A Comprehensive Guide for Parents and Caregivers As any parent or caregiver of an individual with developmental disabilities can tell you, planning for the future of an adult with intellectual disabilities, Cerebral Palsy, severe autism, or another such condition requires hard work and good advice. While complete independence and self-reliance is out of reach for many adults with developmental disabilities, a productive, stable, and enjoyable life is certainly possible. But government and private support for parents and disabled individualsis scattered and difficult to negotiate. This book is a comprehensive guide to resources you can use to help an adult child or other individual with developmental disabilities for whom you care. The book begins by assessing the quality of life of the adult with a disability. It offers a wealth of suggestions for making that person's life even better. The book then focuses on long-term planning for the individual with a disability and helps answer the question, Who will take care of my child after I'm gone? Learn effective ways to: Assess a disabled individual's strengths and need for support services Develop a plan to for building a busy and productive life Locate good housing and employment opportunities Gather a supportive team of caregivers Advocate for a disabled individual with community agencies

Assesses the needs and lives of the first generation of people with developmental disabilities who have survived into later life. Describes the challenges facing practitioners in gerontology and developmental disabilities to modify programs designed for mid-life adults, and notes that senior services will need to incorporate the needs of the new po

If you work with older adults who are developmentally disabled and are seeking ways to incorporate exercise, arts activities, and other activities into your program, this is the book for you! Older Adults With Developmental Disabilities and Leisure will help you improve your ability to instruct exercise and other fitness activities and, at the same time, increase your knowledge about aging and mental retardation and developmental disabilities. This combination of skills and knowledge is important to your understanding of your clients and their needs. You will assist them in leading a more active, structured life that will result in a higher sense of satisfaction in their daily living and health benefits that will speak for themselves. Older Adults With Developmental Disabilities and Leisure gives you specific guidelines for establishing fitness programs as well as ideas for offering clients goals and incentives that will evoke and maintain their enthusiasm to participate. Using a proven model, the Arts/Fitness Quality of Life Activities Program, the authors show how careful planning and sequencing can produce successful results, such as peer interaction, flexible thinking, self-expression, and improved mental health. As you learn about the key factors for programming for this group of clients, you will also learn about: the demographics of this population leisure education training and cross-training with aging specialists and mental retardation staff community integration and for whom it is appropriate inactivity in later life and the complications it causes life satisfaction and leisure participation differences in physical and cognitive functioning among this population consumer satisfaction among older adults with developmental disabilities It is never too late to introduce leisure activities into the lives of those with developmental disabilities. With encouragement and careful guidance, you can lead your elders/clients into a more active and healthy life. Use Older Adults With Developmental Disabilities and Leisure as a guide to find activities and exercise programs that are appropriate, fun, and worthwhile!

Aging and Developmental Disability: Current Research, Programming, and Practice Implications explores research findings and their implications for practice in relation to normative and disability-related aging experiences and issues. This valuable book discusses the effectiveness of specific interventions targeted toward aging adults with developmental disabilities such as Down's Syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, and epilepsy, and offers suggestions for practice and future research in this area.