Headed by TERI’s director of education and research, Dr. Krysti DeZonia, a renowned speaker, researcher, consultant, author and parent of an adult with profound disabilities, TERI offers two distinct lifespan services designed specifically to foster life quality for children and adults with disabilities and their families.
Special Needs Life Quality Plans
With one in every 110 children being diagnosed with autism, and the fact that kids with special needs will likely outlive their parents thanks to medical technology, there are a growing number of parents who are worried about their child’s future. Like other parents, they just want their children to lead happy lives. Their greatest fear is what will happen to their children when they, as parents, can no longer provide care and advocacy. This fear adds to the already considerable responsibility of raising and supporting a child or adult with special needs.
For these parents, contemplating the future is often a frightening and confusing process. There are more questions than there are answers. Although a special needs trust, letter of intent, and will is part of the answer, these do not detail what is necessary in order for someone with unique needs to lead a day-to-day life that is safe, fulfilling, and personally satisfying. The Special Needs Life Quality Plan was developed to fill this gap, to focus on quality of life for both the individual with special needs and his or her family. The future can be left to chance, but it is more likely that a happy life will come about as the result of a specific plan.
Conducted by phone with a trained TERI Life Quality Planner, the process to create a Special Needs Life Quality Plan involves an interview covering nine life areas. Questions are structured to ensure that both the child’s needs and the family’s wishes are part of the final document. Goals for the present and the future are also included in the plan. The plans are designed so that parents all over the world have access to them.
Most parents have all the information about what their child needs in order to be happy. The problem is that they have difficulty putting these bits and pieces into a concrete plan that can guide decision-making both now and in the future. When interviewing parents, TERI’s Special Needs Life Quality planners explore the important details that make the difference in day-to-day life satisfaction. Does their son need a string in his pocket in order to feel safe? Does their daughter need daily access to her beloved Disney movies? Is change so difficult that specific steps need to be followed to avoid behavioral issues? The Special Needs Life Quality plan spells out all the information that is not found in existing planning documents and includes suggested goals for both the present and the future.
Special Needs Life Quality Coaching™ Classes
TERI also offers the world’s first specialization coursework designed to train professionals to work as Special Needs Life Quality Coaches™. These certified Coaches work with families to ensure that they, and their children or adults with special needs, receive the hands-on support, encouragement, resources and access to knowledge they need to navigate the social service system. Coaches work with families and individuals to determine what they need in order to meet personal goals, and they establish and monitor action plans to help them reach these goals.
The Special Needs Life Quality Coach training program is a 16-week course designed to be flexible enough that people who have full-time jobs are able to meet the course requirements. During the class, coaches learn about the types of needs families have across the lifespan, how they can access state and federal funding support, how to coach families, how to implement Life Quality Plans, and how to establish a successful private coaching practice. This training program is experiential and by the end of the 16 weeks, students are well-networked and ready and able to work as a partner with the parents and become an extension of the families they serve. As part of the course, TERI provides all of the training, paperwork, and post-graduation support Coaches need to start and maintain a successful private practice.
In most states, Coaches are paid privately by the family. In some states that offer individualized funding, state or federal dollars may be allocated for coaching services. Coaches are hired by family members, individuals with disabilities, or agencies providing coaching services. Coaches are also available for hire directly through TERI in Southern California.
For a limited time, Disaboom readers are invited to take advantage of TERI’s Special Needs Life Quality Plans and Special Needs Life Quality Coaching classes at an exclusive rate. To learn more, contact Ben Burgeson at info@teriinc.org or call (760) 622-8540 and give the keyword “Disaboom”.
To learn more about TERI and its Life Quality Services initiatives, visit www.teriinc.org. The next series of Special Needs Life Quality Coaching classes begin in September 2011.
