May 2017

This month’s unit titled, "Home Sweet Home," addresses the topic of potential living options, The unit provides lessons and activities about the importance of thinking about where your young adult wants to live and the types of supports they will need including activities in the Transition Passport: Personal Life/ Evaluation Tools. As we assist our young adults in the transition from school to work, it is necessary that they receive training in daily living and money skills. Living independently means that they may need to learn new skills. Knowing how to take care of oneself, money and a home are skills needed for independent living. Some people may need support people to come in to help with some of these skills. This unit will provide our young adults with the tools needed to learn about how to choose a home that best meets their needs.

The unit stories help young adults learn the importance of learning about future living options. In the first story, Katie is moving from a care center into her own home. This has been a dream for Katie. Her parents and support team work hard to find Katie a home. Katie’s house needs some changes to meet Katie’s needs. With a lot of hard work and planning, Katie’s dream comes true. In the second story, Kevin is researching future living options for himself. He is thinking about either continuing to live with his parents, moving into an apartment or moving into a group home. Kevin thinks about the good and bad things about each option. Three articles offer more information and activities that give our young adults the opportunity to learn about planning for future living and the skills needed to live independently.

Regular monthly lessons are provided which offer the opportunity to practice the skills needed to care for yourself and your home. Home needs are addressed in banking and budgeting where the importance of budgeting for needs before spending money on wants is stressed. Daily living skills involved in cooking are part of a regular monthly lesson offering five recipes where our young adults can practice the skills needed to cook and care for themselves. Social and communication skills are the focus of lessons presenting daily social trivia scenarios offering more opportunity for our young adults to practice skills needed to care for a home.

Employment continues to be a regular focus for several lessons each month. Lessons include exploring different jobs, reading job ads, completing job applications and practicing interview skills. Simple, realistic scenarios address job skills and interactions at work.