The culture in mainstream America values independence. Consequently, independent living is a goal many of us wish to obtain. None the less, this topic is a stressful time for families with children transitioning from secondary school. Independent living includes interpersonal skills, awareness of transportation options and ability to get around, managing money, caring for personal needs, buying and preparing food, engaging in civil activities such as voting and volunteering, and participation in recreation and leisure activities such as swimming, hiking, and canoeing. This can be an even more stressful time for parents of children with disabilities. However, being aware of the families’ and child’s goals and expectations can direct the type of resources necessary to see those goals become reality. The following websites have information on many topics needed to be evaluated by parents to help lead their child to reach their postsecondary goal which may be independent living.
REACH stands for Rehabilitation, Education, and Advocacy for Citizens with Disabilities. It is a nonprofit corporation which provides services for people with disabilities so that they are empowered to lead self-directed lives.
Under the “Need Assistance” tab, free counseling service is offered at UNT Dallas. It is offered to the entire community. In addition, there is information on free smoke detectors specially designed for individuals with hearing impairments provided by the Dallas Fire-Rescue. Safety is important.
Under the REACH Dallas website, there are web links to various sites for various disabilities or factors that may inhibit one from performing to their maximum level. Some web links included are those for cancer patients, prescription assistance, medical assistance, and employment connections for individuals with disabilities. This website is full of an abundant amount of resources for individuals with disabilities. Parents can look through these websites alongside with their child to find the resources that are beneficial for their child to transitioning to independent living.
. This booklet discusses guardianship for Texans with disabilities. Guardianship is a legal device used to protect the rights and interests of an incapacitated person, defined as someone who cannot manage his or her personal and/or financial affairs by himself/herself. This booklet is written primarily for parents and other family members of a person with disabilities. It is important to make an appropriate decision about guardianship. In Texas, a guardianship can be appointed over the person or the estate, or both, of a person with a disability. The court may grant the guardian full authority over the person, or may grant the guardian limited authority as indicated by the person's actual abilities. In each type of guardianship, the powers and duties of the guardian must be specifically stated. This booklet discusses the need for guardianship and some common problems of persons with disabilities that might be solved without getting a guardianship. Parents of children with disabilities should carefully read over the Guardianship Booklet to find the most appropriate choice of the type of guardianship needed for the person with the disability to be able to lead their life to independent living so the guardianship document is ready when the child turns 18.
This website offers affordable housing for very low income families, the elderly, and people with disabilities. The housing choice vouchers program is the federal government's major program for assisting these individuals to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market. The individual is responsible for their choice of housing and ensuring the owner will accept the voucher. There is usually waiting a list due to the demand exceeding the available resources so it is important to plan for this assistance and the time needed to receive this financial assistance. Parents can assist their child by going with them to this the nearest Public Housing Agency (PHA) to fill out the necessary forms to be placed on the list for the housing choice voucher, to research possible houses affordable in their budget range, or to get an idea of price ranges for renting or buying a house.
Wow! We love the REACH website. The web links tab under the resources section offers more than 100 resources ranging anywhere from support to independent living services. We were surprised to learn that UNT Dallas offers free counseling services. This is a great future reference for all students. This website will definitely be bookmarked to pass on to students and parents.
ReplyDeleteThe next resource provided, including the Guardianship Booklet, is a very informational website that we didn’t realize was available. We have heard from several parents of children with disabilities that going through the process of obtaining guardianship is both long and grueling. Having all the information on guardianship in one booklet will be a great resource for future teachers to keep on file.
We agree that HUD is a great website for students wishing to obtain safe and affordable independent living. We like how your group revealed that HUD usually has a long waiting list and it would be imperative to plan ahead in order to obtain independent living and have a good quality of life. Great job Savvy Solutionists on providing very informational resources!
Yall had some great resources as usual. I particularly liked the fact that yall's introduction was full of answers to the question as to what independent living entails. The REACH website offered a lot of great information for people in the north Texas area. The one thing I looked for is the contact info, because I have seen many websites that tell you all about them but don't get you anywhere. They also provided newsletters and calendars, which gives you an even better inside scoop of what they have to offer! My favorite website was the Disability Rights Texas website, because it was very well organized and gave a whole list of resources they offered along with links to further information about these particular resources. I think it's great that they have a website like this specifically for Texas, because that helps individuals with disabilities within the state feel more like they are reachable. My favorite information that yall provided was the Housing Choice Voucher, because this is obviously a GREAT opportunity for these individuals. They deserve breaks like these, and this would be a great resources to get to these individuals and their parents because I'm sure many don't even know about the opportunity.
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