How we aim to meet the needs of people with disabilities

by Willie Davis

Turtle Mountain Reservation

North Dakota

DISABILITY ACCESS IS a training project to provide information for people with disabilities and their families to meet their needs.Of course, people with disabilities have many of the same needs as anyone else, but there are also some needs unique to people with disabilities.

WHAT NEEDS ARE ADDRESSED BY DISABILITY ACCESS?

1. Need for information on disabilities, when it's all new to you

• Clarify what disability is
• Coping with disability, for a person with disability
• How disability affects mother, father, husband, wife, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, cousin, etc.?
  

2. Information on the needs of people with disabilities and different options to meet those needs. People with disabilities have many of the same needs as anyone else. However, the way they meet those needs may be different. These needs include:

• personal
• employment
• financial
• health
• education
• rehabilitation
• leisure/recreation
  
  

All of these needs are discussed in the Disability Access training. We also cover how are these needs constrained or held back by others, by program policies and sometimes by our own attititudes.

OTHER NEEDS INCLUDE......

3.Need to know what local services are available to them. On the Disability Access website, you will find a Resource Guide for the state of North Dakota and pages for resources for selected other states and national programs.

4. Training of people with disabilities and their families to be advocates
5. Getting the services you need
6. Taking care of family needs.

7. Parenting - in particular, the difficulty for parents to let go, especially if they were a big part of their child's daily activities!

8. Mentoring from other people with disabilities and parents who have similar experiences.

Getting Set to Go with Disability Access