What are jobs/tasks that can be given to people with developmental disabilities to give them daily purpose?

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I work at a residential facility for persons with developmental disabilities (CP, downsyndrome, MR, etc). We need jobs for them to do throughout the day in order to get them out of their homes and give them more of a life! I need suggestions on what to get these folks involved in.
I think you should make up jobs for them that deal with something they enjoy. For instance, why not start up a garden for those that enjoy and are capable of helping with the garden? Even my great grandmother at an ailing age enjoyed picking tomatoes off of her tomato plants (and peaches from her tress too). Just talk to them an dfind out some of their interests and try to incorporate them into some helpful activities for around the home.  (+ info)

People With Developmental Disabilities Recognizes Faces Right?

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Starting in September I will be volunteering in my high school to work with young and old adults with developmental disabilities.

The people who run it were telling us about the people who we will be working with. They said that they can't talk or communicate well; they usually say gibberish things or us hand gestures to convey what they want. They also cannot read.

I was wondering if they recognize people and faces? If you see them more than once and work with them do they know who you are?
Every individual is different, but most people with developmental disabilities can recognize people. They will know who you are.  (+ info)

What Is Your View On "Mainstreaming" Children In School With Learning/Developmental Disabilities?

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Recently I am hearing more schools and parents say that they want all children to receive the "same education" and try to gradually get away from isolating those kids with "problems" from those are are "fully-functioning".

Do you generally think this is a good idea?

When I was in high school I remember we had a separate program for learning-disabled kids. It was as if they had their own school; we never mingled, they had their own classrooms and teachers, and we pretty much never saw them.
Quite frankly, I think it's stupid. People with disabilities should be catered to in whatever ways that are fit for them. If they have problems learning, then there should be some sort of curriculum for them so they CAN learn. If they're shoved in a classroom with people who don't have the same problem, they're never going to learn anything. Granted, they shouldn't be so isolated and treated as if they weren't people, but they need their own curriculum to help them learn better.

Mollie: You must have missed the "developmental disabilities" part in this question. There are a wide range of developmental disabilities out there, most of which would make it very difficult for a child to learn in a regular classroom.  (+ info)

Looking for examples of abuse in the field of Mental retardation and developmental disabilities?

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I am a staff trainer for an organization in the MRDD field and would like anonymous examples of neglect, physical, sexual, verbal,and psychological abuse situations to use in training of Rights and Abuse.
try to find the classic Geraldo Rivera documentary about Willowbrook, in New York. (it will break your heart)...i want to say, maybe mid-70's?...before, uh, "reform"....
there is something going on at Eglin AFB, in Florida, right now, about a doc raping 4 men...he was convicted yesterday...good luck...Tammy H  (+ info)

How do you feel about people with developmental disabilities?

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such as cerebral palsy, autism, downs syndrome, etc
Frustrated writer, they are develomental disabilities. I didn't say mental retardation.
hi i am one such person, that is i have cerebral palsy CP. i feel i should point out to you that CP is not what could purley be termed a developmental disability. that is it can have an impact on an individuals interlectual and social development for example i also as well as the CP have assocated dyslexia and constructional dispraxia. i have many friends with cp who have only the physical imparerments assocated with the problem they work and live on there own. i have attended university and obtained a masters degree. and although i attendes special school untill age 16 i intergrated the last 3 years befor going to university these were the best years of my life and i had a few years when i did not have to think much about cp at all. uni has not been so good in that way i have needed more physical help which has made me have to think about my disability incresingly . people need to be more awere of and exepting of disabled people. cp. is a brain injury like stroke and that can happen to anyone people need to think how they may like to be treted and thourght about if one day they had to sit where we are

we are like you for the most part if you speak to us you will find this out for yourself  (+ info)

My Adult Siblings Have Low IQs and Other Mental Disabilities. Should We Get a Formal Diagnosis?

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I have two adult siblings who are almost 60 years old.

They were in "basic skills" classes at school years ago. That was the equivalent of today's "special education" classes.

To my knowledge, neither my parents nor my siblings have ever been told the "official" term for their condition. Keep in mind that when my siblings were growing up, far less was understood about developmental disabilities, etc.

Besides having lower IQs, my siblings are very very shy in social situations, have difficulty talking clearly, and are somewhat "clumsy."

In fact, one sibling used to have a drivers license and a job, but he wrecked his car somewhat frequently and had his arm broken by a machine at work. He was also burned by a chemical at work on another occasion.

Both siblings are on SSI.

Should our family get an "official diagnosis" to their conditions? Why or why not? If so, how should we proceed?
One of those siblings also happened to have been born "cross-eyed" and by "breech birth."

I have no idea if those two things tie in with his mental challenges.
If they are on SSI, they probably have diagnoses already.

"Lower IQ" is a basis for a diagnosis of mental retardation--depending on how low the IQ is.

An IQ of 100 is considered average.

An IQ of 70 to 83 is considered Borderline (lower than average but not low enough to be considered mentally retarded.

An IQ of 69 or lower is considered mental retardation.

The numbers might vary slightly depending on the test that was used.

Other factors like clumsiness and communication problems can be part of mental retardation or related conditions.

Some people with mental retardation have histories of birth problems such as prematurity.

Some people with mental retardation have strabismus (crossed eyes); but not all people with strabismus are mentally retarded. It is caused by a malfunction in a cranial nerve. Sometimes it can be a sign that someone has other problems with his or her nervous system, but some people have strabismus without having any other problems.

A diagnosis of a type of autism is also possible, but you didn't mention any obvious signs of that other than shyness, and all shy people aren't necessarily autistic. It would be very unusual for someone to be diagnosed with autism at the age of 60; it's generally diagnosed in childhood.

If your siblings are doing well enough under their present conditions they may not need any further action. If they require some sort of placement or disability income, it may be necessary.

Please note that your siblings still have the legal right to make their own decisions unless they have been declared legally incompetent in court and a legal guardian was appointed.  (+ info)

What developmental difficulties can a 26 week preemie face growing up?

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If a child is born at 26 weeks gestation, is the child likely to have many health issues? If so, what? What about learning disabilities? Mental retardation?
I haven't had a preemie myself, but I have a cousin who was born at about that time and she's 16 now. You would *never* know she was a preemie to look at her. I've heard that most preemies catch up by age two, but again, not personal experience.  (+ info)

Developmental Delays/Learning Disabilities?

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Anyone out there with a child that has developmental delays, learning disabilities, I'm going through a similar situation with my son and would love to hear your story. Looking for tips and advice from others who are in my boat. So far we've only been diagnosed with developmental delays and are starting an early intervention program in our area for speech, physical, and occupational therapy. My son has always been extremely fussy, cranky, whiney however you'd like to word it, and has major communication (lack of) issues, stumbles when he walks, can't go up or down stairs alone, or sit on his knees and is almost 21mos. He can understand long sentences like "go put this in the trash for mommy" or "go give this to daddy in the kitchen" but cannot simply refer to me as mama or my husband as dada and cannot tell me simple things like "juice" or "bite" or even point to things to show me what he wants or pull my hand to show me things. We basically have no communication with him other than his fussiness and whiney noise he makes. We're hoping the therapists that begin to work with him this week will help, but I've heard a lot of stories where it didn't and there was more to it than just the delays. Anyone? Thanks
early intervention is a great program. I am glad that you are connected with them.

Let me give you a little insight into the communication delay. There are 2 parts to communcation : receptive and expressive. You say that he can understand long sentences, so I am guessing that his receptive language skills ( what he hears and understands) are fine and maybe ahead. Expressive speech is what the child SAYS. I would ask his intervetion specialist and speech therapist about getting a series of DVDs for him called "signing time". My son LOVED them and they helped him learn tons of sign language. he chose to watch them like 5-8 hours a day when he first got them. within a week or two his grunt and point turned to grunt and sign. I thought I would cry the first time he signed "help" and pointed to what I was doing at the stove ( he wanted to help me).

I am guessing that there may be a sensory issue causing his cranky behavior. see if you can locate a book called "the out of sync child". someone reccomended it to me and I learned a lot about what made my son tick from it. My son is an enigma...he is a gross motor sensory seeker ( basically a daredevil) with tactile defensiveness. He would scream bloody murder if I wiped his face off, and would throw clothes in the trash b/c the tags bugged him. the book taught us how to cope with this.

You are doing the right thing. I cannot tell you that by kindergarden your son will be "typical", but I can tell you that he will have made progress. Life is hard with a child with special needs. You CAN handle it. feel free to e-mail me for support if you want to. My kids only have speech delays and sensory issues, but I have a big shoulder and I understand....  (+ info)

Children with developmental and/or physical disabilities playing Little League?

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Children with developmental and/or physical disabilities playing Little League?
I was wondering if anyone out there has a child with a mild to moderate developmental and/or physical disability who plays in Little League baseball in their area. My 8 year old son has multiple learning disabilities and some motor skill issues from being hit by a car a few years ago. You really wouldn't know unless you really interacted with him. I recently put him in our local LL Baseball league. I'm kind of worried because a lot of these kids have be playing for a while and my son is new so he doesn't really know how to play the game. But they are also very good at it with the throwing and catching. Some of them are also very competitive. My son takes a long time to learn sometimes and I worry that some of the kids yelling at him for making mistakes will start to get to him. He told me he likes to play when I asked him and his coach told him he did a good job at the end of practice. When I enrolled him I wanted him to have fun, but I didn't take into consideration the competitiveness of his teammates. I didn't tell the coach about his issues because I didn't want him to judge him ahead of time. But now I worry that I jumped the gun when I enrolled him. I don't know what to do. Does anyone out there have a child with these issues that plays LL? How was their experience?
I sympathize with you so much! My son has tourette's, he's 12, and he plays on our organized soccer league. My situation is a little different in that my son has been playing since he was 5 so everyone knows him and is used to him "shouting" out. Also, my son is able to suppress the aggressive tics until he is in his safe place...home. I'm proud that you want to give your son all the normalcy of being a kid. I find it truly unfair and sometimes appalling at how little other kids are being taught of acceptance. I would speak to the coach in your case, though. If he's a decent human being, he will be patient with your son and expect his teammates to be as well. EVERY child deserves the chance to be child!! Good luck to you!  (+ info)

Can people with mild developmental disabilities do yoga? why or why not?

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Why not? It might take them a little longer to learn the movements, but I would think yoga would be a great form of exercise for them and would probably help them increase their ability to focus and concentrate.  (+ info)

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