HOLY CRAP! I cannot believe it is the 10th already! When did it become November? Jeez this fall is flying by. I’m excited for another Teens on the Tenth post! Teens on the Tenth is a monthly post dedicated to high school based ideas, resources, and materials. Check out last month’s Teens on the Tenth post with an awesome guest blogger’s perspectives and input!
I have a little bookmarking habit. I am constantly bookmarking interesting articles and cool websites. I have been finding some great resources for high schoolers and adults that I thought I would share this month. I included an excerpt from each resource but please click on the links to check out the rest of each awesome article!
Help me out peeps! Anyone interested in guest blogging for Teens on the Tenth – shot me an email at [email protected]. I will be happy to provide some positive reinforcement in the form of some freebies from my TPT store in exchange for your help! Any high school teachers, SLPs, OTs, parents… please email!
Finances
NY Times Article: Assuring Care of a Family Member with Special Needs This is a great article discussing the complicated issues of keep financial security for family members with disabilities. I think this is a really important topic to discuss with parents as early as even grade school. Parents need to plan early for their child’s future.
THE TRUST One of the first tasks that many proactive families tackle is to set up aspecial needs trust, which holds assets that can help pay for a disabled person’s care and expenses without disqualifying them from certain government benefits that are means-tested.
Some families feel an urgency to do this for estate planning purposes, since they can direct proceeds of a life insurance policy to the trust. They may leave the trust empty until that point.
Others start filling it from Day 1, as they would a college savings plan, because they worry about the future of government benefits given the amount of government debt. “We’re in a hole, and I don’t know how long it will take to climb back out of the hole,” said Matt Syverson, a financial planner in Overland Park, Kan., whose 5-year old daughter hasDown syndrome. “I don’t know if the benefits will be there or not. It would be nice if they were. I just can’t count on it.”
Autism After 16: Long Day’s Journey into Financial Light This website – autismafter16.com – is awesome. It has loads of important information regarding housing, employment, and finances. This is great resource for teachers and parents alike. Make sure to check it out. Here is one of their great resources:
But sprinting to get in line for public programs is necessary… Most adults with a full autism diagnosis probably have low enough income and assets, and have a severe enough disability, to qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) from the Social Security Administration. Qualifying for SSI is a process which may become protracted due to denials, but if successful, provides a monthly income and opens other funding doors (e.g., Medicaid eligibility in most states). Many funding streams, especially those sponsored exclusively at the state rather than federal level, have long and lengthening wait lists so one should get on them ASAP. Generally speaking, federal programs are more securely funded than state and local programs.
Skill/Task Ideas:
Busy Kids = Happy Mom Life Skills Ages 2 – 18 I am SO happy I found this website. It has a printable list of life skills for each age level. It gives so many great ideas of skills to work and has given me some valuable insight on what types of skills my students are lacking. This is a great document to help guide high school life skills planning.
Age 6
· Organize own drawers and closet· Empty dishwasher and put dishes away· Wash and dry dishes by hand· Straighten living and family rooms· Rake leaves· Help put groceries away· Make juice from a can or mix· Make a sandwich and toast
Autism Support Network – Life after High School: Ten Skills to Teach Your Child
1. Teach your child to wake up to an alarm clock. It is common for parents to wake their children for school. However, as your child grows older, it’s a good idea to teach him to wake up to an alarm clock. You may have to experiment with buzzers, music, and various degrees of volume. Sometimes, for individuals who are particularly hard to wake, you may need to have them walk across the room to turn off the alarm clock. Eventually, this skill would include having the child learn to set the alarm clock. A more advanced skill would involve developing the child’s ability to accurately estimate the amount of time needed to get ready and determining to what time the alarm should be set.
Puberty:
Autism File – Facing Puberty: top ten things you need to know to help your teen through this transition – There are not too many resources on the tricky issue of puberty. I find this incredibly frustrating because this is where I need the most help! This article makes some great points and is worth the read!
8. Masturbation is normal teenage activity
Many children and teens with autism don’t naturally have the notion of “private” and “public” and that some behaviors are only done in private. I discovered when doing research for my book, Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum, that this is a challenge for many. If your teenager is showing tendencies of wanting to masturbate at school or in public, he/she needs to be told that that is a behavior that takes place in private at home. At home, the teen needs to have his “private” place (his bedroom) where he is redirected if he is engaging in this behavior. It’s very helpful as well to ensure your child is getting plenty of exercise—that helps in lessoning the need.
Work Opportunities/Ideas
Roses for Autism – I couldn’t help but share this inspiring story! A father of a boy with created an amazing work place for adults with autism. What a lasting impact this man has made on his son’s future. Check it out!
Roses for Autism was the inspiration of a father of a teen with autism. Like many parents of children with disabilities, Jim Lyman dreamt of a future where his son, Eli, would have a meaningful job and continued opportunities to grow as an individual.Through his work in agriculture Jim knew that local farmers were struggling to find qualified workers to keep their businesses alive. He had the vision to see a perfect opportunity for an innovative program that would meet the needs of both the autism and agricultural communities.Roses for Autism not only provides individuals on the autism spectrum the chance to learn the skills necessary to maintain meaningful employment, but also serves as a model that can be replicated nationwide to develop unique opportunities for them as a whole new competitive workforce.Started in 2009, Roses for Autism is the first business endeavor for Growing Possibilities, a nonprofit social enterprise founded by Ability Beyond Disability that is dedicated to growing independence in the business world for individuals with Autism and other disabilities.
Resources: So what else should we be reading and learning from? Positively Autism has a great list of books about autism and adulthood here – Books about Autism and Adulthood from Positively Autism. I also spent a great deal of time window shopping on amazon looking for helpful resources. I have to admit – I bought a few! Check out these different books:
Hope you have found some helpful resources! If you love freebies please email me ([email protected]) to guest blog!
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2 Responses
I teach in a high school Transition class and I am always looking for new resources and ideas. Thank you for sharing these resources.
You’re welcome! Thank you for stopping by!