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Unexceptional Moms: Hope and Encouragement for Special Needs Parents Podcast
We Need Better Employment Training for Our Disabled Kids

We Need Better Employment Training for Our Disabled Kids

Unexceptional Moms: Hope and Encouragement for Special Needs Parents vor 5 Jahren

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57:56

Most students who receive special education qualify for a
"transitions" program that allows them to stay in school until age
21. These programs are meant to provide job training and life
skills, preparing our kids to become as independent as possible.
But are these programs really providing the type of training that
is truly beneficial for our kids? Join the podcast as I have a
conversation with Meriah Nichols from "." Show notes: Before
talking about employment training, we go back to the beginning and
discuss the role that ableism plays in the limited options made
available for our kids. Also important how as parents, sometimes we
also have to address our own ableism (spoiler alert: it is one of
the hardest things I've had to do as a parent of two disabled
kids). A short discussion on grief, and the fact that most parents
experience grief when their child is first diagnosed. Keeping in
check the language we use, and what happens to our kids when we
push them to be as "non-disabled" as possible. Finding empowerment
in disability. What does that look like? How does that translate
into future interests and possible job opportunities? How important
it is to discover the gifts and possibilities that are a direct
result of disability -- the assets. Inclusion: the current model of
inclusion doesn't help our kids or their peers as we think about
their future possibilities once they reach adulthood. How cana.
school play to a student's strengths and build upon those strengths
as possible career paths? Many programs and organizations that are
meant to help our students tend to be steeped in ableism, and they
do not provide ongoing change beyond one time events or
experiences. There isn't much available after transition programs
because of the limited "training" they provide. Meriah shares about
her recent blog post: How do we shift culture so that we create
better "out of the box" opportunities for our children? Our kids
depend on their community -- that is, the community of individuals
who are like them. The community where they belong, where they can
be who they really are. How to connect with Meriah Nichols: Her
Blog: Facebook: Twitter: Instagram: