Chris Karel wrote:Phil.
As the acting director of what is known as the Lakewood Youth Commission, I would like to see exactly what you are asking for. Once the Commission is up and running, it will be my goal in the first year to create exactly what you describe.
The schools, city and library all have sites that contain a wealth of information. My experience as a parent and a community activist has revealed a need for a centralized, searchable site that is accessible to parents and youth alike.
Chris Karel
Chris, Thanks for the reply!
To be specific, I work for the County Board of MR/DD and I work with anyone with a disability from birth to end of life. As such, we get a lot of requests from parents with children with disabilities or from young adults with disabilities about activities where they live. In this particular situation, this was a young adult who is no longer in school but still has interests more in common with teenagers than working stiffs.
I totally agree that some sort of central clearing house of information would be nice. I already recommended the Lakewood Rec, Library and now the YMCA for information but having a central spot with all of this would be nice.
This is particularly difficult for some folks who may have gone through school without a group of like-minded peers to share ideas and activities with throughout the years. A lot of people with disabilities that I work with tend to be isolated for whatever reason. There are activities that cater to folks with disabilities like the Special Olympics or Special Stars, which are great on their own, but sometimes a guy, disabled or not, just wants to get involved with something that doesn't remind him of what he is dealing with. Does this make sense? To some folks I work with, they know they are "disabled" in the technical sense but don't identify with that crowd for one reason or another. Yet it is also hard for these folks to just naturally fall into a group of young people with similar interests.
Sorry, I have rambled.
The gist is that while the Lakewood Rec and Library and YMCA all have great class schedules, it would be nice to know if there is a group of folks who gather at Bella Dubby to play Monopoly or a knitting circle or a group who collect baseball cards or whatever. Formal in the sense that it is a gathering but less than the fee-for-service formality of the Rec guide. Maybe there isn't a clearing house for this because you almost have to dig your way into a group like this from the outside...hang out at baseball card specialty shop or Pat Cataans to find out about groups like this. Who knows. Any thoughts on this would be great.
Jennifer,
The volunteer idea is great. I have worked with a couple folks that have done this and it sometimes works very well. Sometimes it goes the other way, too, but I think the risk is worth it. I think what is hard for someone like this gent (I think, as it is a co-worker's case...but I have worked with similar situations before) that come up through the special education system is there is such a focus on "functional" and "adaptive skills" that when someone successfully gets out and gets a job, they wonder what is next...and there is no easy answer. I usually ask, "what kinds of things do you like to do?" and sometimes the answer is the very cleaning or assembly job they are doing because that is maybe all they know or the answer they think I want to hear!
This is not to paint folks with disabilities with a broad brush. Plenty of folks with disabilities have richly diverse lives and interests and have no problems finding friends or things to do. But in general, those aren't the folks looking for help. Just wanted to make that clear. I hate when folks paint the pity picture of people with disabilities!
For some we serve, though, no matter how good at work, taking care of their home, whatever the biggest gap in their lives is the personal satisfaction of something meaningful to do outside of work. Maybe that is more than just the population of people with disabilities.
I have rambled far too long on this but this is my perspective on it.
Thanks for the advice!
Phil