Press Release
7 Million U.S. Families Face the Difficult Job of Ensuring a Secure Future for Their Adult Children with Intellectual Disabilities
In the natural order, children grow up and become independent before their aging parents are no longer able to care for them.
What happens, though, when adult children can’t function independently due to an intellectual or developmental disability? For over seven million U.S. families who have children with developmental disabilities, this worry is a reality.
Parents in these families are faced with the unsettling knowledge that if something were to happen to them, their children would not be able to function independently. For parents whose children are already adults, the issue is pressing. For younger families, the concern looms as a constant concern in the future.
Now, My Life Book, a new book and video from IRIS Media, offers an easy-to-use, friendly format that walks families through the decision-making and planning required to offer an opportunity for a happy, secure future for adult children who will need support.
My Life Book, combines a video on DVD, a scrapbook, and a CD-ROM to create a comprehensive and engaging approach to future planning. The video program follows four families as they attend a future planning class and begin the process of making difficult life decisions. Families are shown in class, and in their daily lives interacting with family, friends and employers as they work to establish a support network, arrange appropriate housing, establish leisure options, make legal arrangements, and address a host of other issues. A colorful scrapbook-style workbook with charming illustrations and over 50 fun scrapbook pages, integrates with the video and provides families with a permanent spot where they can record important life information. Part I in the scrapbook covers the person’s past and present to ensure that an accurate record of the adult child’s interests, history, and special needs are readily available in one location. Part II covers future planning topics such as housing, work, leisure, key person needs, and legal arrangements. The final pages in My Life Book can be used to document medical status and needs. Included with the DVD video is a CD-ROM that contains printable files of all scrapbook pages. These printable pages allow a family to easily update My Life Book, or turn the future-planning process into a fun family activity by creating the scrapbook pages from scratch, sharing them with family and friends, and assembling a complete scrapbook.
The integrated video-scrapbook approach to helping this population also lends itself well to use in a variety of contexts outside the home. Public school teachers who work with special education students in transitional living programs, can use this program for family-involvement activities, and staff in assisted and group living programs can use the material to work with both residents and their family members. My Life Book is also a valuable resource for families whose children have autism, psychological disorders, or other special needs.
In the research evaluation phase of this project, developed with a grant from the National Institute on Aging, families who used the My Life Book program were compared to families who used print-only materials from another source. Families who used My Life Book said they were less worried about their child’s future than families in the control group. My Life Book families also said they had increased their future planning activities and had arranged for more support to be available in the future for their children. These families also “really liked” the program and the integration of the scrapbook-style workbook and the DVD.
With results like these, it is fair to say that My Life Book can help millions of American families plan a secure, happy future for their adult children with special needs.
Product Information
Title: My Life Book: Future Planning for People with Developmental Disabilities
Age: Young adult and adult
Running time: 90 mins.
Release date: May 2005
ISBN 10: 1-932969-10-1 ISBN 13: 978-1-932969-10-8
Scrapbook with DVD and CD-ROM Price: $70
($10 Shipping & Handling, $3 each additional.)
ISBN 10: 1-932969-08-X ISBN 13: : 978-1-932969-08-5
DVD and CD-ROM Price: $40
($10 Shipping & Handling, $3 each additional.)
ISBN 10: 1-932969-07-1 ISBN 13: 978-1-932969-07-8
Scrapbook only Price: $35
($10 Shipping & Handling, $3 each additional.)
DVD/CD-ROM are packaged together in an attractive hard plastic case.
SAN: 255-4042
Publisher:
IRIS Media
258 East 10th, Suite B
Eugene OR 97401
Toll free: 877-343-4747
Fax: 541-683-4335
www.lookiris.com
