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There are numerous benefits to using Visual Schedules (VS) with individuals with Autism and there is also significant research supporting their use for individuals on the Autism Spectrum (AS). A Visual Schedule can be the key to increasing independence and managing anxiety for students with Autism. This can make a huge difference to the child and in turn diminish meltdowns, anxious behavior and foster positive growth. 

The Ohio AgrAbility Program has a mission to promote independence for people in agriculture who want to continue to farm after experiencing a disabling condition. The program’s goal is to provide education, resources, and technical assistance to those individuals and their families so they may continue to do what they love to do, farm.

For college sophomore Matthew Walzer, simply putting on his shoes was an impossible task. Lacking the dexterity to get his foot in and out of his shoes, the Florida teen, who was born with cerebral palsy, had to enlist the help of his mother and father or others. While he could dress himself, Walzer, 19, told The Huffington Post, “shoes were the one issue” he had learned to deal with and accept.

My son Leo's life was transformed when a five-dollar raffle ticket turned into a brand-new iPad. I'm not exaggerating. Before the iPad, Leo's autism made him dependent on others for entertainment, play, learning, and communication. With the iPad, Leo electrifies the air around him with independence and daily new skills. People who know Leo are amazed when they see this new boy rocking that iPad. I'm impressed, too, especially when our aggressively food-obsessed boy chooses to play with his iPad rather than eat. I don't usually dabble in miracle-speak, but I may erect a tiny altar to Steve Jobs in the corner of our living room.

The Foundations Project is asking parents of young children with disabilities about how they think about their children’s learning skills to help them become more independent in the future and able to speak for themselves as they grow older. We believe that young children who know how to calm themselves (called self-regulation), make and express their choices, and engage in activities with necessary help, are laying the foundations for later self-determination. Most young children develop these skills naturally as they grow. But sometimes children with disabilities need adults in their lives to help nourish those skills. It makes sense that children can learn these skills more rapidly when all the adults in their lives – parents and teachers – are working together. Please complete the survey that follows about your child’s strengths and challenges in self-regulation, choice-making, and engagement. We also ask you to share ideas and strategies that you use to encourage your child. Also, we want to hear your opinion about what it takes to make a successful partnership between home and school so that you and your child’s teacher can work together on these issues.

Living Independently for Today and Tomorrow (LIFTT) is inviting you to join LIFTT in celebrating the 20th anniversary of the passage and signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act.The Billings ADA celebration with be held in conjunction with the Koncert for Kids at Dehler Park on August 10. Gates open at 6 pm, with the concert beginning at 7 pm.Admission to the concert is free, and a variety of food and drink concessions will be available at family-friendly prices.In addition to the concert, several group with have information and activity booths set up along the stadium concourse. For questions, contact Ian Elliot at 406-656-2744 or at ellitotian@hotmail.com

Yes, you read right: The National Federation of the Blind and Virginia Tech have just announced they're working together to build a car that a visually impaired person can drive independently.

Founded in 1983, The College Internship Program has developed into a national program providing individualized supports for students with Learning Disabilities. Students obtain the skills necessary to inspire independence and build a happy and productive life.

Transitioning into adulthood can be awkward for nearly every young person. For transition-age youth with disabilities, issues surrounding managing Personal Assistance Services (PAS) can be intensified by normal developmental concerns such as striking out on your own and navigating the road into adulthood.  Accessing and maintaining long-term supports, such as PAS, has often been a significant barrier to employment youth and adults with disabilities. This new guide assists youth in strengthening some of the most fundamental skills essential for successfully managing their own PAS: effective communication, time-management, working with others, and establishing professional relationships.  Such skills are key to not only enhancing independence, but also thriving in the workplace and growing professionally. 

A fully accessible college dorm opening this week is believed to be the most user-friendly in the country for students with physical disabilities, offering the tools to transition to independence. Dorm rooms at the new facility at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign come complete with lifts for residents to get in and out of bed and use the bathroom, not to mention a pager system to call for assistance any time. Light switches and thermostats are reachable from a wheelchair and roll-in showers make life a little easier with built-in seats. But what’s truly innovative, university officials say, is that rooms for 17 students with disabilities are on the first floor of a dorm that will house hundreds of other students. Traditionally, students with disabilities lived separately from their typically developing peers.

The Department of Education is funneling millions into post-secondary programs for students with intellectual disabilities at 27 colleges and universities. The grants totaling $10.9 million will help bolster programs designed to incorporate those with special needs on college campuses through a focus on academics as well as job skills, socialization and independent living.

September 2010 - AT Assessments: The Right Device Is the Best Device

According to Leonard Trujillo Ph.D., an occupational therapist and AT assessment expert who chairs the occupational therapy department at East Carolina University and heads the university’s graduate OT assistive technology certification program, the best assistive technology device for a child is the device that enables a child to achieve at least some degree of independence.

On Dec. 1, the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR ), within the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services,  announced the details of a $4 million grant program supporting field initiated research and development projects to support the full inclusion and integration of individuals with disabilities in society, employment, independent living, family support, and economic and social self-sufficiency.

Farming is not only a way of living, but it is many peoples' passion. When individuals who have had an amputation wish to return to work on the farm, there are a variety of adaptations that can be made to assist in their return to work. It is important to return famers to their desired functional level so they can reach their goals of independence. It is also imperative to consider their safety and to protect them from getting injured. Use of electronics and technology, such as centralized controls, hydraulics, monitoring systems, and computerization, on modern farms is making it easier to apply assistive technology to help those that have been faced with an amputation.[1]

We are having a Sponsor a Wheelchair, Sponsor a Child campaign.  For March 2010, Eleanore’s Project has 181 requests for wheelchairs in Peru. We would like to fulfill all of them...and we can’t do it alone. We are asking supporters of Eleanore's Project to help us by sponsoring a wheelchair. A $300 wheelchair sponsorship can do a lot! You will receive a photo of the child and wheelchair you sponsored. A team of professional therapists will customize each wheelchair to fit each child and provide training to families. A child will be able to leave home; sit at a table with family and friends; live with greater independence; enjoy better health, respect and dignity; and even go to school.