Make the Day Matter! : Promoting Typical Lifestyles for Adults With Significant Disabilities

Adults with disabilities enjoying active, rewarding, and meaningful daytimes in their communities—that's the reality when service providers and programs tap into innovative support strategies that really work. That's just what they'll do with this invaluable book, the first to compile all the best, most current knowledge on helping adults "make the day matter."

A call to action and an in-depth guide to the most effective strategies, this illuminating resource gives service providers proven ideas for supporting adults with significant disabilities as they

• make a smooth transition from school to adult life



• find or create employment that fits their goals and desires



• pursue their individual interests and hobbies



• participate in postsecondary education



• develop social relationships and community connections



• explore opportunities for paid self-advocacy and systems change work



• maintain active, healthy lifestyles as they age

Throughout the book, detailed case stories from across the country combine with practical guidelines to show professionals how to replicate success stories in their own communities. And with the extensive discussion of organizational change, programs will have a blueprint they can use to make the critical shift from facility-based to community-based services.

The only comprehensive look at promoting better, more fulfilling daytimes for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, this idea-filled guide from respected researchers is a must for all service providers who want to do more but aren't sure how. Every program serving adults needs a copy!

Mr. Griffin is Senior Partner at Griffin-Hammis Associates, LLC, a full-service consultancy specializing in building communities of economic cooperation, creating highperformance organizations, and focusing on disability and employment. He is also Codirector of the U.S. Department of Labor’s National Self-Employment Technical Assistance, Resources, and Training project with Virginia Commonwealth University and former Director of Special Projects at the Rural Institute at The University of Montana. He is also past director of an adult vocational program in southern Colorado, former Assistant Director of the Rocky Mountain Resource and Training Institute, and former Founder and Executive Director of CTAT in Colorado.

Teresa Grossi, Ph.D., is Director of the Center on Community Living and Careers at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community at Indiana University.

Mr. Hammis is Senior Partner at Griffin-Hammis Associates, LLC, a full-service consultancy specializing in building communities of economic cooperation, creating highperformance organizations, and focusing on disability and employment. He maintains an ongoing relationship with the Rural Institute at The University of Montana, where he served as Project Director for multiple self-employment, employment, and Social Security outreach training and technical assistance projects, including the Rural Institute’s Rural Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment Expansion Design Project. He works with organizations nationally and internationally on self-employment, benefits analysis, supported employment, and employment engineering. Mr. Hammis has worked in supported and self-employment since 1988 and is personally responsible for the implementation of thousands of Plans to Achieve Self-Support leading to employment, self-employment, and enhanced personal resources for people with disabilities. In July 1996, Mr. Hammis received the International Association for Persons in Supported Employment Professional of the Year Award for his “outstanding support and commitment to people with disabilities, especially in the areas of career development and the use of Social Security work incentives.”

Richard G. Luecking, Ed.D., is the President of TransCen, Inc., a non-profit organization based in Rockville, Maryland, that is dedicated to improving education and employment outcomes for people with disabilities. Dr. Luecking has held this position since 1987, when he was charged by the Board of Directors as the organization's first employee to create improved linkages between schools, employment service providers, government, business, and families so that youth with disabilities experience improved post-school employment outcomes. During his tenure with the organization, he and his TransCen colleagues have been responsible for the design and implementation of numerous model demonstration and research projects related to school-to-work transition and employment of people with disabilities. He is the author of a range of publications on related topics, including the book, The Way to Work: How to Facilitate Work Experiences for Youth in Transition (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 2009).