This book examines choice and preference in the lives of people with disability, focusing on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It provides an overview of choice and examines foundational concepts related to choice and preference, including self-determination and supported decision making. Chapters examine a range of critical service and policy issues, such as guardianship, individualized funding, the health care system, and the situation regarding choices for people with disability in international contexts. In addition, chapters explore issues ranging from the development of preference and choice in childhood to choices in older age and end of life matters. It provides in-depth analysis of particular choices faced at different points across the lifespan. The book concludes with implications for policy and practice. Topics featured in this book include: Supported decision making for adults with intellectual disabilities or acquired brain injury. The role of parents and families in the development of choice-making skills. Preference assessments for individuals who cannot tell us what they prefer. Employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities. Sexual and reproductive rights for people with intellectual disabilities. Disability and the choice to become a parent. Choice, Preference, and Disability is an essential resource for researchers, professors, clinicians, therapists, and other professionals as well as graduate students in the fields of developmental and positive psychology, rehabilitation, social work, special education, occupational, speech and language therapy, public health, and healthcare policy.

The Transition to Retirement (TTR) program aims to help older people with long-term disability gradually build an active and socially inclusive retirement lifestyle through volunteering and participating in mainstream community groups. Members of these groups are trained to act as mentors and provide support. The three-year TTR research project and subsequent years of TTR service delivery have shown that this approach is feasible and has enduring positive outcomes for people with disability, mentors and community groups.The TTR manual and video material aim to make these benefits available more widely. They provide implementation details for all components of the TTR program, as well as practical tips and accounts of individual participant's experiences. DVD stories and video clips illustrate key issues. Planning forms are also included, together with an explanation of the process of teaching a person with long-term disability to use public transport independently. The TTR program is consistent with Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) which focuses on building community participation and independence, and with the National Disability Strategy's emphasis on promoting social inclusion in community settings.

This book on end of life examines how to include people with intellectual and developmental disability in the inevitability of dying and death. Comprising 17 chapters, it addresses challenging and under-researched topics including suicide, do-not-resuscitate, advance care planning, death doulas and accessible funerals. Topics reflect everyday community, palliative care, hospice and disability services. The book proposes that the rights of people with disabilities should be supported up to and after their death. Going beyond problem identification, the chapters offer positive, evidence-supported responses that translate research to practice, together with practice examples and resources grounded in lived experience. The book is applicable to readers from the disability field, and mainstream health professionals who assist people with disability in emergency care, palliative care or end-of-life planning

This book on end of life examines how to include people with intellectual and developmental disability in the inevitability of dying and death. Comprising 17 chapters, it addresses challenging and under-researched topics including suicide, do-not-resuscitate, advance care planning, death doulas and accessible funerals. Topics reflect everyday community, palliative care, hospice and disability services. The book proposes that the rights of people with disabilities should be supported up to and after their death. Going beyond problem identification, the chapters offer positive, evidence-supported responses that translate research to practice, together with practice examples and resources grounded in lived experience. The book is applicable to readers from the disability field, and mainstream health professionals who assist people with disability in emergency care, palliative care or end-of-life planning

This book examines choice and preference in the lives of people with disability, focusing on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It provides an overview of choice and examines foundational concepts related to choice and preference, including self-determination and supported decision making. Chapters examine a range of critical service and policy issues, such as guardianship, individualized funding, the health care system, and the situation regarding choices for people with disability in international contexts. In addition, chapters explore issues ranging from the development of preference and choice in childhood to choices in older age and end of life matters. It provides in-depth analysis of particular choices faced at different points across the lifespan. The book concludes with implications for policy and practice. Topics featured in this book include: Supported decision making for adults with intellectual disabilities or acquired brain injury. The role of parents and families in the development of choice-making skills. Preference assessments for individuals who cannot tell us what they prefer. Employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities. Sexual and reproductive rights for people with intellectual disabilities. Disability and the choice to become a parent. Choice, Preference, and Disability is an essential resource for researchers, professors, clinicians, therapists, and other professionals as well as graduate students in the fields of developmental and positive psychology, rehabilitation, social work, special education, occupational, speech and language therapy, public health, and healthcare policy.

With many state agencies under budgetary pressure, solid information on costs and outcomes of services for people with disabilities has never been more important. Now, for the first time ever, that hard-to-find information is collected in a single volume for policy makers, advocates, providers, and researchers. Blending original research with policy analysis, critical reviews of existing knowledge, and examples of cutting-edge programs and policies, this book shows you what works and helps you make sound decisions about how to allocate resources. You'll examine

• differences in outcomes and costs among various community service models direct and indirect costs of family care
• the criteria used to allocate funds for community services
• ways to develop a rational, equitable budgeting process that facilitates the desired lifestyle of each person
• public policy considerations involved in developing individual budgets in a statewide system of services
• the debate over independent budgets versus traditional funding
• costs and outcomes of consumer directed services (self-determination)
• the question of whether greater expenditures and more staff lead to better outcomes
• the impact of residential setting size and institutional downsizing on per-person expenditure
• recommendations for future policy and practice

The highly respected contributors to this volume represent a wide range of fields, including disability services, research, evaluation, policy analysis, and administration. Contributors from the UK and Australia add an international perspective. With their combined research and perspectives, you'll be better prepared to meet federal mandates for individualized services and improve the quality of life for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.