Social Relationships

Life Skills for relationships

The online program has links to lesson plans and activities for building relationships. There are 9 different links entitled: Knows and understands the differences between various types of relationships, Knows how to develop and maintain healthy relationships, Knows how to develop and maintain friendships, Knows how to talk to others about decisions that affect relationships, Knows how to develop and use a personal support system, Knows and understands the concept of "community," Knows and understands the importance of cooperation, Knows and understands a process for making thoughtful decisions and Can use a thoughtful decision making process in a life skills situation. Each topic has helpful information concerning the issue for an individual or parent of someone with special needs.
http://www.caseylifeskills.org/pages/lp/lp_sr_relationships.htm?id=41

Promoting Friendships for Preschool Children with Special Needs

Here is an article posted by education.com that discusses building friendships at an early age. The article refers to common problems that children have when developing relationships and solutions. Also intervention is extremely important in a child’s life, especially those with special needs. For this reason, there are intervention goals and questions for preschool aged children, suggestions for creating effective environments and other detailed information for a parent or educator dealing with this issue. The ideas are realistic and seem easy to implement making it accessible for anyone desiring to achieve the goals listed.
http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Promoting/

“Summer School” for social skills
Youth with AD/HD often experience problems making and keeping friends. The summer can be a great time to work on improving social skills. This article makes suggestions for ways to bring out the best in a child to be successful when making friends. These include choosing certain activities, the right playmate, and working on sharing, negotiating, and complimenting skills. Each topic discussed brings the opportunity for parents to prompt, monitor, and reinforce these skills since they tend to be with their children a lot more. The article has helpful information that will help the parent not become overwhelmed with their child’s difficulty making friends!
http://www.aboutourkids.org/articles/quotsummer_schoolquot_social_skills

Transportation

Transportation

            Transportation is an important part of independent living for any American. Dependable, accessible transportation is especially important for people with disabilities, which rely on it to get to work and actively participate in their communities. Thanks to constantly improving public and personal transportation services, individuals with disabilities are enjoying greater access to employment, recreation and all that their communities have to offer. Here are a few websites to get someone headed in the right direction when exploring transportation options.

Disability Info

This section of DisabilityInfo.gov offers a wide range of information on accessible transportation systems, community transportation initiatives and federal laws and regulations to improve access and availability of bus, rail and air travel.

http://www.disabilityinfo.gov/digovpublic/public/DisplayPage.do?parentFolderId=126

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

            This website has information on issues related to disabled drivers or passengers. There is information on how to modify a vehicle to accommodate persons with disabilities. NHTSA has access to research reports, rules and regulations and other resource information on this topic.

http://www.nhtsa.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/menuitem.17ddcdf0fc7be9bbbf30811060008a0c/

WheelchairNet

WheelchairNet is a fun cyberspace community for the interaction of people with a wheelchair or knows someone that has a wheelchair or anyone involved with wheelchairs! Its purpose is to serve the information needs of anyone interested in wheeled mobility. This site provides opportunities to ask questions about wheelchair selection and use, link to information about wheelchair products and services, learn about and participate in wheelchair research projects and lots of ways to get involved in the community.

http://www.wheelchairnet.org/index.html

Vocational Education

Everyone should have the opportunity to be employed regardless of a disability. Vocational Education uses particular instruction to equip a person for industrial or commercial occupations. This education or training can be obtained either formally in trade schools, technical secondary schools, or more informally, in on-the-job training to pick up the necessary skills for the job. Here are a few helpful websites to link to job searches, latest news, available programs and much more dealing with this topic.

 

Division of Vocational Rehabilitation

          DVR’s provides services to eligible individuals with physical and/or mental impairments. The programs, grants, and other information will enable an individual to achieve an employment goal and/or enhance their independence. This also provides a calendar with upcoming events related to vocational opportunities and a resource link to further assist someone. This is a good place to start when looking into vocational training.

http://www.rehabworks.org/

 Office of Vocational and Adult Education

         This website is a division of the US Department of Education and will help a student, parent, teacher or administrator. Here a person will find links to programs and initiatives, reports and resources, adult education and literacy, as well as careers and technical education. Also helpful to a person searching in this area are the available community colleges, which this site provides this information. For the anyone already involved with vocational education, the site provides current news, documentation of speeches and testimonies and much more!

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/index.html

Vocational Education and Career Assessment Professionals

          VECAP a nonprofit organization, that promotes the professions and services of vocational evaluation and work adjustment. The organization Provides and promotes an array of opportunities for professional development in a variety of settings and formats.  VECAP also partners with organizations with similar missions and links are provided to explore the organization’s websites. This site has links to education and training, state chapter trainings, state chapter contacts, VECAP newsletters and journals and access to national position papers. There are also updates on current job openings and opportunities for involvement in VECAP Virtual Member Practice Community.

http://www.vecap.org/