This video talks about the many changes or losses people may have in their lives and how to prepare for losses that they may experience, including stories from self-advocates about how they have dealt with losses in their lives.
This video provides an overview about how people can build good relationships in their lives and leave bad relationships when they occur, including stories and advice from self-advocates on how people have built good relationships in their lives.
This webpage gives an overview of people to contact if you have an immediate need for temporary or permanent support as a result of a caregiver no longer being able to provide support.
People with IDD and their families may experience several challenges over the course of their lifespan, and these challenges must be navigated in a manner that respects how each person’s and family’s cultural values may impact their experiences and understanding of disability. The course offers strategies that staff and providers may use to integrate cultural and disability competence into their work with people with IDD and their families, strengthening access to the support system for this diverse group nationwide.
The course will assist I&R/A professionals to define intellectual and developmental disability (IDD); recognize barriers experienced by people with IDD and their families; describe the many ways that culture impacts how a person and family experiences disability; and identify best practices to serve people with IDD and their families.
This course was developed by The Arc in partnership with NASUAD to support the professional development of I&R/A specialists.
To access this free, online training course, visit NASUADiQ. If you are new to NASUADiQ, you must create an account for yourself to be able to access this course.
NASUAD represents the nation’s 56 state and territorial agencies on aging and disabilities and supports visionary state leadership, the advancement of state systems innovation and the articulation of national policies that support home and community-based services for older adults and individuals with disabilities. NASUAD releases publications, provides technical assistance to agencies, and develops initiatives to support state agencies to better support people with disabilities and families.
The main objectives of the FSRTC are to define the state of science in family support; generate new information in critical policy areas of self-direction and managed care and in culturally competent peer supports, and to share promising practices in family support nationally.
As a disability professional, you play a key role in encouraging and supporting people with disabilities and their families to fully engage in civic opportunities like volunteering.
In the links below, we provide information on how you can help foster inclusive volunteering opportunities, and how to engage local businesses to build inclusive volunteering partnerships.
Include Volunteer Community Service Opportunities in Support Plans
Sometimes, volunteer work and service is not considered as an option when a person with IDD and his or her support team is making a support plan. As you and your colleagues help people with IDD to make individual support and service plans, allow the person to consider whether he or she wants to volunteer and help him or her identify service opportunities that he or she would be interested in. This article reviews the different types of service people engage in and offers some key questions you can use to help connect a person with IDD to volunteer opportunities in the community.
Foster Inclusive Volunteer Programs in Your Community via Local Partnerships
If you are looking for ways to build inclusive volunteering opportunities in your community, focus on individual projects and short-term community efforts. Often, small projects can help neighborhoods and local community organizations without significant experience working with people with disabilities improve their knowledge of how to engage and support volunteers with disabilities. Check out this report from Seattle that shares stories and strategies on how to support people with IDD to become more involved in community life for inspiration on how you may be able to develop similar activities in your community.
Think Outside of the Box
Some of the biggest challenges for disability professionals are to find volunteer opportunities that match the interests of the people that you serve, that avoid unintentionally segregating people with IDD, and that connect people with IDD meaningfully to other well-connected volunteers in the community. Check out the tip sheet for recommendations on how you can overcome these common challenges.
What Else Can I Do?
Check with your local chapter of The Arc to learn more about other local volunteer opportunities you may want to participate in or connect the people you support with!
Self Advocacy Online is a place to find accessible information and videos on current topics in self-advocacy. Visitors to the site will discover multi-media lessons on a variety of topics such as living self-determined, healthy, contributing lives in their communities. The site includes a story wall of videos of self-advocates sharing their stories. SAO operates with primary funding from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD), and other federal agencies. SAO is a part of the Research and Training Center on Community Living at the University of Minnesota.
Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE) works to ensure that people with disabilities are treated as equals and they are given the same choices, rights, responsibilities, and chances to empower themselves as everyone else. SABE is a national board of regional representatives and members from every state in the US.
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) is a national grassroots disability rights organization, advocating for systems change and ensuring that the voices of people with autism are heard. ASAN’s activities include public policy advocacy and leadership trainings for self-advocates. ASAN provides information about autism, disability rights, and systems change to the public through a number of different educational, cultural, and advocacy related projects.
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