream of a job we cancall a career, but right now Jan is happy with her job in a warehousesupermarket in Milford, CT. Tomorrow, for the first time, she will take on thecomplicated bus commute by herself. She is very confident that she can do it.. and she will.
