Local Agencies Help Adults with Disabilities Succeed
As part of a recent feature on services that are available to adults with disabilities in the region, 068 Magazine highlighted many of our successful programs, including job training, residential services and supports and employment services.
Children with intellectual or developmental disabilities receive services through their local schools but many of these are no longer offered when they enter adulthood. “On your 22nd birthday, those things go away, so if you don’t have a solidified transition plan in place and ready to go, you hit this cliff where you go from really great services that happened in the school districts to nothing,” says Carrie O’Connell Davidson, Director of Programs and Services at Ability Beyond, a nonprofit that works with people with disabilities.
During this period agencies and community programs become vital. Ability Beyond works with more than 3,000 people with disabilities across Fairfield County, elsewhere in Connecticut, and New York. The agency’s programs include job training, residential living, and a variety of supplemental services.
Davidson advises parents and caregivers to treat this transition like a college search. “When your child is thinking of going to college, you tour different campuses and look into programs that fit their needs,” she says. “You should do the same with a child with a disability.