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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 1986)
Parents’ organization finds jobs for disabled Group helps handicapped adjust to adult life As o high school graduate with a severe handicap, John is lucky Through on innovative employment program he has found a job that builds on the skills he learned in high school. He earns money on his own. has a savings account, makes new friends and is becoming more independent. But John's situation is the ex ception rather than the rule. Oregon schools are The alliance was formed a year ago by the University's College of Education Specializ ed Training Program, which had received a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education. To enable alliance pregrams to continue after the grant expires, it has joined forces with the Association for Retarded Citizens of Oregon. The parents are orgainzed in to nine regional teams ‘Their high school training has prepared them for work in the community by giving them real life experiences, but the current system does not give them many options. * — Roz Slovic graduating 100 young adults with mental and physical han dicaps each year. Instead of the self-esteem and independence that go with appropriate jobs and housing, most will be plac ed on waiting lists for voca tional and residential opportunities. • Their high school training has prepared them for work in the community by giving them real life .experiences, but the current. system does not give them many options,’’ says.Roz Slavic, coordinator of the Parents' Graduation Alliance. .Earlier this month in Boston, Slovic; appeared on a panel of .parent group coordinators at the . annual-meeting.of this Associa • tlon for Persons with Severe , ’ Handicaps.. She went there to tell the story of the PGA that is considered a model for .other o parts of the cou ntry. • • A.ir innovative advocacy group for." parents- of severely handicapped young adults-,, the PGA iso a statewide orgainiza tion- that has -brought together • more than 400 parents in • . tftrested in. increasing the op portunities for their children Many of these young adults are0 the product of the mainstream ing programs that placed han dicapped students in regular classrooms in, the nation's public schools a.decade ago. ".We focus only on people with severe handicaps and on the transition from high school to adulthood," Slovic says. "No other program does this kind of work statewide nor has the strong professional support we enjoy." throughout the state. Slovic and consultants from the Specializ ed Training Program provide technical assistance and organizational training to the coordinators who head each team. The regional teams identify and try to find solutions to tran sition issues of local concern. Often, this means parents serve on advisory boards, contact ser vice providers and work with legislators. "The parents are working to create more and better oppor tunities." Slovic says. To do this, they are’ promoting in tegrated employment programs and innovative community residential • programs that go beyond the traditional work centers and institutions.. Slovic says integrated employment programs can pay as-much as $300 a month whfle work centers pay an average of $37 a month.' • • But with.more than/200 peo . pie alreadyonwaiting lists, the employment opportunities, for th is. year's graduate's are limited. This creates an addi tional . problem, Slovic . says, because these young adults quickly lose the skills they worked so hard to develop dur ing their School years through disuse. "These people were involved in a program in high school where they were working in the community, but now there’s nothing for them to do,” Slovic says. Many of these adults will end up at home, dependent upon their parents or other relatives, Slovic says, adding that WILLAMETTE PASS EXPRESS sign up now «»t Berq •> tor _i • the Willamette stu bus_... - - • Kith & l,ty»rt:nct: 683-1300 • Mon Ihurs 10 6 fri & Sal 10 9 i nw)i u i»hii; r.iiwimu uui uiwum imny I'.inwimu upt > 'iwjuii iwny f.iiwaitmut Oregon Daily Emerald ODE Oregon Daily Emerald ODE Oregon Dally Emerald ODE Oregon Dally Emerald ODE Oregon Dally Emerald ODE Oregon Daily Emerald ODE Oregon Dally Emerald ODE Oregon Daily Emerald ODE Oregon Daily Emerald ODE Brecon Da.lv Emerald <">nE Ore.ttm I lailii Emerald ODE Hi anon Idailn Kmarahl ODE boredom can become a major problem. '‘Residential programs give handicapped adults the option of leaving home and living on their own,” she says. "In such circumstances, ihey can par ticipate ir community life and learn to interact with non handicapped people as well.” Slovic emphasized that sup ported employment and ap propriate residential options both can help save money as handicapped people work toward independence and need less financial support and utilize fewer institutional resources. So far. the PGA’s success has been in educating parents about working with the mental health system and in raising their ex pectations about the types of services that can be available, Slovic says. One result of efforts by in dividual PGA members was the 1985 Oregon Legislature’s $1.8 million allocation for vocational opportunities for those graduating or on waiting lists. An additonal $1.1 million has been budgeted for providing more residential opportunites. “Parents have learned that the system can fit their needs,” Slovic says. “They have learned they can have an impact.” RECREATION &. 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