Support & Empowerment program
Aging can be a challenge for many, especially those aging with a disability. The classes provided by the Support & Empowerment program are meant to alleviate some of the stress related to aging, by educating both caregivers and individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities on how to navigate their finances, health, mental health, spirituality, and caregiving roles as they age.
There are three videos, each covering the same subjects but in different areas and stages of life These include: Finances: Managing income, savings, special needs trusts, finding and maintaining employment, wills Health/Nutrition: Healthy foods and healthy habits, grocery shopping tips, staying active, common illnesses Crisis/Mental: What crisis is and how to react, mental health, grief, dementia & Alzheimer's Caregiving: Stigma, burnout & how to manage, life skills & assistance, aging out of caregiving, terminal illness Spirituality: Mindfulness & emotional health, stress, stigma, friendships, finding new purpose and staying sharp You can click on the link below to watch the videos in English/ASL or Spanish.
Support & Empowerment Video Series
IDD Resource Guide
Resource Guide Link
Health Passport Project
Since we began our journey in discovering how to better support aging persons with IDD and their caregivers, we have developed a Health Passport. Many of you through this program in the past years have voiced that self-identity plays a huge role in your life and COVID has shed light upon an area we would have not realized otherwise. This Health Passport is available for you to download and share all the information you feel comfortable sharing. When printing this out at home, please keep in mind that it will print small enough to fit in your back pocket for easy carrying.
-Click here to download Health Passport.
-Spanish version of Health Passport.
The intention of this Health Passport is to help anyone who may need services and supports that a new school staff member may need to know, a new direct service professional, a new physician in a person’s life, a new caregiver (paid/unpaid), help a person who does not communicate with words communicate their supports and services, or anywhere else that a person may need it to show how to best support them along with other medical information to help them in their day to day activities. Click on the link below to download your Health Passport or come to our local office to get your copy. Please also complete the brief survey when clicking on the link below so we can see who is using the Health Passport. Contributing to this will help us advocate to develop this on a larger scale.
This Health Passport has been supported by the San Antonio League of Self Advocates (SALSA), the National Task Group (NTG) for Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices, and American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (AADMD). Click below to read their supporting letters.
