KY-SPIN presents Charting the LifeCourse Options Part 1 of 5 Webinar

Stella: Well, thank you all so much for joining us today as Kentucky SPIN presents Charting the LifeCourse Series. This is part one of five that we will be doing over the course of a few of the next few Thursdays. So I sure hope you’ve registered for all of them, because one builds upon the other.

[00:00:20] Today, we are going to be talking about Creating a Portfolio for Exploring.

[00:00:26] My name is Stella Beard, I’m the Assistant Director for Kentucky SPIN. And so we, before we get started today, I want to give you a little bit of information about Kentucky SPIN, but I also want to tell you a little bit about what all is available at, on our dashboard.

[00:00:41] On the right hand side of your screen, you will see a dashboard and one of the boxes is called questions. Throughout the presentation today, if you have a question, please type that in the question box. Kellie Smith, who is our Training Coordinator will be doing the presentation today and I will be monitoring and looking for questions. And so we will pause throughout the presentation, if you have a question and be sure and like Kellie or myself answer that for you.

[00:01:11] Also, you will see another tab that says handouts. You will find three handouts along with the PowerPoint. Kellie will be talking about a few of them throughout the presentation, but we will also send a follow-up email this afternoon that will have all of the handouts, the PowerPoint, and also a link to the video that we will be showing you all shortly.

[00:01:37] So  just to give you a little information about Kentucky SPIN. Kentucky SPIN is the Kentucky Special Parent Involvement Network. We are funded by the U.S. Department of Education, we are the parent training and information center for the State of Kentucky. And we have been the PTI in Kentucky since 1988. The PTI, the parent training information centers, are mandated through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.  Every State has one and some States have more than one, depending on their size.

[00:02:09] We work with families who have children birth through age 26, who have all types of disabilities. And we work with families, parents, professional, and also youth, who have an intellectual or developmental disability.

[00:02:25] We do not act as attorneys. However, we empower families to effectively advocate for their children and we provide peer support to help families access needed information and resources. One of the amazing things about Kentucky SPIN is all of our staff and consultants are either family members who have a child or an adult with an intellectual developmental disability, or a person with a disability, or a sibling with a disability. So that gives us a wonderful avenue in order to help advocate for families across Kentucky.

[00:03:02] So, Kellie, can you hear me? I’m going to turn it over to you and let you share a little bit about what we are trying to do here with introducing the LifeCourse framework and then I’ll let you get started.

[00:03:19] Kellie: Good morning afternoon. I hope you can hear me okay. My name is Kellie Smith. I am the Training Coordinator for Kentucky SPIN and I’m very excited to be with you today, discussing Charting the LifeCourse materials. I absolutely, there are not enough good words in the world to describe Charting the LifeCourse. I have used Charting the LifeCourse with my son who is 23 and he is a traumatic brain injury.

[00:03:54] We did not know about these tools when he was, you know, growing up and going through high school and, you know, those age ranges. If I had known, his life would have probably, you know, looked differently than it does. But we have used the tools since he’s gotten out of high school and they’re extremely beneficial.

[00:04:19] And something that we’ll talk about here in just a little bit is that this is not only something for individuals with disabilities. These can be used by anyone. I can honestly tell you that there are many times that I should use these tools to make decisions or to identify support, especially  just as a working adult with, you know, very busy. They have a lot of family and lots of times we need to like really be able to focus in on some things and set some goals first. And that’s what charting the LifeCourse is all about.

[00:04:59] And so we’re about to watch a video, it’s about 17 minutes. But the reason for the 17 minute video, is that in the 17 minutes that they’re explaining Charting the LifeCourse, what they  explained in that 17 minutes,  I couldn’t explain in 17 hours. So that’s why we’re going to view this video. And then you’re also going to receive the link to the video, later this afternoon. So without further ado let’s get started.

[00:05:33] Stella: Kellie just real quick, I’m going to start the video, but I’m having a little difficulty hearing you. It’s kind of going in and out. So maybe you can work on that a little bit while the video is showing.

[00:05:46] Kellie: Absolutely.

[00:05:48] Stella: All right, here we go.

[00:06:08] External Video: Hi, my name is Shelley Reynolds and I work at the university of Missouri – Kansas City Institute for Human Development. In my role at the Institute, I’m a director of the individual advocacy and family support team, where I’ve worked with families, self-advocates, and professionals for the last 20 years to really identify what their issues are around problem solving and planning. And how we can better serve important them in those roles.

[00:06:32] What brought me to the Institute for Human Development though, was my passion for really helping people have good lives. This came not only from my schooling. But more importantly because of the fact that I have a brother with a developmental disability, who’s now in his thirties. Through my day-to-day experience of growing up as a sibling and also as I got older serving in the role of really helping to understand supports, navigating them and work with other people to really help Eric have the lives that he wants, really serves as a foundation for much of the work that I do.

[00:07:09] One of the core principles of the LifeCourse framework is really how’s the work driven by self-advocates and families. What’s key to our work is really understanding what it is that they need in their lives, so we can figure out the practices and policies to best support that. Everything that you will see today is driven by those voices and those needs.

[00:07:30] So now I’m going to provide an overview of the LifeCourse framework that we use to really guide our thinking and how we develop the tools that we use. At the core of this framework is the belief that all people have the right to live, love, work, and play and pursue their dreams as all others in their community.

[00:07:49] What’s really important about this belief is that there was a time where people with development disabilities didn’t have access to these rights. So this framework really highlights the fact that everyone has this same right as a citizen in the United States.

[00:08:04] The other importance of that core belief is the concept of all. And I want to kind of take you to really understanding what we mean when we start talking about all. When we first set out to develop this framework we wanted to really recognize that when we’re talking about people specifically with developmental disabilities, we aren’t just talking about those that receive services, but rather all people. The 4.7 million people that are estimated to have a development disability in the United States.

[00:08:32] As we developed the framework though, we realized this framework was something that was much more universal, that could be used for all people. It can be used for family members. It could be used for grandparents. It could be used by siblings. For lots of different reasons, not only for the reason of helping people with developmental disabilities.

[00:08:51] So I’d like to set the stage so that you understand why we needed to come up with this framework. If you look at the circles on the left, and just think about your own life. You’re an individual person, you have family, you have friends, you exist in the community. And if you start thinking about those with developmental disabilities and how they’ve received supports over the years, you start realizing that you have the person, you have services wrapped around them, sometimes special education, sometimes adult services. Then you have the family, and then the community.

[00:09:25] And as we got focused more and more in those services, what we soon realized was that it was the person being cut off from their family and friends, which was exactly what we did not intend to do with our support system.

[00:09:37] So this framework really recognizes that and really attempts to figure out a way that how can we support people within the context of their family, their friends and their community. So if you look at the circles on the right hand side, you’ll see the image there that we’re trying to achieve.

[00:09:55] We want to help people be where they are, with the families and friends around them and the community that they live in. But figured out a way to integrate services and supports so they can have a good life that they’re desiring.

[00:10:08] One of the reasons that we believe that integrated services and supports are so important are that there are many things that are changing. There’s pressures coming from lots of different ways. We have self-advocates and families really, really demanding that their rights are recognized as citizens in this country.

[00:10:30] We also have the response of federal infrastructure that really supports those rights to live in the community, have employment, have friends and be a part of the society. But there’s also other realities. We know that there’s not enough money in the world for every person with a developmental disability to have all of the services that they desire. So we need to think differently. We need to figure out a way to develop an infrastructure so that everyone can have a good life, but utilizing lots of types of supports.

[00:11:00] But we also know there’s a lot of changing demographics. We know that Baby Boomers are getting older, they are going to require supports and services, and they’re going to have a demand for them differently as well.

[00:11:12] We also know that the pool of people providing these supports is getting smaller and smaller. Which is really causing us to have a crisis in terms of the day-to-day supports and how they’re provided to people. All of these things combined together really cause us to need to think differently about how services and supports are offered in our country.

[00:11:31] So we keep talking about this phrase, integrated services and supports. But what does that really mean? We utilize the star or if you can think about it, the five points of a star to really think about how we can have the good life that we want.

[00:11:49] If you think about it, the first part of the star is really thinking about what personal strengths and assets are you bringing to the table? What skills and ability? What interests do you have? What resources do you have?

[00:11:59] But we also need to really be paying attention to how are we using technology? Many of you use technology for day-to-day things. How are we using technology to get through the day? Or even maybe to provide some form of long-term supports? How are we using technology for adaptive equipment to help us do the day-to-day activities?

[00:12:14] We also know there’s people in our lives, we call that  relationship based supports. Who’s available? Who’s a part of your life? Who really helps you get by day-to-day?

[00:12:23] We also know the community. We have community-based supports. These are places that anybody goes to. You can use the bus, you can go to the YMCA, you can go to your faith based organization. You can go to the movie theater. All of those types of places really create to the supports to having a good life.

[00:12:41] But what we most commonly think about when we’re thinking about people with development disabilities is the last one. And that’s the former eligibility based service system. We often go straight there before we start thinking about the other types of supports.

[00:12:55] And if you go back to our statistics of really thinking about people with developmental disabilities, we know only one in four people may have access to long-term services. So that requires us to think very, very differently. So if only one in four are gonna access that we still have other people that we have to strategize with to really think about how to create a good life.

[00:13:18] The other thing that’s really important to think about is where people live. You know, if I go out and I talk to people out on the street and I start saying, well, where do people with developmental disabilities live? Oftentimes a citizen would say to me, I don’t know, a group home. Or it doesn’t the government take care of them?

[00:13:35] But the reality is, is that over 89% of people with development disabilities live at home with their families. Live in their own home, or are somehow connected to their families. Most people with developmental disabilities don’t move out into some form of eligibility based living. And continues to evolve, we really focus on providing person centered supports. We really need to think about what that means.

[00:14:04] Providing person centered supports doesn’t mean ignoring the family or ignoring what we would call the context of that family. If you think about your own life, your families had a big impact on you. Whether you could talk to your family currently or not. Your hobbies, your likes, your dislikes, your history, the people you know, all really comes from your family and how you grew up. But you also think about it, your expectations, your aspirations are impacted by your family.

[00:14:30] Your family also brings to it a certain sense of culture. A certain sense of membership. A certain sense of like where and how you see the world. So to truly provide person centered supports whether you’re doing that in long-term services, whether you’re doing that in the educational settings with IEP or individualized education plans, we really need to be thinking about the person in the context of their family.

[00:14:55] When we’re thinking about family, for some people that actually might mean the members of the family. Who’s actually at the table helping provide day-to-day supports, helping to think through those day-to-day supports are really who’s there just love and care for a person?

[00:15:14] When we think about the family, what we’re trying to understand is sort of the reciprocal roles they have to each other. Family members love and care about each other. They know their history, they had a long-term commitment to them, as well as providing that day-to-day support. And if you think about it, as a family member, my mom provided a lot of support to me when I was a baby. And as I was growing older. And as I was getting older, we sort of reciprocated, or we did it for each other. Sometimes I emotionally supported her. Sometimes she financially supported me. And so that’s what we mean by reciprocal role.

[00:15:44] And even if you look into aging, you know, often times family members are providing supports to their moms and dads and their grandparents. So this reciprocal role of being in each other’s lives is so very, very important. So at the core of our framework is really understanding, not only the person’s desires, but how that really fits in to both themes, members’ desires and that whole [inaudible].

[00:16:15] So now that we know who we’re talking about, we’re not only talking about the person, maybe with a disability, but also the family members. We really need to understand what are the three things that they need. And we talk about these in terms of buckets.

[00:16:26] We know that people need information. They need the skills and they need an awareness about what’s possible. They need to understand the services and supports and how they could help people get to their desired outcome.

[00:16:38] But we also know that people need peer support. They need to be connected to one another. They need that emotional support to really get out of bed each day. So sometimes that might mean having someone to call on the phone. Sometimes that might need a support group. Sometimes that might mean going to a place that totally included you and made you feel a part of their community. We have to really pay attention to that second bucket of support.

[00:17:01] What our field typically thinks about when they’re thinking about supporting the person and a family though, is the third bucket. And that third bucket is goods and service. The goods and services are the day-to-day things you need get by. So it could be financial support. It could be the day-to-day caregiving or the support needs that you might have. It might be the accommodations. It could even be support for the caregiver to have health and wellness, to ensure that they can take care of themselves so they can take care of their family.

[00:17:29] So we’re thinking about our key principles, these three support buckets are something that we believe all people need.

[00:17:41] So many of the things I’ve already talked to you about our probably things that maybe you knew about or had access to. But one of the new things that the LifeCourse framework brings to the conversation is really talking about this concept called the trajectory.

[00:17:56] And the reason we think it’s so important is that a lot of times in the disability field, we start thinking about services, not proactively, but rather they’re very crisis driven. They’re when something’s wrong or something needs to change. And then we start looking for services and supports.

[00:18:12] What the trajectory is really designed to do is to really help us start thinking proactively. How can we help people start thinking about where they’re at right now, but also where do they want to go in the future? What is their vision? What is it that they are [inaudible] now that’s going to help them achieve what’s ahead of them as they get older?

[00:18:34] But what we also know is this concept of really helping people be able to articulate what don’t they want. So if you start thinking about it, many people know what they don’t want. Maybe they’re a little unclear of what they do want, but they can definitely tell you what it is that they don’t want.

[00:18:47] I ask that question to parents all the time and they say things like, I don’t want my child to get lonely. I don’t want them to be abused. I don’t want them to be harmed. I don’t want them to be dependent on people. We know by thinking about what they don’t want and thinking about their trajectory we can begin problem solving and developing the supports that are important to them.

[00:19:06] Now when we start thinking about the trajectory the other thing that we really want to start highlighting is this concept of thinking about life experiences. We have a tendency to really only want to think about services and supports and what’s available as opposed to really thinking about it. What are the life experiences that are going to get me to where I want to go in life?

[00:19:24] So let’s look at an example. Let’s think about employment, you know, having an internship or going to college, or maybe using voc rehab are all really, really important steps in a career, but we also need to be thinking about what happens when you were younger. Having chores, setting expectations, learning about money, learning about social skills. Those are all really, really important life experiences that are also going to benefit and lead to you getting a job.

[00:19:53] Without those life experiences the formal service systems by themselves cannot create the outcomes that we desire. The other key principle of the LifeCourse framework is really thinking across the life domains. The development disability field historically has only focused on health and safety.

[00:20:11] And although those are important domains, what we want to do with this framework is to really broaden people’s understanding about what’s important to live a good life. And what we know is that you have to be thinking about what do I do during the day? How is my health and wellness? Where do I live? How do I say safe? How do I have friends and how am I involved socially?

[00:20:31] So what we’ve done here is we’ve really created icons and domains that we can really hone in on those specific areas. But also talk about how they’re all interconnected to one another.

[00:20:44] So now we’ll summarize everything we’ve talked about today. First, we think about the person. We think about their personal strengths and their assets, their resources, their skills, their interests. But we also need to think about that person and how they relate to their family. And thinking about the context of the family, the families desires, the individual members desires. So then when we think about the next ring, what we do here is think about the quality of life of both the person and every member of that family. Thinking about each one of their life domains separately, but also integrated.

[00:21:14] So when we started thinking about all of the individual family members and what they need, we really start thinking about that in terms of the three buckets, what are their informational needs? What’s the sort of skill and awareness and understanding that they need. What are their peer support needs? The emotional needs, the connection needs that they have. Do they need to be connected with other family members, with other self-advocates or maybe siblings connected to other siblings?

[00:21:37] But we also can’t forget about the third bucket, the goods and service buckets. What are the day-to-day supports that they need? What are the financial supports that they might need? What are the caregiving supports that might be there? So we need to be thinking about that [inaudible] supports.

[00:21:53] But we need to do all of this through the lens of what we call our integrated service and support star. Are you thinking about the personal assets? Are we thinking about the relationships, the technology that they can use to problem solve or plan with? Are you thinking about the places that they go, that anybody can access in the community? As well as leveraging that more formal eligibility based supports that are available.

[00:22:14] So what I just provided for you was just a basic overview of the key principles of the charting the LifeCourse framework. I hope that provides you a good understanding of how to get started as you’re working on your journey towards having a good life.

[00:22:29] Do you know, there are lots of other tools and resources that can help you both dig deeper into the principles to guide your thinking, but also some very practical tools that you can use for problem solving. Check out our website, at LifeCoursetools.com to get this information.

[00:22:54] Kellie: Alright. Wonderful. Thank you, Stella. I hope you can hear me better this time.

[00:23:01] I’m wondering if there is any questions or comments about that video? That anybody does anybody have any questions they want to ask right now? Or comments that they would like to make?

[00:23:18] Stella: I don’t see any right now. That’s what I was checking when the actual video actually stopped for a minute. That was my fault. But I don’t see any questions right now.

[00:23:29] Kellie: Okay, perfect. So just a reminder, the core belief of charting the LifeCourse is that all people have the right to live, love, work, play and pursue their life aspirations just as others do in their community.

[00:23:49] And so the framework principles information page is included in the handouts that are in your dashboard. And they’re also going to be emailed to you. And this is great, you know, this is the great information that was discussed on the video. I just wanted to make sure that you see it and that you know that you will have it.

[00:24:17] And so life stages and domains. She briefly discussed the different life, stages and domains and so just, you know, to broaden that a little bit, you have prenatal and infancy, that’s from conception through the earliest years of life or babyhood. Then you have early childhood, that is the time in a child’s left before they begin school full time.

[00:24:43] School age is the years from kindergarten through middle school. Transition to adulthood is moving from childhood into young adulthood. And then from school to adult life. Adulthood is that period of time after we transition from school years through the time we begin entering our golden years. And then aging. The golden years are when we begin to slow down and experience many age related changes. So, just put in to some perspective where I’m at in my life stages and domains.

[00:25:25] Okay and so the domains are, daily life and employment, which is what a person does as part of everyday life-school, employment, volunteering, communication, routines and life skills.

[00:25:41] Community living, where and how someone lives. Housing and living options, community access, transportation, home adaptations and modifications.

[00:25:52] Healthy living. Managing and accessing healthcare and staying well. Medical, mental, behavioral, health, developmental wellness, and nutrition.

[00:26:03] Safety and security that’s staying safe  and secure. Emergencies, wellbeing, guardianship options, legal rights and issues.

[00:26:13] Social and spirituality, building friendships and relationships, leisure activities, personal networks, faith and community.

[00:26:22] And then finally advocacy and engagement, building value roles, making choices, setting goals, assuming responsibility and driving how one’s own life is lived.

[00:26:35] So people live, their whole lives made up of specific connected and integrated life domains that are important to their quality of life. Life domains are different aspects and experiences of life that we all consider as we age and grow. The life domains help us think about the current realities in our lives while also thinking about what life experiences we want to have, which lead us to the life that we what.

[00:26:59] And I want to insert here that, I was, and she briefly spoke about, how usually when we’re looking for services or assistance or whatever, it’s usually because there’s been some sort of emergency. And I can say, you know, and I said previously these, I didn’t have these materials, I wasn’t aware of them when my son was transitioning. And even, think I just learned about these tools maybe two years ago. So when, you know, we went through several years after high school that we didn’t have these tools. And so there were a lot of areas that we did not consider when he was transitioning in high school.

[00:27:50] We didn’t consider, you know, what is he going to do for leisure activities as an adult? We didn’t consider how is he going to make friends? He had a driver’s license to get around, but that didn’t really help us when we moved into a new town and he didn’t have a, he didn’t know where anything was. And unfortunately he doesn’t do well with like GPS and trying to focus on the road and listen and things like that. So driving was a serious challenge for him.

[00:28:23] And those were things that we didn’t address at that time. So I highly encourage all of you, whether your parents or your individuals working with young adults, to use these, utilize these, and really hone in on those life domains to access anything needed prior to having to handle things emergently.

[00:28:51] So use it. Use it like it was hinting at, I guess, rather than, you know, like I’ve had to, backing up and trying to correct wrongs. That is definitely not the way to do it. But I can say if it’s too late to do that now, it totally can help.

[00:29:14] So, asking open ended questions and using templates. The next few weeks, we’re going to be sharing resources and discussing how to assist you, your family, or the individuals and families you work with, organize and explain what they want the future to look like and learn how to discover ways to make that want a reality.

[00:29:38] And again, the great thing about these tools is that they can be used by anyone, disability or no disability and for many purposes in situations. So charting the LifeCourse is a way to communicate your wants and your needs.

[00:29:53] So let’s get started on the portfolio for exploring. And you have this portfolio in your handouts. It’s also going to be in your email, for you to make copies or fill out and use. Now, when you download them, you can type into them or you can print them out and write on them. Either way is totally effective.

[00:30:23] So the trajectory for exploring is included in your portfolio handouts, like I said, and you’re going to use this handout to communicate things that are included in your version or the individual that you’re working with, their version of a quote unquote, good life. As well as what you don’t want out of life.

[00:30:46] And just like she said, most of us, we may not be able to say what we do want, but we can surely say what we don’t want. So think about all of the different life stages and domains when you complete this.

[00:31:04] Okay, and so here we have, just a sample of a filled-out life trajectory worksheet. And so you can see, you know, you’ve got your two boxes on the right, you know, a vision for a good life. And then what I don’t want.

[00:31:20] So the first thing you’re going to do is you’re going to start on the left hand side and you can fill in along that line as you need to. So for instance, Sarah’s life trajectory  worksheet, states many, many things on hers. So I don’t know if you all can hear my dogs barking, but, I apologize. I’m going to mute for one second.

[00:31:52] Okay. Sorry. So the first thing on hers is, you know, going towards her vision of good life, which is the top portion. She says previous jobs at daycares and animal shelters. She has a boyfriend, his name is Manny. She’s had her own house for a while. She participated in Girl Scouts, Young Life and other organizations, and she had a job at the mall. And then also helping her on that path to a good life, she’s going to counseling.

[00:32:38] So in the bottom line, you can see this is going towards what she doesn’t want. So she doesn’t want lots of shunt revisions. She doesn’t want constant stomach pain and headaches. She doesn’t want severe acid reflux. She doesn’t want to not have any transportation to visit her friends. And she doesn’t want to continue to have medical issues that would mean that she can’t have children.

[00:33:07] So you take everything along those lines and you insert them into your boxes. So everything on the top line, she’ll put in that top box. So get married and maybe have kids, have a home of her own. Have a job with a schedule that lets her spend time with her family. Get along with her sisters and spend more time with friends.

[00:33:32] What she doesn’t want is more surgeries, hospitalizations. She doesn’t want to be broke or have no money. And she doesn’t want to be bored at home alone. And I think that her vision for a good life and the things she doesn’t want to out of life are very similar to what the majority of us would have on ours.

[00:34:04] Okay, so this also is included and your portfolio. And this is your All About Me page. This page in your portfolio for exploring is where you’ll document what people admire about you or the individual that you’re working with. What’s important to you or that individual. And how did best support that individual or yourself, if you’re an individual with a disability. Keeping in mind, this is for your input. And they’re all about you or the individual that you’re working with. So when I say you, I’m also referring to the individual that you’re working with, if you’re a professional.

[00:34:43] So this is completely person centered. So this is not for everyone else to add their 2 cents. This is what you think and believe.

[00:34:55] So I would like to ask each of you, or as many are willing, in the chat box to just kind of throw out a few ideas about what we can put in these boxes? So what could you put if this were your, all about me page? What could you put in the box that says what people like and admire about me?

[00:35:19] I can start people like, and, people like my sense of humor, usually.

[00:35:26] [inaudible]

[00:35:32] Stella: — Chat box. You can type it in the question box and that way we’ll be able to see it.

[00:35:55] Somebody put, I’m easy going.

[00:35:59] Kellie: Perfect.

[00:36:02] Anyone else?

[00:36:10] Stella: Well, I’ll add one for myself. I’m a good listener.

[00:36:17] Kellie: Okay. So these are great qualities. And then you do the same for what’s important to me and how to best support me. And again, this is the individual. This is from the individual’s perspective.

[00:36:34] Because lots of times when we’re doing something for someone, we automatically think that we know how to support them best. That we know them better than they do. And that simply isn’t true. There are lots of times that based on experience or age or maturity that maybe we do know a little more, but again, keep in mind, this is all person centered and we all have the right to make mistakes. We all have the right to experience lots of ups and downs.

[00:37:06] And keep in mind that this is a LifeCourse. So there are times, and I’m sure all of us can agree that we’ve gotten off course a time or two, and you can get back on. Sometimes we have to back up. Sometimes we have to make some changes, but we can always get back on course.

[00:37:28] So the next thing is the integrated support star. The integrated support star is the final page that we’re going to be discussing. Filling in this worksheet could be the most thought provoking and time consuming that is in the short portfolio. And keep in mind that this is just like the tip of the iceberg. Just the very beginning stages to begin to explore, you know, wants and needs.

[00:37:59] So the integrated star represents any supports that are needed to have a good life. The sections of the star are personal strengths and assets. Relationship based supports, technology supports ,community-based supports, and then eligibility based supports. So in the next slide, we’re going to look again at Sarah’s integrated support star.

[00:38:34] Okay so, a picture of the name or, you know, in the center of the star, you can put, you know, Sarah. You can put a picture of the person, however you want to do it, it’s totally up to you. So, and again, we’re going to talk about strengths and assets, technology, relationship based, community based and eligibility based.

[00:39:00] So in technology, Sarah’s supports are an iPad, an iPhone an X-Box. She knows how to use Uber. She can use the internet to search, and then she can also use Facebook or social media and email. Her personal strength and assets are if she learns something once, she’s gonna remember it. She’s a hard worker and she can organize her schedule and make her own appointments.

[00:39:37] So her relationship based supports are her mom, her dad, her sisters, her aunts and uncles, friends, cousin or I’m sorry, her friends, and then she’s got their names. Her boyfriend Manny, Manny’s family, and then her coworkers and her young life friends.

[00:39:59] And her community based supports are that she has a job at the mall. And then her eligibility based support our SSI, Medicaid, the staff at ARC. And, she can use the express bus and she knows how to access that. So those are just some kind of things that you would want to think about.

[00:40:26] I know if I were filling this out for myself and in technology, I definitely would have to say my cell phone. I used to not be that person, but now like, I need my phone to exist, it almost seems, which is sad and pitiful, but it is what it is. And then I also need a tablet. I have a tablet that I carry around with me, that I use if my eyesight isn’t what it used to be. So sometimes I just need a bigger screen. And so I take that with me.

[00:41:05] Can anybody else tell me some technology that is in their support system, that they really, really need and use?

[00:41:19] Stella’s would be Google.

[00:41:22] Stella: Google is my friend Kellie. Yes. Google is my friend.

[00:41:27] Kellie: How about anybody else? Can anybody else tell me anything?

[00:41:31] Stella: Someone else said Google. So we are one like-minded there.

[00:41:39] And I think I know social media is listed on here, but you know, I think that’s kind of a way that, unfortunately we get good and bad information from, but I know a lot of our young folks, I know my son, who’s 24, who has an intellectual disability, he is very big on social media.

[00:41:58] But he also does a lot of zoom. So I think zoom is something, especially during these times now, that we’re seeing a lot of people connecting with others that way too.

[00:42:08] Kellie: Absolutely. And I know, and especially, you know, like the court system is totally reliant on zoom or Microsoft teams or something like that at this time. You know, they’re, they’re using that like crazy and email. So those things like that, those are those technology based things. Those are things you really want to look at if the person you’re helping can use that support or, you know, maybe they need that support.

[00:42:42] Some personal strengths. I am personally, apparently strong-willed and I consider that a strength. I try not to let things get me down. And I fought for what I believe in. Can anybody else tell me something? A personal strength or asset that they would like to share?

[00:43:16] Stella: While we’re waiting on someone to type in, it’s just a little delayed. I think for people typing, you know, I feel like I’m pretty organized and if it’s not on my list, it’s not going to happen. So I think that keeps me in line and keeps me remembering my day. And I’ve really been trying to get my son to do that more so he can remember things reminders, you know, on his phone, things like that.

[00:43:52] Perfect.

[00:43:54] Kellie: So again, you’re just going to continue around the star, thinking about things in this manner. And these are going to help determine what supports you already have and what supports you may need.

[00:44:08] Stella: Kellie, someone said good at my job. I think that’s really good too, to have that confidence in your work, your work situation.

[00:44:18] Kellie: Absolutely. Absolutely. I think that’s very important. And I absolutely think that that’s a strength.

[00:44:29] So again, for the next few weeks, we’re going to dive a little deeper into creating a whole portfolio for planning. Between now and the next session I would encourage you to fill out the portfolio for exploring, fill it out for yourself, or fill it out for an individual that you work with that maybe would be willing to dive into this with you. But fill it out, bring it with you so that you can learn how we’re going to tie all this together over the next few weeks. It doesn’t need to be perfect, as we’re going to be continuing to hone in, even on this portfolio for exploring and these subject areas.

[00:45:11] So Socrates said, the secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.

[00:45:23] So what will your story be? If you could take this charting the LifeCourse materials, how can you use it to build something new? So I challenge all of you to consider that, fill that out.

[00:45:41] I would like to just say next Thursday is a part two where we will be discussing a supported decision making and guardianship using LifeCourse tools. Also every Tuesday we have a Kentucky SPIN Tuesday Tips. These are every Tuesday at 11 o’clock and they include the latest information and guidance. Topics will vary on that. We have primarily focused on COVID related information.

[00:46:14] Hopefully you join us again every Thursday for a variety of topics. And you can also see on our website, a lot of information regarding information and resources for individuals with disabilities, their families and professionals during COVID-19. We have a special webpage dedicated to that.

[00:46:34] And then also consider joining our e-news, if you haven’t already. That goes out on a regular basis to our listserv.

[00:46:41] And if you have any questions, issues, or you need any assistance with anything, please do not hesitate to call us at the number on your screen.

[00:46:50] I don’t have anything further Stella, do you?

[00:46:54] Stella: I was just going to remind everyone to complete our evaluation at the end. It will prompt you immediately to fill out, and if you don’t get a chance, you will also get another opportunity when you receive our email this afternoon with all of the PowerPoint and the handouts.

[00:47:10] And thank you, Kellie. I am. So looking forward to this series, I think its wonderful information and I’m encouraging everyone on the call, if you know someone that really, really needs these LifeCourse tools and an opportunity to be able to hear more about them, to have them register.

[00:47:28] We have four more sessions and so I’m looking forward to it.

[00:47:31] Thanks so much.

[00:47:32] Kellie: Thank you everyone.

[00:47:33] Stella: And we will talk to everyone later. Thank you. Bye bye.