Small Agency Conversion to Community-Based Employment: Overcoming the Barriers

1992 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 170-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul L. Beare ◽  
Susan J. Severson ◽  
Evelyn C. Lynch ◽  
Donna Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Supported Employment ◽  
Community Integration ◽  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
Service Agency ◽  
Program Outcomes ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Successful Model ◽  
Moderate To Severe Disabilities ◽  
Recommendations For Practice ◽  
Small Agency

Community-based employment, widely accepted as the major goal for most persons with moderate to severe disabilities, has yet to be fully realized at the local agency level. This paper describes a successful model of supported employment developed by a single small agency previously providing services as a segregated day activity center in a small midwestern city. Included is discussion of the service agency, program methodology, barriers to successful community-based employment along with the manner in which they were overcome, and program outcomes. Included in these outcomes is a current community employment rate of 80% and increased income for workers along with increased community integration. Several recommendations for practice are made from both administrative and programming standpoints.

Perspective

1997 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 194-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Kregel
Keyword(s):  
Support Services ◽  
Supported Employment ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Community Integration ◽  
Consumer Empowerment ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Significant Disabilities ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Sheltered Workshop

Supported employment is an established approach to community-based employment that has provided many individuals with significant disabilities an opportunity to choose between a lifetime of low wages in segregated sheltered workshop settings and the challenges of a real job in their local community. As a service-delivery strategy that embodies the principles of individualized, community-based support services and consumer empowerment, supported employment has become the preferred employment alternative for large numbers of individuals previously excluded from work opportunities (Rusch, Chadsey-Rusch, & Johnson, 1991; Wehman & Kregel, 1994). The purpose of this article is to summarize the present status of supported employment, discuss the major accomplishments of the initiative, and identify those issues that must be addressed in the future to allow the program to achieve its long-term goal of promoting the economic independence and community integration of individuals with significant disabilities.

The Future of Computer-Based Interactive Technology for Teaching Individuals with Moderate to Severe Disabilities: Issues Relating to Research and Practice

2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Langone ◽  
Tom J. Clees ◽  
Lloyd Rieber ◽  
Michael Matzko
Keyword(s):  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Instructional Tools ◽  
Multimedia Environment ◽  
Moderate To Severe Disabilities ◽  
Funded Project ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Method Of Instruction ◽  
Based Instruction ◽  
Natural Settings

There are a number of community adjustment and transition models that indicate individuals with disabilities will require instruction across numerous domains that represent skills such as community literacy, mobility, purchasing, social interactions, and safety. To accomplish the instruction of such skills, community-based activities have been increasingly employed to teach these transition skills. However, the amount of time and the number of community-based learning trials needed for students with moderate to severe disabilities to acquire targeted skills can be in excess of the fiscal resources allotted. To overcome many of the logistical and fiscal problems associated with community-based instruction, educators have developed simulated activities that involve training in non-target environments with materials that simulate the targeted, or natural, settings. These simulated activities may or may not be successful depending on the attention given to strategies that promote generalization. These strategies are well known and have been extensively discussed in the literature. One method of instruction that can potentially expose learners to numerous stimuli designed to promote generalization of learned functional skills is computer-based multimedia. The purpose of this article is to identify and discuss the salient features of multimedia instructional tools that may be able to provide students with more effective and efficient simulated instructional activities in the area of transition skills. Also presented is information related to a federally funded project designed to develop a multimedia environment for providing this type of instruction as well as a vision for developing a research agenda designed to test the effectiveness of such instruction.

Modifying Rules of a Regular Girls Softball League to Facilitate the Inclusion of a Child with Severe Disabilities

1994 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine A. Bernabe ◽  
Martin E. Block
Keyword(s):  
Motor Skills ◽  
Team Sports ◽  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Individuals With Disabilities ◽  
Batting Average ◽  
Moderate To Severe Disabilities ◽  
Recreation Programs ◽  
Sports Skills

Although many local recreation programs are opening their doors to individuals with disabilities, the vast majority of individuals with more severe disabilities still do not participate in community-based recreation programs. One reason for lack of participation, particularly in competitive team sports, is that many persons with severe disabilities lack the requisite physical and motor skills. The purpose of this study was to determine if it were possible to assist coaches and players in modifying select rules of a girls' fast-pitch softball league so as to accommodate the skill limitations of a player with moderate to severe disabilities. Results indicated that the modifications were effective as suggested by her batting average and on-base average. Furthermore, modifications did not seem to affect her teammates or other teams as noted by no differences in time per inning when this student was included or total number of bases when she was playing defense. Anecdotal reports also found that the player was well received by her teammates and other teams, and that she improved her social and sports skills.

A Functional Analysis of the Acquisition and Maintenance of Janitorial Skills in a Competitive Work Setting

1988 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Test ◽  
Teresa Grossi ◽  
Patricia Keul
Keyword(s):  
Work Experience ◽  
Vocational Training ◽  
Supported Employment ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
Multiple Baseline ◽  
Work Setting ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Effective Community ◽  
Students With Severe Disabilities

There is a need for empirically based studies to support public school on-the-job training programs for students with severe disabilities. This study examined the use of supported employment via the supported jobs model to provide competitive work experience for a 19-year-old student with severe disabilities. The job trained involved a complex set of janitorial skills, including emptying trash cans, detail cleaning, and daily cleaning. Training consisted of a combination of total task presentation and an individualized prompting hierarchy. A multiple baseline across behaviors design was employed across the three sets of behaviors. Results demonstrated the acquisition and maintenance of all skills at 100% accuracy. The use of supported employment as a means of providing competitive work experience for students with severe disabilities and the need for further research on effective community-based vocational training strategies are discussed.

scholarly journals Homeless on Main Street: Using Photovoice to Highlight Older Adults Among the Hidden Homeless

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 728-728
Author(s):  
H Shellae Versey
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Photo Elicitation ◽  
Service Agency ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Community Based Interventions ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Formerly Homeless

Abstract Homelessness is a reality for a growing number of Americans living in small towns and rural areas. However, unlike in cities, housing instability may be less visible. Using a photo-elicitation method (i.e., Photovoice), this study explores the meaning of place and obscured visibility to currently and formerly homeless older adults living in a small town in central Connecticut. Participants (N = 27) were recruited from a local service agency, given cameras and asked to photograph areas around town that were meaningful to them. Photographs were developed and followed by in-person, semi-structured interviews with participants in which photos and experiences during the project were discussed. Primary themes included belonging, generativity, social isolation, and place-making as meaning-making. The study culminated in a community photography exhibition in which photographs from the project were displayed in public spaces around town. Implications for community-based interventions to reach homeless groups in rural areas are discussed. Part of a symposium sponsored by the Qualitative Research Interest Group.

Providing Small Group Instruction to Children With Disabilities and Same-Age Peers

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 202-219
Author(s):  
Olivia Winstead ◽  
Justin D. Lane ◽  
Amy D. Spriggs ◽  
R. Allan Allday
Keyword(s):  
Small Group ◽  
Academic Failure ◽  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Small Group Instruction ◽  
Sight Words ◽  
Typical Development ◽  
Group Instruction ◽  
Academic Tasks ◽  
Moderate To Severe Disabilities

Small group instruction in classrooms provides children opportunities to collaborate on academic tasks, as well as opportunities for social interactions. Although such arrangements are common for children with typical development, children with moderate to severe disabilities (MSD) may receive few or no opportunities to participate meaningfully in small group instruction with same-age peers with typical development. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of a progressive time delay procedure for teaching children with MSD (autism spectrum disorder and/or intellectual disability) and those with typical social development, but at-risk for academic failure, to name sight words during small group instruction. In addition, children had multiple opportunities per session to provide tokens to peers, praise peers for correct responses, and initiate conversations and respond to a peer’s conversation initiations. Results indicated that children with and without disabilities can learn to name sight words, as well as learn to initiate conversation when tokens include pictures or photographs of each child’s preferred items or activities. Implications for teachers and future studies are provided.

scholarly journals The Feasibility of Community-Based, Supervised Exercise Programs to Engage and Monitor Patients in a Postrehabilitation Setting

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-461
Author(s):  
Timothy F. Marshall ◽  
Jay R. Groves ◽  
George P. Holan ◽  
Jonathan Lacamera ◽  
Shaloo Choudhary ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sports Medicine ◽  
Rehabilitation Medicine ◽  
Outpatient Rehabilitation ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
Chronic Medical Conditions ◽  
Medical Conditions ◽  
Exercise Programs ◽  
Program Outcomes ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Supervised Exercise

Objective. To evaluate the feasibility of disease-specific, community-based supervised exercise programs (CSEPs) to improve biometric and functional outcomes among persons with a variety of chronic medical conditions. Design. Feasibility, cohort study. Subjects were recruited through community placed flyers and provider offices. Exercise programs consisted of aerobic and resistance training that adhered to American College of Sports Medicine guidelines. A Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to assess program outcomes. Setting. Ten, community-based, medical fitness centers. Subjects. A total of 382 total participants. The number of participants in each CSEP ranged from 38 to 119. Individuals were 18 years of age or older and treated for various chronic medical conditions. Results. Varied by cohort, but generally consisted of ( a) favorable changes in body composition (  P < .05), ( b) significant improvements in submaximal exercise tolerance and functional outcome measures (  P < .05), and (3) significant increase in self-reported exercise behaviors (  P < .05). Conclusion. CSEPs improve outcomes in patients with chronic medical conditions and may be relevant within the continuum of care in outpatient rehabilitation medicine, particularly among bundled or value-based payment models. Further research is needed to evaluate outcomes from CSEPs versus controls.

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