Reviews
Educational Media Reviews Online, August 9, 2005
Developed through a grant from the National Institute for aging, this professionally produced video training program and supporting workbook instructs families who are caring for an adult member with developmental disabilities. Structured around four families, the facilitator leads caregivers and their charges through several exercises allowing everyone the opportunity to discuss their present fears, challenges, and abilities, while asking them to focus their energy on the future, thus developing a plan of action. The facilitator/coach does an admirable job with leading the families though some tough, but thought provoking questions allowing them to reach their own conclusions and individual comfort level with her assistance. Subject matter concerning how to approach and consider housing options such as independent living, where to develop a network of friends, and making legal and financial arrangements, are all areas that are covered in a mature and compassionate manner. The overall treatment of the topic concerning how to handle life planning for people with developmental disabilities is dealt with great understanding, respect and dignity.
This video is smartly crafted and could become a medium for further dialog and used in discussion with parents, caretakers and social care professionals who are charged with providing the sole support for an adult with a disability. The families in the video are unforgettable. The audio and video qualities are excellent. The My Life scrapbook is a useful tool for helping others learn about the wants and needs, likes and dislikes, of the person with the intellectual or developmental disability. It also serves as a record of important information. The ease of being able to print the pages from the CD-ROM allows the author of the content to make revisions.
This resource is highly recommended with great potential for use in many collections. It would be a meaningful addition to a parenting library or any collection being viewed by those caring for adults with disabilities. Additionally, teachers working with special education students and their families will find this to be a valuable resource and communication tool. The uses for this material are extensive.
http://libweb.lib.buffalo.edu/emro/emroDetail.asp?Number=2065
Library Journal, October 1, 2005
disabilities plan for the future. The version reviewed includes a DVD and CD-ROM containing a workbook in PDF format that can be printed for personal use. The first part of the workbook gives the person with a disability ample space to describe himself or herself and indicate likes and dislikes, hopes and dreams. Once completed, it provides an introduction that includes pictures for caregivers, relatives, or new friends and acquaintances. The second portion focuses on planning tools to help parents identify key people who can take over caregiving responsibilities when needed, secure appropriate housing, expand their child’s circle of friends, and help their child find suitable work and leisure activities. Parents are instructed to complete the workbook to a certain point, then watch the next DVD chapter, which follows four families through the process of filling in the workbook by shadowing them in a training class and watching as they attempt to implement some of the techniques. The DVD seems designed as a sort of virtual support group to encourage people who may be at different stages of life planning. My Life Book is the type of planning tool vitally needed in almost every community. Highly recommended to public libraries and special libraries in education, health, and social service settings.
Video Librarian, November/December 2005
Intended to help families create a future care plan for loved ones with developmental disabilities, My Life Book follows four families facing the unique challenges of special-needs children, taking viewers through the process of putting together a record of basic information for the child that would be useful to temporary caregivers in the event of an emergency. Designed to be used in conjunction with a personal fill-in-the-blank scrapbook (printable from the accompanying CD-ROM or available separately for $35 in a spiral-bound book), the program aims to help ease the adjustment process for new/temporary caregivers and children (parents and child record personal information, such as where the child/youth works, attends school, volunteers, his or her friends, hobbies, routines, medications, likes/dislikes, moods, communication styles, general support needs, and religious affiliations). In addition, parents are taken through the process of planning for the future (when they are no longer caretakers for their grown children), including sorting out various financial and legal questions, finding appropriate housing, and mapping out work and leisure activities. An outstanding tool for both families and agencies that work with the developmentally disabled, this is highly recommended.
