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Description
The special needs adult population has limited options. Many families struggle after leaving the school system due to loosing supports. Further down the line, housing becomes a concern as aging parents care for aging adult children. Your host, Kim Albrecht, has a teenage daughter with severe autism. She is non-verbal, in diapers, and will require 24/7 care the rest of her life. The LOMAH podcast and community is a place to gather information to make smart choices for our children as they transition into adulthood. We will also digest doses of inspiration and encouragement moving forward in faith, hope, (and touches of humor) rather than fear.
30 Episodes
Reverse
Season #1 of the LOMAH podcast has come to an end. Before moving along to
season #2, we share lessons from the last year and follow up on past
guests.
Students with special needs are entitled to a fair and appropriate
education, commonly called FAPE. Sometimes parents idea of FAPE differ from
the school district and can be met with resistance. In today's episode, we
share 5 steps to take before presenting your idea to the IEP team.
It's homeschooling, but it's not. Todays guest began an alternative form of
education for her son with autism during the elementary school years and
continues to implement it in his teenage years. It is a twist on
homeschooling. We uncover this “homeschooling twist” in two episodes.
Episode #33 uncovers what it is and how it came to be, and episode #34
(coming March 27) provides the step by step process to use when partnering
with the school district to create an out of the box plan for your learner
with special needs.
Applied Behavioral Services is a school in the Midwest who, for 20 years,
has been working with students that have autism or related disorders. They
currently serve over 250 students and 35 school districts per day. In this
episode, we will be inspired to blaze trails that do not already exist. We
also talk about the importance of narrowing the focus on goals long before
students approach "the cliff" of decreased services in adulthood.
"Falling off the cliff" refers to what happens to young adults with special
needs upon exiting the school system and losing services. One of the most
important things that can be done to prepare for the shift in services is
create a quality Individualized Transition Plan which is a federally
mandated document guiding IEP goals beginning at the age of 14 or 16. Dana
Lattin, project coordinator of the Transition Coalition, gives us guidance
on where to begin.
1At 18, parents no longer have legal access to educational information. IEP
consent, requests for assessments, and information from educators are just
a few rights that transfer from the parent to the student. Today’s guest, a
special needs attorney, offers insight on how to prepare and how to protect
the rights of our adult child while at the same time offering supports s/he
may still need. Our focus will be on education. The first half of the
episode focuses on students with special needs who plan on attending
college. The second half of the episode focuses on students with higher
support needs who are likely to stay in transitional programs offered by
the public school system.
The College of Adaptive Arts is a new model of education with a commitment
to lifelong learning paired with empowering students to creatively
transform the way the world views individuals with disabilities. Students
have 9 tracks of study to choose from with over a dozen departments of
specialty. While diplomas are earned, there is no exit date which allows
lifelong access to education. In this episode, the founding directors share
the core beliefs driving this unique model of education and their vision of
a future where this model can be found on campuses throughout the country.
Jessica is a student at the University of Cincinnati’s TAP program
discussed in episode #27. She shares with us how she became a college
student, the challenges she and her family faced the first year, areas she
has grown, how the program is preparing her for a dream job, and social
life on campus.
The University of Cincinnati has 3 programs for individuals w special needs
collectively known as Advancement and Transition Services (ATS). The 3
programs serve ages 14 to middle adulthood, and also a wide range of
abilities from minimal support needs to high support needs. Christina
Carnahan, director of ATS joins us in episode #26 to share the program for
students in high school (CEES) and the program for adults with higher
support needs (IMPACT). Diane Clouse joins us in episode #27 to discuss the
program for college students with differing abilities (TAP).
Think College is funded by the US Department of Education as a national
coordinator for transition and post-secondary options for students with
intellectual disabilities. Cate Weir is the program director of the
organization and will discuss college as a transition option for
individuals with special needs as well as who is and is not eligible,
program curriculum, on campus supports, IEP goals to prepare for college,
and where to find resources.
High school and college education for teens and young adults with special
needs and/or disabilities will be the focus of the next several episodes.
Experts will be answering questions regarding options, supports, and what
we should be doing to prepare for the transition from high school to
college and/or employment. This introductory episode gives the backstory of
why Kim is asking a lot of questions on the topic and 3 action plans for
her daughter.
Desiree Kameka works for the Madison House Autism Foundation where she
serves as the director of community engagement and also is the director of
a branch for the foundation called the Autism Housing Network. She is the
national coordinator for the advocacy group Coalition for Community Choice
and she also serves as a host home provider. She joins us to provide
insight and action steps to move us forward in securing housing for our
loved ones with disabilities.
Often this model "happens" rather than being chosen and planned. However,
intentionally choosing the Family Home Model and putting forth the same
amount of planning and work as any other model can make it a highly
desirable option.
Independent Apartment Communities are a new(ish) housing model for adults
with disabilities. IACs are similar to the traditional apartment model in
the freedom of choice that comes with living and maintaining one's
apartment with or without roommates. The difference, as the name
indicates, is the community piece.
This week we pause and reflect. Kim shares 5 housing model a-ha's.
1. Utilize a variety of models rather than just one
2. Organizations providing housing need to have business savvy
3. The state you live in makes a BIG difference
4. Our adult children might do better with another caregiver
5. Money matters
Integrated Life Choices is a premier example of successfully executing the
host home model for adults with special needs. One of Shanda McClaren's
many roles with the company is to pair adults utilizing this model with a
host home. In this episode, Shanda shares with us who is best suited for
this model, what guardians do and do not give up when utilizing this
housing model, how long placement takes, and how to proceed should this be
your housing model of choice.
Group Homes, also referred to as Community Care Facilities, are residential
homes within the community housing a number of unrelated individuals who
require support.
LOMAH speaks with Dana Hooper, executive director of Life Services
Alternative (LSA) in episode #15 & #16. LSA has 11 (soon to be 12) group
homes in the Silicon Valley area of California and is considered to be one
of the best examples in the country of the group home concept.
We begin our housing series for adults with disabilities by focusing on the
campus model. Located in Texas, Marbridge is an exemplary example of the
campus model. In the next two episodes, we speak with Scott McAvoy who is
the VP of operations.
Mike is the father of 25-year-old Ben. Through the years, Mike and his wife
have applied their experiences with Ben and also their knowledge from the
corporate world to create a system of finding, hiring, and keeping quality
caregivers. Today, Mike shares the beginning stages of the process and a
valuable resource to learn more.
If you have a loved one with a disability, you may have begun pondering
where s/he will live as an adult. It doesn’t take long to realize there are
a variety of options but not an abundance of them. Today we go over the
models of care, share a must have resource, and suggest next steps to take
in planning housing for your adult with special needs.
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