There are a vast amount of
Can You Trust
Services for Your
Special Needs
Adult?
Making the decision of where
your special needs adult will
go can be challenging.
Included is some information
that might help.
Day Services
If you’re looking for something that still
allows your special needs adult to grow and
succeed but only be out while you’re at
regular work hours, you might consider a day
service near you.
Day services usually run morning to afternoon
hours and focus on transitioning your new
adult from school to the real world. Many day
services have vocational trainings so your
adult will be able to work on applying for a
job that suits them. One very special thing
about day services is that they bring material
to your adult that is personalized for them.
For instance, if your adult is mature with
social skills, they might see if they want to go
into vocational training; on the other hand, if
your adult is still working on communication
skills and needs more assistance, arts, crafts,
cooking and more are very common activities
in day services. Either way, your adult is
supported with any necessary assistance.
One well known day service in
the area is United
Rehabilitation Services (URS).
A sense of community is built
here so the clients can feel as
if it’s not a daycare or school,
but a place where they can
engage and communicate
with others around them and
benefit from it. URS works to
educate their clients in any
way they can and progress
them down their own
personalized path.
opportunities available for your
special needs adult, but your
question most likely is, “Which one
will benefit my adult the most?”
Finding the right program can be
tricky. The following will provide you
with some benefits and
counterarguments for employment,
group homes, day services and
further education.
Your special needs
adult most likely
had an
Individualized
Education Program
in their K-12
schooling.
IEPs offered specifications for your adult that gave
them their own personal path to learning. While
some learned advanced math, some learned how to
count-and there’s nothing wrong with this. Now,
you’re most likely looking for the same type of
personalized education, skills and commitment from
an adult service. All of the programs included here
have that same program IEPs offered for your special
needs adult.
An employee
at the
convenience
store, Wawa,
serves
samples to
customers.
This employee was hired on behalf of a
manager’s decision to begin hiring adults with
special needs. The business has not only grown
since this point but has also grown into a
community of special needs adults for them to
socialize, learn to communicate and have a
feeling of success.
Diving into the Workfield
Getting a job for many special needs
adults might be the next step. If this is
the case, you want to make sure that
through trust and
the job they apply for will not only
benefit them in various ways but it
will also be personalized to meet their
needs and skill level if possible.
The picture and caption shown above
is demonstrating a business that
follows these guidelines. Wawa
welcomes those with disabilities &
special needs. Before training them,
they focus on where the adult might
thrive the most in their establishment.
Continuing Education
Most colleges now would agree that their overarching
goal is to increase student success and become an
institution that is known for a well rounded education
for an increasingly diverse student community including
those with disabilities.
1990 The Americans for
Disabilities Act
The ADA focused on working in fields such
as employment, schools, colleges and
universities and any public facilities to
prohibit discrimination against those with
special needs.
1975 Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act
IDEA enforced schools K-12 to reach out and
support those with special needs starting at
birth. Before IDEA less than half of the
population of special needs children didn’t
receive the adequate and specialized
education they needed to succeed and grow.
1973 The Rehabilitation Act
The Rehab Act of 1973 worked to prohibit
discrimination only in services and places
that received federal funding. Therefore,
schools and jobs weren’t affected yet.
In fact, majority of colleges today offer specialized care
and education for those with special needs. If your adult
choses to continue their education, they could very well
be assisted alongside a personal tutor, alternative exam
formats & textbooks, and much more.
Group Homes
Group homes can be a fantastic option for your
special needs adult especially if they are
looking to feel independent. Many group homes
have a few residents and allows for each
resident to have their own responsibilities in the
household. Normal household chores are
usually given to specific residents. This gives
them a sense of independence that enables
them to take care of their own household.
A common theme of group homes is for one
caretaker to stay at the household with the
residents full time. This allows for a
relationship to be built upon care and
communication that otherwise isn’t met when
staff workers take shifts throughout the day
and don’t really engage in getting to know the
resident, how to communicate with them and
how to care for them.
Participation and
3 happiness from the
resident increases in the
The relationship
group home
strengthens
2
the time spent
with each other
The relationship
1 between the
resident and
caretaker begin
through care and
communication
A study was conducted in August of 2017 to determine which
methods service managers of Swedish group homes could use to
promote the most amount of participation from the residents. The
underlying must-have of these methods revolved around trust
and communication. According to the caretakers, trust was the
number one priority for the residents to engage in activity and
participation throughout the group home. This trust is the product
of the first step of getting to know the resident and really caring
about them.