Obtaining Services Within Your Community
The purpose of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000
(DD Act) as described in the current law, is to assure that individuals with developmental
disabilities and their families participate in the design of and have access to needed
community services, individualized supports, and other forms of assistance that promote
self-determination, independence, productivity, and integration and inclusion in all facets
of community life
Investigate resources within your community that assist individuals with developmental
disabilities and their families with assuming self-management and support for daily living.
Discuss:
�What is the availability and eligibility of these resources and services?
�How do these services assist with developing their competencies and talents and help
them gain control over life circumstances?
�Choose a disability and discuss services offered in your area that helps to improve the life
circumstances of these individuals
�Explain the importance of these services to the family as a whole and how these services
aid with care for these individuals
The Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000. (2000). United
States Government, Public Law 106-402106th Congress
Assignment Requirements
The finished Assignment should be a 5-page exploratory essay, excluding the title page and
references. The viewpoint and purpose of this Assignment should be clearly established and
sustained.
Before finalizing your work, you should:
�be sure to read the Assignment description carefully (as displayed above)
�consult the Grading Rubric (under the Course Home) to make sure you have included
everything necessary;
�utilize spelling and grammar check to minimize errors; and
�review APA formatting and citation information found in the KU Writing Center,
online, or elsewhere in the course.
Your Assignment should:
�follow the conventions of Standard American English (correct grammar, punctuation,
etc.);
�be well ordered, logical, and unified, as well as original and insightful;
�display superior content, organization, style, and mechanics; and
�use APA 6th edition format for organization, style, and crediting sources including:
�properly formatted header
�12-point, double-spaced, Times New Roman font
�use of in-text citations
�title page and reference page
�use of headings (if applicable)
OBTAINING SERVICES FOR THE DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES IN THE
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Obtaining Services for the Developmental Disabilities in the Community
Resources available in the community of Florida, there are many available resources that
help people with developmental disabilities and their families so that they can be able to manage
themselves and support their daily lives (Beresford, 1994). These resources include access to
oral health care, DD screening, short-term service planning to help individuals develop a plan of
care, applications for public benefits, access to Waivers, alternative care and MA home care
services. The developmentally disabled are also provided with information on specialized
housing and funding that includes living options. Local and regional resources include children’s
medical services, catholic charity bureau that that is concerned with providing services to those
in need without discriminating on basis of race or religion. They also advocate for justice, human
dignity and quality of life. This charity is supported by people joining efforts together so as to
ensure quality living for everyone. The other resource available is the counseling support for
those affected by developmental disorders. There is also the Community Rehabilitation Programs
that provides rehabilitation services to those who are visually impaired (Beresford, 1994).
Other resources include person centered services in areas of case management,
independent living/life skills training, employment training and coaching, and behavioral health
management. Senior citizens and disabled adults are provided with a comfortable home-like
setting care. There is also the Act Corporation that provides health services to the mentally ill.
They also serve people with addictions and criminal involvement and services whore at risk of
developing delinquency and those who have serious emotional disturbances (Beresford, 1994).
The Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) assists the people who are
developmentally disabled and their parents to obtain services and support based on individual
preference, capabilities, and needs and promote in making their daily activities easy.
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These services are made available because people with disabilities and their families are
faced with challenges that the normal people do not experience. In community living, people
with disabilities have limited access to social services available and the housing provided for
them is mostly inadequate and does not accommodate their disabilities. This challenge comes
about due to the restricted communication as a result of disability; mobility is another issue and
the ability to take care of their selves without relying on assistance from others. Because of this,
the federal or state government and local agencies provide help to the disabled and their families
through services like health care, vocational training and service coordination (Park, et al 2003).
The Developmental Disabilities Program Office under the Department of Children and Families
ensures that social services and housing are provided to people with disabilities and their care
takers.
Unavailability of convenient transportation makes it difficult for people with disabilities
and therefore they are not able to access the needed services. Lack of the ability to learn in the
normal education setup can make it challenging for the developmentally challenged to acquire
education. Mostly, special education is provided and individuals are able to secure employment
and be able to purchase oral health care from community practitioners (Park, et al 2003). It is
also difficult for people with development disabilities to get employment because of the special
facilities that they may require at the work place. Some of these people depend on others to feed,
bath, dress them, and use the toilet and therefore it maybe tasking to hire such a person.
However, some people get employed despite their disability because disability does not mean
that they are lesser humans.
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Health care is made available to these people by the government and local agencies. The
health practitioners are also trained on how to take care of people with disabilities and ensure
that their medical needs are taken care of (Park, et al 2003).
Provision of these services
Most of the special services that are offered to the developmentally disabled and their
family are offered by the state agencies, community-based private health care, and volunteers
such as charity organizations. However, provision of health services such as the oral health care
is not available in every community because the number of inadequate number of trained
professional (Koren, DeChillo, & Friesen, 1992). Actually, oral healthcare provision has
become a big problem in Florida. Dental care which is also not easily accessible is reported to be
one of the most wanted services is dental care among children with disabilities.
How these services help in developing the competencies and talents of the disabled
These services help in supporting good health in the developmentally disabled and
therefore providing quality life for these people. These services also helped the disabled to
participate productively in the community through employment, education and career goal
attainment. Through these services, a positive relationship is built in the society, the safety of the
disabled is ensured, they are provided with a comfortable home and they are also made to feel
equal to others in the society and therefore they actively participate in building the society
(Koren, DeChillo, & Friesen, 1992).
These services enable them to take care of themselves where possible for example
providing for their families when they get employed and also be able to relate well with people
in the society and also to feel that they are equally important just like the others. Taking them to
schools and facilities that enable them to develop their talents makes them to be useful people in
OBTAINING SERVICES FOR THE DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES IN THE
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the society. Even though these people cannot do everything that a normal person can do, they
have unique abilities that can be used to develop the society. Education helps them to realize
their potentials despite their disabilities (Koren, DeChillo, & Friesen, 1992). These services also
make things easier for their care taker when they are provided with funds for their upkeep.
Provision of houses and other housing services such as house care ensures that the
developmentally stable have quality life.
The visually disabled
In the community, many services and resources have been put into place to help the
visually disabled or the blind. Education through brail is offered to these people so that they can
develop their potentials. This education shows that these people are just like the others and they
have the potential of performing well independently. Education ensures that the visually blind
play a role in the development of the society and also proves that these people should not be
mistreated for their disability (Cohen, & Volkmar, 1997). Other services offered in the society
include extracurricular activities that enable the blind to develop their talents. Many blind people
are able to take part in many sporting activities and do excellently well. We can also see some
musicians who are blind and through music they are able to market their talents. Free medical
checkups for the blind have helped in the treatment of blindness and some people have been able
to recover their sight after a long period of time. The counseling services offered to the blind and
their families have helped them to accept themselves in the society and cope with blindness. Any
disability is accompanied by emotional difficulties and they must be addressed in order for the
person to continue with their life normally. The public has also been treated on how to interact
with these people and address them without seeing them as abnormal people. This has led to the
acceptance of blindness as a condition and not as an abnormality (Cohen, & Volkmar, 1997).
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Some facilities have been developed and ran by people who are visually impaired to
show that they are not lesser humans. Florida outreach center for the blind was begun in 2003
and it is purely led by blind people. This center provides education, that is, reading through
Braille, computers and adaptive equipments. They are also taught basic life skills such as
cooking, personal and home management. The services offered here are free and they are aimed
at building confidence, live an independent life and pursue a career. These services help the
visually blind to live a quality life accepting themselves and being confidence in themselves.
Through this, it become easier also for their care givers because the visually blind and able to do
a good number of things for themselves (Freedman, & Boyer, 2000).
Importance of these services to the family as a whole and how they aid in the care for these
individuals
These services help families to accept the condition of one of their member and also have
a good relationship with one another as a family (Freedman, & Boyer, 2000). These services also
provide financial help to families that help in taking care of the disabled thus ensuring quality
life for these people. Empowering the disabled also helps them to make constructive
contributions to the development of the family.
Conclusion
Lives of the developmentally disabled can be made better by providing services that
better their lives. The developmentally disabled have potentials that should be nurtured to
develop, these potentials are the ones that prove that they are equal to other people and they
should be respected. Provision of the services discussed contributes to a better quality of life for
the disabled in the long run.
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References
Beresford, B. A. (1994). Resources and strategies: How parents cope with the care of a disabled
child. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 35(1), 171-209.
Cohen, D., & Volkmar, F. (1997). Autism and pervasive developmental disorders. John Wiley &
Sons, Inc, New York.
Freedman, R. I., & Boyer, N. C. (2000). The power to choose: Supports for families caring for
individuals with developmental disabilities. Health & Social Work, 25(1), 59-68.
Koren, P. E., DeChillo, N., & Friesen, B. J. (1992). Measuring empowerment in families whose
children have emotional disabilities: A brief questionnaire. Rehabilitation Psychology,
37(4), 305.
Park, J., Hoffman, L., Marquis, J., Turnbull, A. P., Poston, D., Mannan, H., … & Nelson, L. L.
(2003). Toward assessing family outcomes of service delivery: Validation of a family
quality of life survey. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 47(4‐5), 367-384.