Housing and Independent living Collection

This webinar will help individuals and families understand the process of 'Supported Decision Making' in future planning. The outstanding panel of presenters includes leaders in this field in Alberta and British Columbia. As part of the webinar, a 'Q & A' session will address practical concerns and pressing questions of the audience.

This webinar offers important considerations and insights for autistic individuals and their families in considering a transition out of the family home. Multiple perspectives are offered, with practical advice and issues to consider and plan for at this key point of transition from the home of one's family-of-origin.

Living by ourselves can be hard sometimes, but the freedom to make our own decisions can be great! The course was developed by Reena, a non-profit organization that promotes dignity, individuality, independence, personal growth, and community inclusion for people with diverse abilities. The videos for this course features adult with developmental disabilities who are living in independent and community-based housing. There are also downloadable handouts to post in your home.

What do you want your adult life to look like? This QuickStart Planning Tool will Help you build a plan for success as you transition to adulthood. Developed by the Sinneave Family Foundation, this on-line course can help anyone with goal planning and life skills, but is particularly designed for use by individuals in the autism and/or intellectual disability community.

AIDE Canada Library offers a large collection of print and digital (eBook and audiobook) resources. For each of the resources below, we have included links to all available formats.

If you would like to borrow a print copy of one of these books, you can order it through our free Canada-wide borrow-by-mail service. eBooks and audiobooks can be borrowed online – just sign into our overdrive website or the Libby reading app using your AIDE Canada Library username and password. Visit the Library website to learn more. Questions? Email us at library@aidecanada.ca .

Summary: "Transitioning into adulthood is already difficult, but being young and Autistic can make it so much harder. Leaving the protections and supports of childhood behind can feel daunting. In a world that often marginalizes Autistic people, how do you begin to figure out and pursue your own goals and dreams, while also managing the new challenges of adulthood? This empowering book is here to help you (and your Neurodiverse family and friends who love you) learn how to navigate these transitions on your own terms and timeline. It recognizes that no matter where you are – home, school, college, work, out with friends – you have the right to be heard, to feel safe and comfortable, and to chart your own path to success. And it will give you the tools you need to make sure that happens. So join us to hear #ActuallyAutistic teens and young adults share their experiences, helping you to move towards independence and show your allies how they can support you in this journey."

Borrow eBook

Summary: Summary: "Creating Quality of Life for Adults on the Autism Spectrum: The Story of Bittersweet Farms provides an overview of the first farmstead community for adults with autism established in North America. The book also provides a detailed description and evaluation of the intervention model used to promote quality of life for the adults with autism who live as residents at Bittersweet Farms. Through its aim to provide a better understanding of adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the text enables a deeper appreciation of the Bittersweet Farms model, which meets the residential and therapeutic needs of this population that are not often well understood. The book discusses the apprenticeship model used at Bittersweet Farms along with examples of how residents benefit from this approach. The text expands upon its approach through the inclusion of specific guidelines that can be adopted for improved communication and social interaction, managing troublesome behaviors, calming anxieties, and establishing daily routines. These guidelines reflect a positive approach to intervention and are consistent with the quality-of-life emphasis inherent in the Bittersweet model. This book will serve as a seminal work for professionals and paraprofessionals working with people with ASD. It will further be of interest to parents and relatives of people with ASD along with researchers and policymakers concerned about the ASD adult population, and those interested in services for people with ASD."

Borrow eBook

Summary: Summary: "Whether you're a young autistic adult leaving the shelter of school, or you're late-diagnosed, finally realizing that you're not broken, you're just autistic, this book is for you. This neurodiversity-affirmative book holds the key to navigating the road trip of your life. Learn practical strategies that have helped others. Follow five fictional characters as they meet and overcome roadblocks on their path to independence. Read success stories shared by actually autistic people in their own words. If you've ever wished that adult life came with an instruction manual, this is it. The first edition won the Chanticleer International Book Award Grand Prize for Instruction & Insight; this new edition features updated information and interesting new characters. This is the newest book in the Adulting while Autistic series."

Borrow by mail or pick up in person at AIDE Canada Library

Summary: "Children on the Autism Spectrum often grow up to find they are unable to cope effectively with the challenges of adult life. This book shows that, with the appropriate lifelong care from parents and carers, it is possible for those with neurodevelopmental disabilities to achieve supported independence and live fulfilling adult lives. Adults on the Autism Spectrum Leave the Nest provides a guide for parents on how to prepare their children for adulthood, and describes in detail the kinds of services people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) need in order to live independently, away from the parental home. The author explains the importance of the cognitive abilities that enable us to regulate behaviour and adapt to changing situations, known as Executive Functions, and how an individual's deficits in this area can be especially problematic in the adult world. The book provides approaches to managing Executive Function Deficits and describes an innovative therapeutic program that successfully allows adults with ASDs to live with their peers and develop meaningful adult relationships. This book provides practical and accessible guidance for parents, therapists, people with ASDs, and anyone with an interest in helping people on the Autism Spectrum lead their lives with a sense of dignity and independence."

Borrow by mail or pick up in person at AIDE Canada Library

Borrow eBook

Summary: "Independence is something all teens seek. They hope and dream they will someday maximize all they can do on their own. This is no less true for teenagers with autism. Autism & Independence is a new clinical resource to help teens and young adults with autism become their own person. Focusing on a population often overlooked, autism expert Dr. Daniel Marston wrote this game-changing guide, filled with strategies and skill building exercises. - Proven strategies for finding employment, using public transportation and living on their own - Tools to improve self-confidence in friendships and professional relationships - Interventions to overcome challenges in the workplace - Coping skills for anger, frustration and sadness - Over 20 assessments for counseling sessions and moving therapy forward"

Borrow by mail or pick up in person at AIDE Canada Library

Summary: Summary: "This simple, easy to use, Life Skills Checklist and Guide can help people with planning, memory and organizational challenges better navigate their everyday life and build their confidence! If you or someone you care about needs help managing daily, weekly, and monthly tasks, this guide can help. Individuals with executive functioning challenges, autism, learning disabilities, ADHD, dementia, special needs, and even typical teens and seniors can get overwhelmed by all the things they need to remember and plan. This visually simple checklist resource and guide will help them become more independent and confident. And if you’re a caregiver, it’s a helpful resource to encourage and support that independence. Here's what’s inside: *Daily, weekly, and monthly tasks lists laid out in an easy-to-follow format for: *Daily Hygiene *Meals *Chores *Paying Bills *Groceries….and more! *Simple tips and advice on: *Being Healthy *Online Safety *How to be a Good Friend *Living a Happy Life! Many other Life Skills books are complicated and wordy which can be confusing and overwhelming. As Mom to a son with autism and an intellectual disability, I’ve come to learn that simple works better when working towards organization and everyday tasks. If you have challenges with memory, executive functioning, or organizational skills and want to feel more confident in living your daily life, of if you’re a caregiver and want your loved one to be more independent and happier, this guide can help."

Borrow by mail or pick up in person at AIDE Canada Library

Summary: "In 2003 Anne Ford (great-granddaughter of Henry Ford) published Laughing Allegra, about the struggles of raising her learning-disabled daughter, and received a flood of letters from parents of children with LD, ADD, and ADHD, many expressing concerns about what to do as their children age. On Their Own is an invaluable road map to ease these parents' fears and answer their questions, especially the one that haunts them daily: Will or can their child be on their own, and how? In a candid, sympathetic style, laced with real-life stories, the book covers such topics as: • Social skills and dating • Staying healthy • Sibling relationships • Interaction with employers and co-workers • Job hunting • Finding the right college or trade school • Estate planning Also included are a comprehensive resource guide and exclusive interviews with prominent professionals who have surmounted their learning disabilities: CEO's Sir Richard Branson, John Chambers, David Neeleman, and Charles Schwab, and former governor Gaston Caperton."

Borrow by mail or pick up in person at AIDE Canada Library

Summary: "New York Times bestselling author Julie Lythcott-Haims is back with a groundbreakingly frank guide to being a grown-up, Your Turn. What does it mean to be an adult? In the twentieth century, psychologists came up with five markers of adulthood: finish your education, get a job, leave home, marry, and have children. Since then, every generation has been held to those same markers. Yet so much has changed about the world and living in it since that sequence was formulated. All of those markers are choices, and they’re all valid, but any one person’s choices along those lines do not make them more or less an adult. A former Stanford dean of freshman and undergraduate advising and author of the perennial bestseller How to Raise an Adult and the lauded memoir Real American, Julie Lythcott-Haims has encountered hundreds of twentysomethings (and thirtysomethings, too), who, faced with those markers, feel they’re just playing the part of “adult,” while struggling with anxiety, stress, and general unease. In Your Turn, Julie offers compassion, personal experience, and practical strategies for living a more authentic adulthood, as well as inspiration through interviews with dozens of voices from the rich diversity of the human population who have successfully launched their adult lives. Being an adult, it turns out, is not about any particular checklist; it is instead a process, one you can get progressively better at over time, becoming more comfortable with uncertainty and gaining the knowhow to keep going. Once you begin to practice it, being an adult becomes the most complicated yet also the most abundantly rewarding and natural thing. And Julie Lythcott-Haims is here to help readers take their turn."

Borrow by mail or pick up in person at AIDE Canada Library