Beyond High School: Building Your Best Life in Uncertain Times

Diane Marti, Carol Salber, Natalie Swift Author

04/06/2021 Added

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[00:00:05.520]Good afternoon.
[00:00:06.920]Welcome to our presentation, this virtual event,
[00:00:10.900]we're here to talk about beyond high school,
[00:00:13.910]building your best life in uncertain times.
[00:00:17.020]I am joined by Dr. Natalie Swift and Carol Salber
[00:00:22.900]for the presentation today.
[00:00:24.850]And just want to take a moment to introduce
[00:00:27.540]who will be talking in front of you today.
[00:00:30.030]So I'm Dr. Diane Marti
[00:00:32.370]and I am a licensed clinical psychologist
[00:00:36.190]and have been working with autism
[00:00:39.690]for well over 20 years now.
[00:00:42.120]I hate to count up how many hours that equals
[00:00:44.430]but I think it was like 60,000 hours
[00:00:46.880]the last time I was thinking about how long that has been.
[00:00:50.300]And I have a special interest in the area of assessments,
[00:00:54.250]particularly with adults and females on the spectrum
[00:00:57.690]because this is an area that is very difficult
[00:01:00.483]for clinicians in general to do.
[00:01:03.951]My first official diagnosis, I'd like to share, was in 2003.
[00:01:09.600]And at this time
[00:01:10.950]there wasn't a lot of information about autism.
[00:01:14.270]And she was a 14 year old middle-school person,
[00:01:17.670]individual that is now 32.
[00:01:21.910]I've been following her for the past 18 years
[00:01:25.440]and have basically seen and walked her through
[00:01:29.060]many life transitions.
[00:01:30.930]And I'm excited to say, we're finally at independent living
[00:01:33.960]and she's just doing wonderful.
[00:01:35.980]But this work has really, would,
[00:01:40.070]I want to say, exposed the areas of difficulty
[00:01:45.010]when it comes to planning, transition and making decisions
[00:01:48.760]about the individuals who are on the spectrum.
[00:01:52.920]I believe transition is particularly hard
[00:01:56.030]for individuals on the autism spectrum
[00:01:58.540]just by the very basics of this diagnosis
[00:02:03.670]as you all know.
[00:02:04.880]There's so many complexities associated with this
[00:02:07.770]atypical neuro, atypical presentation.
[00:02:11.200]And way back when I got started on this
[00:02:14.050]it was very common to talk about, you know one person
[00:02:18.710]on the autism spectrum, congratulations.
[00:02:21.820]You know one person.
[00:02:23.080]Because the generalization, oh, they looked me in the eyes,
[00:02:27.630]they can't have autism, et cetera.
[00:02:29.720]You know, it's so unique to our individuals.
[00:02:33.830]So this makes transition planning even more difficult
[00:02:39.810]in that, again, over the years what I'm seeing
[00:02:43.520]is an overwhelming number of choices that parents face
[00:02:50.320]and so hard to figure out what,
[00:02:52.480]where their individual's going to go
[00:02:55.480]and what their capacities are, I guess,
[00:02:59.150]is what I'd like to say.
[00:03:00.660]So that's kind of the fundamental kind of goal
[00:03:03.100]of this presentation, which we will start.
[00:03:05.470]And that is just kind of look at what kind
[00:03:07.490]of support services and how can we get better at this area.
[00:03:12.110]So I've transitioned, Dr. Swift,
[00:03:15.350]I'm so excited that she's joining us.
[00:03:17.290]She has so much experience working
[00:03:19.210]with developmental disabilities, and I have worked with her
[00:03:23.750]for over eight years now.
[00:03:25.160]So she has a lot of expertise
[00:03:26.970]that she's going to be sharing with you today.
[00:03:29.260]And Carol Salber, will be also joining us and Carol,
[00:03:32.850]she has so much information as well.
[00:03:36.060]It's amazing.
[00:03:36.900]And she's going to be talking from two hats
[00:03:39.020]because she does have a 23 year old who she has,
[00:03:43.330]we'd like to say gotten
[00:03:44.620]through this transition with her son.
[00:03:46.920]And has experienced a lot
[00:03:48.650]of what we're going to be talking about today.
[00:03:50.200]So I think there's going to be a lot that everybody's going
[00:03:52.870]to be able to learn from the individuals here today.
[00:03:57.400]So let's talk a little bit about the objectives.
[00:03:59.400]So, in general, we're going to be talking about programs
[00:04:02.730]and support services that are available
[00:04:05.010]for individuals on the spectrum.
[00:04:07.460]Very general.
[00:04:08.370]There is so much, our goal today is to try to get
[00:04:11.380]as much as we can get done with this information
[00:04:15.420]but I will be focusing on the assessments, testing
[00:04:19.730]and applications that are necessary
[00:04:22.180]for these different kinds of programs.
[00:04:24.790]We're also gonna hear about person-centered planning.
[00:04:28.050]Carol is going to talk to us about that.
[00:04:30.530]And we're gonna keep in mind
[00:04:33.510]as we move through this presentation, that COVID-19,
[00:04:37.390]what is that right?
[00:04:38.440]And that's why we're all here virtual.
[00:04:40.860]It has impacted of course, every inch of our lives.
[00:04:46.260]And we just can't ignore the fact
[00:04:48.500]that that has also impacted transition services as well.
[00:04:51.440]It's not that there will be a main focus
[00:04:53.470]but we're going to pepper in along the way
[00:04:55.680]to talk about maybe how we've seen it impacting.
[00:04:59.640]So in summary, basically what we're going to talk about
[00:05:02.270]is this transition planning.
[00:05:04.430]And just to make sure, you know,
[00:05:06.500]we're talking about something that is actually under laws,
[00:05:09.950]seen incorporated into IEP planning
[00:05:11.880]for students with disabilities.
[00:05:14.070]And this typically does start at the age of 16.
[00:05:17.470]And what we're going to be doing is talking
[00:05:20.520]about how this transition planning
[00:05:22.240]basically is for individuals on autism spectrum.
[00:05:27.490]Because as I said, just previously
[00:05:29.870]it's an especially confusing and anxiety producing time
[00:05:34.740]in general, but for those on the spectrum
[00:05:37.370]due to that individual capacities that they present,
[00:05:41.030]it can be overwhelming with what options there are.
[00:05:44.610]So in general, we're really hoping today
[00:05:47.290]that you'll have a chance to have and see the overview.
[00:05:50.540]And I just want to reiterate overview
[00:05:53.240]because there is so much information here.
[00:05:55.980]This I'd like to consider this as the,
[00:05:58.660]a general introduction, looking at this time of transition
[00:06:02.900]and looking at assessments that might be necessary,
[00:06:06.300]as well as additional information that you might need
[00:06:09.430]or your student might need in order to qualify
[00:06:11.960]for some of these services.
[00:06:14.440]So that takes us to questions.
[00:06:17.980]Yeah, we'll see this at the end, but I wanted to put this
[00:06:21.190]in here now, because this is prerecorded,
[00:06:25.330]Dr. Swift and Carol and myself,
[00:06:27.440]we're going to be behind the scenes
[00:06:29.520]and there will be a chat feature for comments.
[00:06:33.090]And then there's that Q and A feature.
[00:06:35.050]I'm sure everybody here is really knowledgeable
[00:06:38.040]on what this looks like
[00:06:39.960]because we've all been doing the zooms, right?
[00:06:42.110]So just know that at the end of the presentation,
[00:06:44.701]we will take questions live,
[00:06:46.710]we'll come back on as your video panel.
[00:06:49.050]But feel free as you're going along
[00:06:51.330]to send those questions actively during this time.
[00:06:55.900]Okay. So here we go.
[00:06:58.630]Love this picture, transition.
[00:07:00.650]It makes me think of being on a cruise ship.
[00:07:02.860]That's where I want to go.
[00:07:03.693]No, I don't.
[00:07:04.526]That's COVID, right?
[00:07:05.760]But transition.
[00:07:06.670]So college, do I go to college?
[00:07:09.149]Do I get a job?
[00:07:11.470]Should I move out of the home?
[00:07:12.750]I'm thinking that's what most of our seniors are thinking.
[00:07:15.660]And, you know, from my perspective
[00:07:17.470]I got two grandkids this year that are moving from
[00:07:22.480]they are seniors, graduating.
[00:07:24.916]And I'm looking at these options for them.
[00:07:27.210]Are you kidding?
[00:07:28.043]It's not easy.
[00:07:28.880]It doesn't matter for who you are.
[00:07:31.070]These choices, especially, am I gonna move away?
[00:07:34.360]Am I gonna stay at home?
[00:07:35.830]Holy cow, I think all of us can relate
[00:07:37.760]to this time of life, it's just not easy, right?
[00:07:41.430]But now we look at transition for the individuals
[00:07:44.410]on that autism spectrum.
[00:07:46.200]And it is so much more complex.
[00:07:50.120]This slide here, I'm just going to just,
[00:07:52.890]you'll have it in your PowerPoint slides
[00:07:54.690]and I'm not gonna take the time to click into this
[00:07:57.460]but this is actually the regulations
[00:07:59.930]that are in our state planning.
[00:08:04.340]It's a workforce innovation opportunity act, you know,
[00:08:07.760]so there are procedures in place that help us
[00:08:11.690]as individuals and families along with our transition.
[00:08:15.760]But what I think is important to say here is
[00:08:20.710]for individuals on the autism spectrum as many of you know,
[00:08:24.980]there could be some that aren't with an IEP.
[00:08:27.850]There could be individuals out there with this diagnosis
[00:08:31.580]that don't have strong support services during school
[00:08:36.230]because they didn't necessarily need them.
[00:08:38.680]And as we're gonna talk today
[00:08:40.660]that doesn't mean they don't need support.
[00:08:43.080]And I think if you're a parent of one of those individuals
[00:08:45.470]you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.
[00:08:47.980]And these programs that we're looking at,
[00:08:50.910]like social security income, for example.
[00:08:53.410]You know, it is such a diverse presentation of who qualifies
[00:08:57.600]and who doesn't.
[00:08:59.360]Important to note that social security income is a program
[00:09:04.250]for individuals with disabilities.
[00:09:07.400]And if a child has it prior to the age of, in Nebraska,
[00:09:11.670]I guess, well, it's a federal program, so it's 18, actually.
[00:09:14.740]They qualify because typically the family's income
[00:09:18.610]is low enough so that that child can have
[00:09:20.710]that kind of access to that income.
[00:09:24.210]Some families though, even though their child can qualify,
[00:09:28.930]they might make too much money
[00:09:30.130]so they don't actually receive the SSI.
[00:09:32.870]But it's really important to note
[00:09:34.550]that when we're transitioning and now we turn 18,
[00:09:38.020]because it's a federal program,
[00:09:39.800]that that is a time to re-look,
[00:09:42.030]does my individual qualify? would they benefit?
[00:09:46.460]That is something to be looking into.
[00:09:49.160]The other programs we can consider
[00:09:52.680]is developmental disability services.
[00:09:55.110]And typically an individual who qualified for DD services
[00:10:00.510]in my opinion, would have an IEP.
[00:10:02.620]And you would have a lot more information as to this process
[00:10:06.560]and what is needed during this transition planning.
[00:10:10.810]But of course there's housing and there's vocational support
[00:10:14.670]again, where does your student fall in these?
[00:10:17.540]It's hard to say.
[00:10:19.160]So we're gonna look at, oh,
[00:10:20.970]this is one of my favorite games of Scrabble.
[00:10:23.240]That's a really good word there, it's worth a lot of points,
[00:10:25.870]but we're gonna look at what are the qualifications
[00:10:30.460]for these programs.
[00:10:31.293]And this is where I think in my experience,
[00:10:33.700]in my 20 years of working in this area,
[00:10:36.760]this is where things kind of start to get very confusing
[00:10:40.930]for the individuals on the spectrum.
[00:10:43.610]So Dr. Swift and Carol and myself,
[00:10:46.270]we kind of, we're talking about this, like,
[00:10:48.710]how do we present?
[00:10:50.560]Because we know in a sense that even with the diagnosis
[00:10:55.200]it's mild in terms of interference or moderate or severe,
[00:11:00.070]we're really lacking common language
[00:11:02.160]to help guide us through this time.
[00:11:05.640]But we kind of decided on the concept of lanes,
[00:11:09.660]oh, we've got an ocean again.
[00:11:10.910]I think I've got a theme up here of ocean,
[00:11:13.240]need to get there.
[00:11:14.250]So what lanes exist for students
[00:11:15.950]with autism spectrum disorder?
[00:11:17.950]And this is just an analogy.
[00:11:19.230]So, hopefully it'll help us as we talk about this
[00:11:21.900]but just, just more again, as an analogy to help us discuss
[00:11:27.700]kind of the pathways we're seeing.
[00:11:31.070]So we thought, the inside lane, we think about
[00:11:33.910]those are for individuals who would both qualify for SSI
[00:11:38.080]and DD services.
[00:11:40.240]In a sense, they're going to be needing
[00:11:42.240]higher levels of support.
[00:11:44.320]They're gonna be looking at more direct support services.
[00:11:47.910]And I would like to say that if your student has been
[00:11:54.660]in full support in school and has a lot of services
[00:11:59.870]basically through their educational process,
[00:12:02.250]they're already going to be set up to be in this lane
[00:12:05.030]and looking at what supports are available there for them.
[00:12:09.020]This next one, though, the middle lane,
[00:12:12.413]it's not staying in the lane on that screen there,
[00:12:14.500]but we're looking at this as that moderate level of support.
[00:12:18.480]So individuals in this, they might qualify for SSI or DD,
[00:12:23.540]but they might not need that full day support
[00:12:27.290]or full day support services.
[00:12:29.640]They've been, probably need a mix of services.
[00:12:33.390]And then we basically have this other lane,
[00:12:35.860]what we conceptualized as the outside lane.
[00:12:39.050]Where the idea that, oh, my dear, these are individuals
[00:12:41.880]who aren't going to qualify for SSI or DD,
[00:12:45.400]probably weren't with IEP in school,
[00:12:47.980]probably made their way through
[00:12:49.830]with a lot of parent support.
[00:12:51.970]And now we're looking at school, you know, college,
[00:12:56.480]are they going to be moving out?
[00:12:58.860]Probably needing some support.
[00:13:01.180]So we really wanted to say,
[00:13:03.800]let's look at all of these different areas
[00:13:07.880]with the idea of looking at first,
[00:13:10.180]the person centered planning.
[00:13:12.360]We're gonna really want to be looking at the needs,
[00:13:15.470]the abilities, interests, life goals.
[00:13:17.940]Of course we do that for everyone at this stage, don't we?
[00:13:21.370]But again, back to our individuals on the autism spectrum,
[00:13:27.010]there's going to be some steps in assessment potentially
[00:13:31.230]that are gonna help us answer the questions
[00:13:34.360]of what is needed.
[00:13:36.670]And then that pulls us into looking at resources
[00:13:39.420]that are functionally relevant.
[00:13:42.160]So, here we go, a current psychological evaluation
[00:13:47.720]is helpful and even necessary
[00:13:50.950]to identify program qualification
[00:13:53.770]and current level of daily functioning.
[00:13:56.680]What is that?
[00:13:57.710]So I feel like one of the areas that I see is that
[00:14:02.890]we as parents are sitting in these IEPs,
[00:14:05.770]there's a lot of data being thrown out.
[00:14:07.980]We have probably, you know, data that goes back
[00:14:11.470]from when they first got in the programs
[00:14:13.210]and were reassessed through IDEA rule 54 every three years.
[00:14:18.020]So there's probably just a whole bunch of information there.
[00:14:22.340]And the problem here is that when we're looking
[00:14:25.890]at applying for SSI, for example,
[00:14:28.840]they're not gonna want the school data coming in.
[00:14:31.490]They're gonna need to have a psychological evaluation
[00:14:34.430]and they're gonna need it to be current.
[00:14:36.830]So this is basically the area that I specialize in.
[00:14:42.090]So what I like to say, I'm gonna just kind of give
[00:14:45.940]an overview here of what assessments that would be included
[00:14:50.400]in an evaluation such as this.
[00:14:54.010]I think it's important to note
[00:14:55.470]that not every individual needs this,
[00:14:58.790]needs this full assessment.
[00:15:01.010]So that's kind of that other piece,
[00:15:02.520]is probably getting some consultation to assess
[00:15:05.720]whether you're gonna want to have that done
[00:15:08.090]with your student, and again,
[00:15:10.530]having it done outside of the schools.
[00:15:12.860]So the pieces here for the cognitive assessment,
[00:15:18.070]it's really, if we're looking to apply for SSI
[00:15:21.200]and or the DD, developmental disabilities,
[00:15:24.620]we're gonna want to have recent IQ tests.
[00:15:27.410]And the one that typically is used as the Wechsler
[00:15:29.710]Adult Intelligence Scale, fourth edition is out right now.
[00:15:33.230]So this would be for individuals that are 17 and above.
[00:15:37.970]Stanford Binet, is just another example of an IQ test
[00:15:42.170]that could be used.
[00:15:43.930]And probably even more important
[00:15:46.170]is the adaptive behavioral assessment.
[00:15:49.160]Now these are two main instruments that are used
[00:15:54.380]and I personally liked the Vineland Adaptive
[00:15:56.730]Behavioral Scales, third edition.
[00:15:58.680]And I use what's more called the interview survey
[00:16:03.340]where it is a conversation with the parents
[00:16:07.530]and or caregivers that is talking about reality,
[00:16:13.720]not kind of what and how their person's doing,
[00:16:18.310]you know, within that structured routine.
[00:16:20.220]But it's, as I always say to parents, it's like,
[00:16:23.050]I want you to envision your 18 year old out, on their own,
[00:16:27.810]living in an apartment, you know, really functionally.
[00:16:30.380]What have they developed and can do on their own,
[00:16:33.910]without support.
[00:16:37.150]So this adaptive behavioral assessment
[00:16:40.310]is just a key piece to look at qualifying
[00:16:45.350]for whether a person does qualify
[00:16:47.280]for developmental disabilities or not.
[00:16:49.790]I might've misspoken earlier to say that to apply
[00:16:53.650]for social security disability, that you have to have an IQ.
[00:17:00.300]And technically you actually don't,
[00:17:02.140]you actually don't even need to have this assessment
[00:17:04.350]for an SSI eval.
[00:17:06.670]However, if you have an individual that presents
[00:17:11.500]and people would interview and think, well, you know,
[00:17:14.100]I don't even know that they're on the spectrum,
[00:17:16.070]and yet their ability,
[00:17:18.180]their executive functioning skills, et cetera, are delayed.
[00:17:22.570]This type of measure shows in a sense the age
[00:17:25.560]at which they are actually currently functioning at.
[00:17:28.560]And usually an IQ for an individual in the spectrum
[00:17:31.930]will show significant areas of strengths and needs.
[00:17:36.570]And those are the areas that really impact their ability
[00:17:39.120]to function, whether it be an at a job or college
[00:17:43.260]or whatever that they would need support.
[00:17:45.730]It's also good to use an instrument.
[00:17:48.130]These are two examples, that is looking
[00:17:51.410]at the actual autism area, their social development.
[00:17:57.640]Both of these scales actually will demonstrate
[00:18:01.140]areas of mild, to moderate, to severe areas of impact
[00:18:06.430]that their autism, if you will,
[00:18:08.660]we'll call that the behaviors that we can learn
[00:18:11.770]and get better at.
[00:18:13.910]Learning how to engage socially,
[00:18:16.670]understanding social motivation,
[00:18:18.600]understanding what, that mind blindness, right?
[00:18:22.140]Understanding the intentions of others, et cetera.
[00:18:24.690]Being able to engage in a back and forth conversation,
[00:18:30.610]asking questions, being able to self advocate
[00:18:33.260]for their needs.
[00:18:34.470]I mean, these are all skills
[00:18:37.150]that as we move into adulthood
[00:18:40.110]are just so important to have.
[00:18:42.670]So it's always good to know where the student is
[00:18:46.370]within those skills.
[00:18:48.300]And then for my assessments, the other areas
[00:18:51.860]that I like to add in is executive functioning measures.
[00:18:55.500]And as I have said, over the years, executive functioning,
[00:19:00.460]I call it like the executive secretary.
[00:19:03.900]It's like remembering to get going,
[00:19:06.520]remembering to get started on that task,
[00:19:08.810]staying on that task, not getting distracted,
[00:19:12.530]not going down that side road of talking about, you know,
[00:19:16.890]I'd call it the rabbit hole basically.
[00:19:19.270]So many of our individuals on the spectrum
[00:19:22.900]have areas of need when it comes to executive functioning
[00:19:26.540]and or even the ADHD diagnosis that the Conners,
[00:19:31.430]is another measure that would actually look at
[00:19:33.700]where those abilities are
[00:19:35.330]and maybe where there would be needs or deficits
[00:19:38.670]that have to be considered when looking at future options.
[00:19:41.960]And finally, if the individual can handle a test
[00:19:45.540]such as this, I like to do a test such as the MMPI-2,
[00:19:50.320]which now they have the third edition out.
[00:19:52.550]But that is really an assessment
[00:19:55.300]to look at where the anxiety is at,
[00:19:57.370]or looking at areas where they might be challenged
[00:20:00.490]in terms of the level of obsessing behaviors
[00:20:05.040]that they might have worries, et cetera.
[00:20:07.120]So again, this psychological evaluation kind of allows
[00:20:11.630]the individual to, in the family and the team,
[00:20:16.210]as I want to think about it, to look at again
[00:20:19.310]what programs that their person might qualify for
[00:20:23.010]and take into consideration as we move forward
[00:20:26.870]in this presentation and learn about some
[00:20:29.010]of these different services, take into consideration
[00:20:32.350]whether their student would benefit from this or not.
[00:20:35.980]So at this point in the transition
[00:20:38.570]I'm going to transition over to Carol,
[00:20:40.920]who's gonna takeover and talk from here, Carol.
[00:20:46.710]Great. Thank you, Dr. Marti.
[00:20:48.077]I'm going to be talking a little bit today
[00:20:51.228]and I do emphasize a little bit, because I think
[00:20:55.270]as Dr. Marti mentioned, this really is a brief overview
[00:20:59.597]on a lot of these different topics.
[00:21:01.780]So I know you're getting a lot of information,
[00:21:03.757]I know we could have gone so much deeper
[00:21:07.090]on any one of these topics, but so this is kind of
[00:21:10.190]an overview and hopefully we have opportunities
[00:21:12.760]down the line to follow a little bit more in-depth
[00:21:15.180]on some of these individual topics.
[00:21:18.700]So I'm going to talk a little bit,
[00:21:19.670]first about person-centered planning.
[00:21:22.660]By definition person-centered planning is a process
[00:21:25.270]of problem solving that's basically using,
[00:21:29.510]helping individuals with disabilities
[00:21:31.220]planning for their future.
[00:21:32.520]If you think about it, we really do this with our loved ones
[00:21:36.700]and our students who are neuro-typical
[00:21:41.090]when they start in high school.
[00:21:42.554]As Dr. Marti had mentioned, I have a son on the spectrum
[00:21:45.980]who is 23.
[00:21:47.180]I also have a neuro-typical daughter who's 19.
[00:21:50.780]And just having gone through some of those processes,
[00:21:54.370]going through the high school planning for what comes next
[00:21:56.750]after high school, was really quite different
[00:21:59.190]for both of those, both of my kids.
[00:22:02.600]And I would really like us to see, I think,
[00:22:06.140]as service providers, as parents, that we have,
[00:22:09.990]we spend more time focusing on how do we help our loved one
[00:22:13.630]with disability to move forward.
[00:22:15.420]Just like we would with those who don't have a disability.
[00:22:21.400]So person-centered planning,
[00:22:23.710]there are many different types of person-centered planning.
[00:22:27.410]And as I've gone through this with my son,
[00:22:30.380]when I first started looking into this, since he's 23,
[00:22:33.050]I started looking into what is person-centered planning?
[00:22:35.700]How do I help my son kind of plan and our family plan
[00:22:39.110]for what comes next?
[00:22:40.500]I started digging into what person-centered planning was.
[00:22:43.010]And I found some of kind of what I consider
[00:22:45.040]the older versions, I guess, maybe more original versions
[00:22:47.900]of person-centered planning.
[00:22:49.950]Some of them are called circles or maps or paths
[00:22:54.400]and there's a really good resource available
[00:22:57.350]through the DD website
[00:22:59.030]on Nebraska state developmental disability services
[00:23:02.840]that I think we'll take a look at here.
[00:23:05.500]And we will click over and take a peek at that website
[00:23:08.970]and see if we can see a little bit of what the state shows
[00:23:12.550]that is available for them
[00:23:16.882]and for our families as well, so that we can help them
[00:23:22.620]go through the whole person-centered planning process.
[00:23:25.890]Now we can access that website here.
[00:23:35.270]I think we'll keep going on
[00:23:36.761]and talk a little bit about what some of the newer ones are.
[00:23:40.387]But if you go to the DD services
[00:23:45.022]and DD is developmental disabilities services' website
[00:23:48.930]go onto Nebraska.
[00:23:50.410]Then they have an entire page devoted
[00:23:52.650]to person-centered planning.
[00:23:54.260]And on that page, they talk about different resources.
[00:23:58.761]You will find access to a lot of good information.
[00:24:03.040]One of them is a free webinar, free training
[00:24:07.380]that you can go through, that will talk
[00:24:11.170]about different person centered planning
[00:24:12.207]and you can go through it yourself.
[00:24:14.060]Or if you don't have the time to commit
[00:24:15.850]to signing up for a workshop in person, there is a link
[00:24:19.210]at the bottom where you can go through different webinars
[00:24:23.710]and view some of the older versions of different things.
[00:24:27.640]So some of the newer ones
[00:24:31.620]that I'm a little bit more familiar with,
[00:24:35.020]because as I was starting this process
[00:24:38.290]with my son and going through looking
[00:24:39.810]at what were the Circles and what is maps and paths
[00:24:42.390]and all of that.
[00:24:43.500]I did find a lot of information
[00:24:45.770]and that was, I guess, usable for me.
[00:24:50.380]So what I had really come to use a lot professionally
[00:24:54.470]and personally is the newer version that I found,
[00:24:57.580]I guess it just came out in 2017,
[00:25:00.510]is the the book "Come to Life".
[00:25:02.740]And this was put together by Thomas Iland and Emily Iland.
[00:25:05.957]And Thomas is an adult on the spectrum,
[00:25:08.279]and Emily is his mother.
[00:25:10.290]And they have a great resource that really made sense to me
[00:25:14.750]to use that kind of process for presenting playing
[00:25:18.087]for my son to help both of us walk through that process
[00:25:21.560]of, well, what do we wanna do next?
[00:25:23.820]What's next after after high school?
[00:25:26.830]Another resource that I really like is empowering ability.
[00:25:30.710]This is a relatively newer one.
[00:25:32.370]And Eric Goll, is also a family member
[00:25:34.830]who has put together on this website.
[00:25:37.320]And he talks a lot about his process
[00:25:40.980]and the process his whole family went through
[00:25:43.080]as they work to help his sister have her best life.
[00:25:48.500]So he has a lot of great resources.
[00:25:50.790]He also works as a coach and helps families
[00:25:54.610]kind of navigate this whole person-centered planning process
[00:25:57.590]and helping individuals be the best that they can be.
[00:26:00.910]Another resource is charting the life course.
[00:26:03.530]This is another way to look at person-centered planning
[00:26:06.260]and I was familiar with this one personally.
[00:26:08.140]I had been told by other families who are doing this
[00:26:12.930]person-centered planning themselves
[00:26:14.420]that charting the life course
[00:26:15.650]has been a really good resource for that.
[00:26:20.930]I'll go to the next slide.
[00:26:24.160]And these are just some visuals.
[00:26:25.540]I'm a very visual person, too.
[00:26:27.200]So if you're going through Google
[00:26:29.300]and looking for some information about any one of the newer
[00:26:32.920]person-centered planning approaches,
[00:26:34.437]"Come to Life", this is a picture of the "Come to Life"
[00:26:37.070]booklet on your guide to self-discovery,
[00:26:39.620]empowering ability by Eric Goll, is the other one.
[00:26:43.980]And then the turning your life course.
[00:26:50.410]Got a little bit ahead of myself there.
[00:26:52.060]So I'll go back.
[00:26:53.040]One page that I wanted to pull out
[00:26:55.580]of the "Come to Life" book that I really liked
[00:26:57.910]and I've used this with quite a few individuals
[00:27:00.150]that I work with professionally, and as well as my son.
[00:27:03.160]It looks at, helps me break down, what are my goals in life?
[00:27:07.540]As I think about what is life after high school,
[00:27:09.170]what does that look like for me?
[00:27:11.403]It's a good way to kind of break down, well,
[00:27:15.520]what do I want and the aspects of life
[00:27:18.877]I'm going to take a look at.
[00:27:21.150]So it helps us look at, for example, work,
[00:27:24.110]what kind of job do I want to have?
[00:27:26.330]It also helps us look at fun.
[00:27:28.610]What kind of things do I want to do that are fun?
[00:27:30.940]That, you know, what hobbies, what kind of things
[00:27:33.330]do I want to do outside of work?
[00:27:35.170]Whether it's by myself, with other people.
[00:27:38.090]Education, do I want to go on to school?
[00:27:39.840]Do I want to go onto a four year college?
[00:27:41.610]Do I want a degree program?
[00:27:43.640]Do I want to maybe take some other kinds of classes?
[00:27:47.640]And I really encourage us to look at school and education,
[00:27:52.100]especially for our loved ones
[00:27:53.250]with autism spectrum disorders,
[00:27:55.470]that it's a lifelong process.
[00:27:57.940]That it could be looking at college.
[00:27:59.560]It could be looking at a degree program
[00:28:01.170]but maybe it's right after high school, maybe it's not.
[00:28:04.470]Maybe it's a little bit here, it's a little bit there.
[00:28:06.640]Maybe it's taking a coding class through online
[00:28:11.610]or something like that.
[00:28:12.730]But we're looking at it as a lifelong process
[00:28:15.200]and continuing to learn new skills.
[00:28:17.407]And like also emphasize, what kind of relationships
[00:28:20.140]do I kind of want after high school?
[00:28:22.250]What kind of friends, do I have friends now?
[00:28:24.200]Do I want to broaden that circle of friends?
[00:28:28.550]One thing that I've experienced with my son
[00:28:30.740]and I've seen this happen similarly with other people,
[00:28:35.260]some of his friends.
[00:28:36.440]That when they were in high school, in a transition program,
[00:28:39.850]that they have a lot of friendships
[00:28:41.150]that were centered around school.
[00:28:43.860]But then once that schooling ended,
[00:28:46.320]a lot of those relationships kind of drifted off.
[00:28:49.210]So it was almost like starting over in some ways
[00:28:52.890]of, well now who are my friends?
[00:28:54.740]And how do I define my friends and thinking in terms of,
[00:28:58.170]do I want to have a boyfriend or girlfriend
[00:29:00.440]or do I want to get married.
[00:29:01.490]So thinking in terms of what kind of social relationships
[00:29:04.190]do you want to have there outside of your immediate team.
[00:29:07.380]Next to help look at living arrangements.
[00:29:10.640]What do I, where do I want to live?
[00:29:12.570]What kind of place do I want to live?
[00:29:14.710]And I really like looking at future living arrangements
[00:29:19.620]instead of housing.
[00:29:21.280]Because housing makes us think in terms, I think of
[00:29:24.883]I guess, resources, how am I going to pay for that?
[00:29:28.140]If we think in terms of living arrangements,
[00:29:30.440]do I want to do, do I want to live in an apartment?
[00:29:32.370]Do I wanna live in a house or alone with a roommate?
[00:29:34.750]Different things like that are really helpful things
[00:29:37.861]to look at and kind of shape those goals.
[00:29:40.850]And then we can work on finding
[00:29:42.640]what are the resources I need to get there?
[00:29:45.020]And then they have the other goals
[00:29:46.350]of maybe other different things that maybe
[00:29:48.020]someone has a goal they want to travel.
[00:29:49.660]They want to go to a different State
[00:29:52.080]or different things like that.
[00:29:53.300]So it has remote, well,
[00:29:54.500]what are the kinds of goals you might have in life?
[00:29:57.150]Now, if you look at these and think, oh my gosh,
[00:29:59.090]I have no idea how to get there.
[00:30:01.040]The one thing that I really, well,
[00:30:03.030]one of the many things I really liked
[00:30:04.330]about the "Come to Life" program is that there are multiple
[00:30:07.710]structured activities throughout the whole book
[00:30:10.480]that help you and your loved one kind of tease out
[00:30:13.390]different things in all these different aspects.
[00:30:15.670]So it can help you kind of frame, get a plan going forward.
[00:30:19.510]That's really a little more structured and guides.
[00:30:22.380]It has a lot more guidelines on that process.
[00:30:25.630]So next I'm going to talk a little bit about DD services
[00:30:28.710]on that whole application process.
[00:30:32.900]As my son got going through this services,
[00:30:37.000]the first thing that I heard a lot from service providers
[00:30:41.820]or like schools and other parents
[00:30:43.840]was get your son on the DD wait-list.
[00:30:47.010]And I'm sure maybe many of you
[00:30:48.650]have probably heard of the wait-list.
[00:30:50.680]So what you'll want to do is talking
[00:30:52.550]about getting your application in the DD services.
[00:30:56.670]And there are different waivers
[00:30:57.910]that you're going to look at applying for.
[00:31:00.310]I'm going to skip down on here
[00:31:03.540]because what I think we would like to do, if we can,
[00:31:06.210]is take a look at the eligibility
[00:31:09.120]for Medicaid waiver services
[00:31:14.070]and see if we can take a look at some of the things
[00:31:16.460]that they have on the website.
[00:31:19.490]And go through some of those, those aspects of that.
[00:31:28.740]Okay, I'll go back here to the other website.
[00:31:31.990]My other slide here, hold on.
[00:31:33.466]Technology is wonderful when it works
[00:31:36.040]just the way I wanted to.
[00:31:40.520]Kind of like life, have to be flexible.
[00:31:48.310]All right.
[00:31:49.143]So if you go to the DD services website
[00:31:52.420]it walks you through what is the eligibility requirements
[00:31:56.300]for someone who has, who might be able to access DD services
[00:32:00.990]through the state.
[00:32:06.020]I think we're going to go on back
[00:32:09.350]to that other slide here for a second.
[00:32:21.500]And the state DD services can be really,
[00:32:24.900]a little overwhelming, I think.
[00:32:27.550]There are four different waivers
[00:32:28.750]that you're going to be looking at.
[00:32:30.500]They're the main two ones that will apply
[00:32:32.741]or may apply to someone who has an autism spectrum disorder,
[00:32:36.071]what's called the CDD waiver and the DDAD waiver.
[00:32:40.140]So I know there's lots of acronyms.
[00:32:42.460]As you get through this whole process
[00:32:45.000]you will find information and get information
[00:32:48.230]on what all these terms mean.
[00:32:50.700]It will, it's kind of a new lingo
[00:32:52.100]as you get into adult services, but it's pretty
[00:32:54.670]self-explanatory once you get there anyway.
[00:32:57.710]CDD waivers, this is a comprehensive
[00:32:59.910]developmental disability waiver.
[00:33:02.290]And then there's the day services is what the DDAD,
[00:33:05.300]basically it's your day services waiver.
[00:33:07.430]So if you put in your application for DD services,
[00:33:11.502]if your loved one then is accepted and found eligible to be
[00:33:18.010]to get DD services, congratulations,
[00:33:21.800]you're now put on a wait list.
[00:33:23.510]So, which is a good thing that you're applying, you know,
[00:33:26.670]you have access to those services, but just not yet
[00:33:31.620]because we don't have the state funding for that.
[00:33:33.680]So what you will do is you will have,
[00:33:36.950]once you get through that, you'll have what's called an ICAP
[00:33:39.900]and they'll go through an ICAP assessment
[00:33:42.240]which the state uses to determine level of care or funding.
[00:33:45.390]The ICAP is honestly really pretty similar
[00:33:48.840]to what Dr. Marti mentioned.
[00:33:52.380]It will really look at what are those functional abilities
[00:33:57.040]that your loved one can or cannot?
[00:33:58.980]What can they do on the daily,
[00:34:01.200]on a daily life and daily living?
[00:34:03.080]So when you're going through the whole ICAP assessment
[00:34:05.770]process, what you want to do is complete this
[00:34:09.730]and base your answers on your person's worst day.
[00:34:12.960]Because the service provider who is going to be interviewing
[00:34:16.300]you and your individual on the spectrum
[00:34:19.420]to get the information for the ICAP.
[00:34:21.450]You want to make sure that you present enough information
[00:34:26.630]so that when your loved one has a worst day,
[00:34:30.100]has their worst day that the services are there.
[00:34:32.560]So this isn't the time where we want to have,
[00:34:35.840]present them with their best light
[00:34:37.990]and make everything like, oh, they can do that,
[00:34:40.220]I know they can do this, or they can do all these things.
[00:34:43.220]So we want to be really honest.
[00:34:44.480]And sometimes I think as parents
[00:34:46.011]it's a hard one to swallow, but if you remember that
[00:34:50.220]making sure that this information is,
[00:34:52.580]if they can't do it completely, independently,
[00:34:54.850]it's probably something that they cannot do.
[00:34:57.140]And it probably going to need some level of support.
[00:35:00.780]So the ICAP is one of the things that you'll walk through
[00:35:04.970]as you get services up and running for your loved one
[00:35:07.400]if they qualify for services.
[00:35:09.380]Another resource that is available through the state
[00:35:12.030]is the ready set go resource.
[00:35:16.530]And that kind of gives another really good information,
[00:35:19.380]some information on how do you get services up and running,
[00:35:23.320]what comes next?
[00:35:28.450]And they focus on what service is available,
[00:35:32.000]eligibility for services.
[00:35:32.833]And you can tell there's a lot of different information
[00:35:35.370]on the state DD website and there a lot
[00:35:37.150]of different brochures available through the website.
[00:35:45.610]And next, we're gonna talk about a little bit about
[00:35:48.850]the wait-list and sort of this coordination.
[00:35:51.190]So I mentioned that if your loved one
[00:35:53.539]is found to be eligible for DD services
[00:35:55.870]then you're more than likely going to be put on a wait-list.
[00:35:59.580]So what that means is, do I get any services?
[00:36:02.060]Is there anything that I can do in meantime?
[00:36:05.110]Well, there is a little bit and I know that at least
[00:36:08.720]at the time that we're recording this here is a bill
[00:36:12.480]at the state legislature where we can go where some services
[00:36:17.590]would be expanded so that people who are on the wait-list
[00:36:21.260]can have access to more services.
[00:36:23.280]So I'm hopeful because I think that maybe by the time
[00:36:27.740]we have, they're doing this and we are answering
[00:36:30.670]some questions we might have a little bit more information
[00:36:32.550]on where that bill stands.
[00:36:36.330]And allowing people on the wait-list
[00:36:37.840]to be able to access more services.
[00:36:40.090]But one of the things that you can have access to
[00:36:43.180]while you're on that wait-list, is service coordination.
[00:36:46.320]So one thing I really encourage families to do
[00:36:48.440]that as you're coming up into your last year
[00:36:51.140]of the transition program, that if you don't have access
[00:36:55.010]or you haven't been connected with the service coordinator,
[00:36:58.170]feel free to reach out and request
[00:36:59.990]that you have a service coordinator assigned to you
[00:37:02.930]and your family.
[00:37:03.970]So that you have someone who helps you walk through
[00:37:06.230]all the services that are available.
[00:37:07.970]This is someone who can be with you while you go
[00:37:10.760]to IEP meeting, someone who can help you understand,
[00:37:14.430]well, what are the services?
[00:37:15.560]What are adults services available?
[00:37:17.163]What's out there?
[00:37:18.730]What can I do?
[00:37:20.520]This is someone to help you walk through that process,
[00:37:22.620]can help set up meet and greats with service providers
[00:37:25.810]that might be appropriate for your level.
[00:37:28.850]And there's again, a lot more information on the website.
[00:37:35.610]So one thing we'll talk about next,
[00:37:37.247]before I hand it off to Dr. Swift,
[00:37:39.960]to talk a little bit more.
[00:37:40.850]We will be looking at some of the DD service providers.
[00:37:45.600]You may have access to agencies or independent providers.
[00:37:51.350]And what is the difference?
[00:37:53.120]An agency would provide services usually onsite
[00:37:57.180]and there isn't a very long list of agencies
[00:38:01.430]on the DD services state website.
[00:38:04.640]Independent providers are services that you could also have.
[00:38:08.800]That is much more what's considered self directed services.
[00:38:12.290]The thing with independent providers, there are pros
[00:38:14.610]and cons with that.
[00:38:15.654]As a mom, for my son, we use both.
[00:38:19.690]We use access to agency services.
[00:38:21.670]We also use independent providers.
[00:38:23.340]Independent providers can really allow you to tailor
[00:38:27.415]really more specifically what you are,
[00:38:30.100]what your loved one needs.
[00:38:31.820]Maybe your loved one needs specific help on the sub-skills
[00:38:35.920]about wanting to need to take the driver's test.
[00:38:38.040]Or maybe how do I fill out some, you know, applications
[00:38:42.860]for different services, they want to be able to,
[00:38:48.250]how do I go to the grocery store
[00:38:50.300]and get things that I need at a grocery store?
[00:38:52.860]So those are things that an independent provider
[00:38:54.780]who worked on one-on-one with your individual
[00:38:57.210]and loved one on the spectrum.
[00:38:58.960]So both of those services are something
[00:39:01.720]that you could access through waiver service.
[00:39:05.490]And yes, you can use both.
[00:39:06.670]Like I mentioned, I do for my son
[00:39:08.490]and it's been a great resource for him.
[00:39:11.680]So that I know as a really, really small overview
[00:39:15.670]and very quick overview of some of the DD services.
[00:39:19.090]Again, we'll have some more time for questions,
[00:39:21.780]feel free to add questions to the chat
[00:39:23.760]as I'll be answering questions on chat
[00:39:25.480]as well, Dr. Marti and Dr. Swift,
[00:39:27.790]and hopefully after the presentation as well.
[00:39:30.640]But I will now hand it over to Dr. Swift,
[00:39:33.980]to talk about some additional transition resources.
[00:39:37.030]Thank you, Carol.
[00:39:38.560]Appreciate again, your information and Dr. Marti,
[00:39:41.780]it's always wonderful in this presentation.
[00:39:45.020]So also re-review those things for myself that I can help
[00:39:49.280]with my individual clients that I see and their families.
[00:39:53.740]Before I talk a little bit about the trends,
[00:39:56.230]just additional transition resources.
[00:39:58.320]Which are resources that anyone, whatever the outer,
[00:40:02.580]the inner, the middle or outer lane,
[00:40:05.640]these are services that all may be able to participate in.
[00:40:09.990]But I wanted to make a note that in the season of last year,
[00:40:14.230]2020, we have all been hit with having to process,
[00:40:19.990]having to contend with, make sense of
[00:40:23.529]and find ways of coping in the environment of COVID.
[00:40:29.070]And with that has, I think we want to be honest
[00:40:32.870]with ourselves, with the level of just some energy and focus
[00:40:38.010]and additional thoughts on trying to figure it out.
[00:40:40.735]How does this impact my individual?
[00:40:43.880]Well, all of our lives have been affected.
[00:40:47.280]And with that, I have noticed in practice that all of my,
[00:40:52.580]either, whether it be my clients or their families,
[00:40:56.140]and even myself.
[00:40:57.940]Need just that additional support to sort of sort out
[00:41:02.053]what are some options available.
[00:41:04.880]Help out in the decision-making.
[00:41:07.320]Having someone to be able to talk to,
[00:41:09.240]just to be able to bounce off ideas.
[00:41:12.190]Because we can't neglect what has happened
[00:41:14.670]in this past year.
[00:41:15.530]It's still occurring, how it just takes some
[00:41:18.380]of our cognitive and emotional energy.
[00:41:20.880]It kind of brings it down a notch.
[00:41:22.160]We still have it, but some of that is allocated
[00:41:24.950]to figuring out what's going on,
[00:41:27.380]making sure that I'm following everything
[00:41:29.760]and being mindful of our interactions
[00:41:32.160]and out in the community.
[00:41:33.330]And I just want to say openly that it is okay to say,
[00:41:37.910]I may need help to get access to these resources
[00:41:41.950]and to understand you don't have to do it alone.
[00:41:44.440]If you're a parent,
[00:41:45.273]you don't have to sort through it all alone.
[00:41:47.310]There are people and resources available
[00:41:50.150]to help you sort through it.
[00:41:52.440]Look at the options step-by-step,
[00:41:54.596]regardless where you are in the process.
[00:41:57.200]And for that individual, you're not alone.
[00:41:59.820]There are people and resources, organizations, agencies,
[00:42:03.860]available to walk with you through the process
[00:42:06.810]so that it will not seem so big and overwhelming.
[00:42:10.540]And those are a few that we want to share with you today
[00:42:13.650]as we move through the process.
[00:42:15.700]And some of these resources, you're likely already aware of
[00:42:19.930]but we want to take the time to highlight them
[00:42:22.540]because of the value that we've been able to really see
[00:42:25.400]in our individual clients and services that we provide.
[00:42:29.320]The first one we're going to mention is PTI,
[00:42:31.270]the parent training information Nebraska,
[00:42:34.290]PTI Nebraska, statewide resource for families of children
[00:42:38.160]with disability and special healthcare needs.
[00:42:40.790]I think sometimes it's good to be able to have, a live,
[00:42:45.530]being able to connect with a live parent
[00:42:49.870]or a staff representative, just to be able to say,
[00:42:54.260]hey, am I on the right track?
[00:42:56.390]This is the option I thought about.
[00:42:58.720]What are your thoughts about that, right?
[00:43:01.140]How do we get access?
[00:43:02.750]What have you noticed when you have explored this?
[00:43:06.550]Or what are some other things that I probably need
[00:43:08.590]to consider in this IEP, as we prepare for transition.
[00:43:12.180]Really getting some candid questions.
[00:43:14.530]I think it's a really good hub, good resource to tap into.
[00:43:17.780]So I really encourage you to take a moment to go
[00:43:21.030]to that website after the presentation to take,
[00:43:24.600]to see what are some options that may be available for you.
[00:43:28.507]And, or as I said, to be able to talk to someone,
[00:43:30.540]a staff representative, you can call that 1-800 number.
[00:43:35.270]Another resource that I want to share
[00:43:38.080]that I have come across in the last,
[00:43:40.110]I'd say probably two years is looking
[00:43:43.250]at the League of Human Dignity,
[00:43:45.050]which is a consumer nonprofit organization
[00:43:48.640]that really is looking to advocate
[00:43:50.700]for the integration of individuals with disability
[00:43:53.590]and advocating for their rights.
[00:43:56.340]But they are a great hub for information
[00:43:59.370]and referral services for the things that we,
[00:44:01.960]let's say we've gotten to the presentation and like,
[00:44:03.720]I'm not sure where to go.
[00:44:05.050]You can always give a call, get some referral information,
[00:44:08.420]especially if we're talking about transition.
[00:44:11.970]I have made referrals for an independent living advisor
[00:44:15.850]to help some of my clients that I've worked with,
[00:44:18.710]with individual living skills training.
[00:44:21.570]What they have is that individual living advisor
[00:44:25.130]where we'll work with the individual
[00:44:26.880]for about an hour or two, a week.
[00:44:29.220]They may be able to modify that after they do an intake
[00:44:31.730]and find out the treatment needs.
[00:44:33.450]But I have found it to be incredible,
[00:44:35.300]supportive to my clients.
[00:44:37.240]My clients have reported the same in regards
[00:44:40.160]to maybe I need help with trying to just kind of build
[00:44:46.520]some skills on just budgeting, meal planning.
[00:44:49.780]Some of those independent life skills
[00:44:51.640]that perhaps did not get developed in the high school years,
[00:44:56.370]but now we're transitioning into the next step
[00:44:58.770]and we need some more skill building there.
[00:45:01.370]I also like the opportunity to have that independent
[00:45:06.120]living advisor to help either the parent or the individual.
[00:45:10.160]And I'm gonna say the big key word, paper work,
[00:45:13.940]to try to figure out all that amount of paperwork,
[00:45:17.410]to try to figure out what this process and that process
[00:45:20.070]or if you're filling it out on the computer.
[00:45:21.630]I have found the advocates through the League
[00:45:24.500]of Human Dignity to be very helpful on helping a parent.
[00:45:28.160]Here's the paperwork, where do I start?
[00:45:28.993]Am I on the right track here, right?
[00:45:30.838]But not necessarily trying to fill out for,
[00:45:33.030]they're trying to help you work through the steps
[00:45:35.970]so that you are, that you're on track.
[00:45:38.210]And I think it's great to have that support available,
[00:45:41.330]especially when we're talking about trying to organize
[00:45:44.320]and figure out and submit the actual paperwork
[00:45:47.620]and where to do that.
[00:45:48.660]So I think that that can be another resource
[00:45:51.596]for people to look into.
[00:45:53.090]The other thing that I come along the way
[00:45:58.030]to see in the recent years, are those along the way guides
[00:46:01.740]and these guides aren't here for adolescents
[00:46:03.790]and young adults.
[00:46:04.623]But they have them starting from infants
[00:46:06.660]and toddlers and teens and end up here,
[00:46:09.200]I have adolescents and adults.
[00:46:11.640]So throughout the lifespan you're able to look at the guides
[00:46:15.430]and get information about the resources that are available.
[00:46:19.540]Now when you click on the website, finding more information,
[00:46:24.540]when you go to see this specific along the way guide.
[00:46:27.980]What I like about it is sometimes we say, okay,
[00:46:30.110]I need a visual to see exactly what all of the steps are.
[00:46:35.360]You're going to be able to see for the adolescents,
[00:46:37.690]for that that young adult, what are the actual timelines
[00:46:42.420]of things that would be helpful to be done
[00:46:45.310]at the child's at 16, 17, 18,
[00:46:47.620]it gives you specific mile markers of what are some things
[00:46:50.810]that I probably should check into or review,
[00:46:53.740]or the, what's the next step in that process
[00:46:56.250]as they're transitioning.
[00:46:57.760]It's not, you should do that,
[00:46:59.170]but it's just helpful mile markers.
[00:47:01.160]And let's say you haven't done any of that.
[00:47:03.220]Doesn't matter?
[00:47:04.200]You're able to look at that timeline
[00:47:05.920]and just get a guide on where do I start.
[00:47:08.520]Also has some good questions, like,
[00:47:10.740]what questions do I need to ask myself as a parent
[00:47:13.550]or ask my child or ask the student
[00:47:15.690]to really sort of organize where to begin.
[00:47:19.070]Okay? so, and then it kind of goes through
[00:47:21.370]all the different systems that we have spoken about.
[00:47:23.940]So again, I look at this as that encyclopedia reference,
[00:47:27.190]that visual reference that we'll be able to use
[00:47:30.490]in your process.
[00:47:32.920]And just as an end resource, I think it's good to go to
[00:47:37.670]as a general Nebraska resource, to go online,
[00:47:41.140]department of health and human services.
[00:47:42.950]And a lot of all of the resources that we have
[00:47:45.270]already included in that website.
[00:47:47.920]So you can go back and reference them.
[00:47:51.740]What we want to do right now is highlight a resource
[00:47:56.080]that may be for a particular work lane
[00:47:59.570]that I've come in contact with the last few years
[00:48:02.610]and realized that some of my family members
[00:48:04.960]and individual clients and even community members
[00:48:07.240]are not as familiar and thought it would be a good idea
[00:48:10.530]to just highlight this resource
[00:48:12.560]as it may be applicable to our audience.
[00:48:16.130]And this is an outside lane, kind of a community
[00:48:18.450]resource highlight that I want to tag here.
[00:48:21.060]And as we'd spoke about before, those in the outside lane,
[00:48:25.250]they may not be eligible or maybe on the waiting list.
[00:48:29.860]They may not have access to the DD services
[00:48:32.120]that we have talked about and maybe kind of in waiting
[00:48:35.880]to graduate high school,
[00:48:37.528]and then there's this gap between the next step.
[00:48:41.140]And they could benefit from some skills,
[00:48:44.770]some resources, commendations between that
[00:48:47.970]while they're in that bridge.
[00:48:49.260]Okay, rather in that gap between high school
[00:48:51.420]and the next step, whether the next step is college,
[00:48:54.470]whether the next step is a job.
[00:48:56.970]Whatever those options may be.
[00:48:59.298]And so I want to talk about Nebraska Transition College.
[00:49:02.210]Some of you may have heard about it in the last few years.
[00:49:04.870]I want to share those for who haven't,
[00:49:07.050]specifically want to give some highlight about NTC
[00:49:09.960]and what's it all about and how perhaps maybe your student
[00:49:13.780]or child may be able to benefit.
[00:49:16.520]So Nebraska Transition College is a nonprofit organization.
[00:49:21.610]Similarly, like we've talked about
[00:49:23.150]for some of the organizations, the classes,
[00:49:25.450]interestingly are not academic.
[00:49:27.770]They're mostly focused on skills
[00:49:30.830]that are like living skills, community skills,
[00:49:33.860]wellness, work readiness skills.
[00:49:36.090]Again, sometimes those are skills that for whatever reason
[00:49:38.880]may have, not to say that they were missed in high school
[00:49:41.990]but they could just use some development quite frankly
[00:49:45.460]for us all, me included.
[00:49:47.570]All right.
[00:49:48.403]So those are opportunity.
[00:49:49.980]And that's what NTC really focuses on.
[00:49:52.700]They're natural.
[00:49:53.870]The classes, interestingly enough,
[00:49:55.350]are kind of into the community.
[00:49:56.850]Right now, during the COVID period,
[00:49:59.050]their client classes are offered online
[00:50:01.770]and will be in person.
[00:50:04.160]Right now, virtual.
[00:50:05.270]But the goal is to be able to do a cross of that
[00:50:08.200]to have the, to meet obviously the guidelines
[00:50:11.820]and the requirements of COVID with safety,
[00:50:13.930]but also that flexibility.
[00:50:16.514]So we have there certain community partners
[00:50:18.670]that have graciously allowed NTC to be able to offer classes
[00:50:22.930]in the community.
[00:50:25.700]And the curriculum, three-year comprehensive curriculum,
[00:50:28.600]which I'll show you in a few slides.
[00:50:30.800]Which kind of breaks down all of those core domains
[00:50:35.990]over a period of time, culminating in the third year
[00:50:39.470]where an NTC student gets a chance to practice
[00:50:42.190]all of those skills they learned in the first two years,
[00:50:44.320]living skills, community skills, all of those skills
[00:50:47.580]and reside in the community with other NTC students
[00:50:51.390]for one year practical, which is super exciting.
[00:50:54.930]It's something NTC is hoping to pilot
[00:50:57.170]within this next 2022 year.
[00:51:00.810]And so it's something that I think
[00:51:03.000]can be a really wonderful option for students
[00:51:06.130]that really want to try out, can I do this?
[00:51:08.020]Can I have this?
[00:51:08.853]I have the skills, the confidence,
[00:51:10.540]the ability to be able to do this
[00:51:11.950]and the experience and NTC is able to offer that.
[00:51:17.520]I did want to share a little bit about the age group.
[00:51:20.820]The students have typically graduated from high school
[00:51:24.280]and have a verified disability.
[00:51:26.730]Typically autism, there's really not an upper age limit.
[00:51:30.070]Most students are between 18 to 25, but again,
[00:51:33.450]there's not an upper age limit.
[00:51:34.740]Those things can be discussed, especially if there's a value
[00:51:38.330]for the students who benefit from being a student.
[00:51:42.310]And there's a mixture of part-time and full-time,
[00:51:44.430]can be enrolled, you don't have
[00:51:45.620]to be enrolled the full time.
[00:51:48.170]And as I said before, they're offered online
[00:51:50.150]and in the classroom.
[00:51:51.900]So I did want to take a moment
[00:51:54.780]to look at what is the mission, what's the value?
[00:51:57.180]What are they trying to do?
[00:51:58.770]Well, the overall mission is to empower individuals
[00:52:02.220]on the spectrum with an autism spectrum disorder
[00:52:05.410]and other learning differences, mind you,
[00:52:07.100]with the freedom to practice,
[00:52:08.850]to experience their full potential
[00:52:11.220]through the power of choice
[00:52:12.320]and effectively changing their lives and community.
[00:52:14.930]And they can do that through access through the curriculum,
[00:52:17.950]through some of the skills that they're learning
[00:52:19.620]and interacting with other students
[00:52:21.290]or living in the community, really empowering them
[00:52:24.480]to help them bridge to that next step in their journey.
[00:52:28.787]And what is the purpose?
[00:52:30.380]Well, the purpose is to, as I said, bridge that teaching
[00:52:33.650]of young adults, how to use the abilities
[00:52:35.520]of what we already have, the skills that they already have
[00:52:38.450]to make a living, go to college and live on their own
[00:52:41.320]or with a roommate.
[00:52:42.430]Or a help them learn what's not yet mastered.
[00:52:45.000]So their skills that they have and bridging that
[00:52:47.490]with new skills that they can have, that really
[00:52:49.747]helps them to increase that personal sufficiency,
[00:52:52.650]that competence, really empower them to live the best life.
[00:52:58.480]I wanted to take the time
[00:52:59.727]and this may be a bit challenging to see.
[00:53:02.980]It is a part of a handout that we're giving as a resource
[00:53:05.730]but I wanted you to take a look
[00:53:07.910]and see again, the curriculum.
[00:53:10.240]We have the six curriculum of wellness, the social skills
[00:53:13.397]that we, so there's program,
[00:53:15.910]the product of NTC is that curriculum.
[00:53:18.170]And it's broken down to six domains,
[00:53:20.260]health and wellness, building social skills,
[00:53:23.530]vocational, pre vocational skills,
[00:53:25.510]that's that work readiness.
[00:53:27.020]Community navigation skills, you know, how do I access
[00:53:30.800]and make sense of some of these services in my community
[00:53:35.390]and even civic responsibility?
[00:53:37.090]How do I vote?
[00:53:38.060]Where do I volunteer?
[00:53:39.190]Who do I contact?
[00:53:40.780]And then the last thing is the residential living,
[00:53:43.310]having that actual practical experience in that third year.
[00:53:46.670]On the second half of the screen, you will see
[00:53:49.090]how are the classes broken down?
[00:53:51.480]First year, second year, as you can see that they build
[00:53:54.420]on one another, culminating with that third year
[00:53:57.590]of that curriculum and then that practicum experience.
[00:54:02.840]There may be a lot of questions about NTC
[00:54:06.060]and what it provides and offers.
[00:54:08.320]I encourage you to go to their website.
[00:54:10.960]Also send an email to ask all of your questions.
[00:54:13.810]There's also a phone contact of theirs.
[00:54:17.299]Folks at NTC would be very happy to answer your question
[00:54:22.350]and provide some more additional support
[00:54:25.940]for your specific question.
[00:54:30.530]We are now at the end of our presentation
[00:54:34.650]and I'm going to invite our,
[00:54:37.500]my panelists, co-panelists to come back on.
[00:54:40.260]There we are Dr. Marti and Carol and myself.
[00:54:44.670]And we want to thank you for this opportunity
[00:54:47.360]to put this presentation together.
[00:54:49.920]It has been our joy and privilege to be able to do that.
[00:54:51.940]Sure there's a variety of questions
[00:54:53.190]that we may be able to answer as we close
[00:54:55.300]on this presentation, Dr. Marti or Carol.
[00:54:58.340]I absolutely agree,
[00:55:00.060]there's gonna hopefully be time for questions.
[00:55:02.960]We have just presented a lot of information.
[00:55:06.400]And I'm thinking that I do want to emphasize
[00:55:10.750]these are just several of the programs that are available
[00:55:13.950]we highlighted today, but there are more out there.
[00:55:17.170]And so this is not a comprehensive overview
[00:55:20.420]but hopefully just give you an idea
[00:55:23.090]of what to start thinking about, what to start looking about
[00:55:26.180]and being able to access resources.
[00:55:29.260]So at this point, we are going to be ending
[00:55:31.720]our prerecorded part of the presentation.
[00:55:34.540]And now we're excited to come back online, but we'll be live
[00:55:38.510]and we will be able to answer, continue this discussion
[00:55:42.360]about this very important time in life.
[00:55:44.940]So, thank you very much, and we'll see you soon.

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Beyond High School: Building Your Best Life in Uncertain Times

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