Meaningful Day: Day Program Services Curriculum & Staff Guidebook

By Robert Stack and AnaMaria Herrera

Meaningful Day is the first hands-on curriculum for Direct Support Professionals working in day programs. We recognized there was a lack of resources available to day program staff on how to provide meaningful and relevant activities to people with disabilities.  This curriculum was created to fill this void.  Meaningful Day will set the standard for staff in developing meaningful and engaging activities, which will positively impact people with disabilities.  Meaningful Day was piloted in targeted Community Options' day programs with much success.  We are confident the application of the ideas and methodologies provided in this guide will make a significant improvement in the quality of your program, the engagement of your staff, and the overall satisfaction of individuals attending a truly meaningful day program.  

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hillcrest Media Group
• Release date: Dec 31, 1899
• ISBN: 9781634136082

Book preview

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PREFACE

Meaningful Day is the result of a nascent programmatic vision for persons with significant disabilities who are not part of the supported employment paradigm. Community Options staff pulled this together to enhance the quality of day services offered to individuals with disabilities with long term optimistic goals for community jobs.

We recognized that there were limited resources available to guide managers on meaningful and dynamic activities. The quality of the service was dependent on the creativity and commitment of the individual managing the program.

Feedback was solicited from well-trained and highly educated staff, family members and individuals receiving service. The culmination of this information was the development of a well-rounded and comprehensive guide that can be easily replicated and modified to meet the specific needs of individuals in any day program.

Meaningful Day was written by staff at Community Options who train and work daily with people with significant intellectual disabilities, autism and traumatic brain injuries. We are confident the application of the ideas and methodologies provided in this guide will make a significant improvement in the quality of your program, the engagement of your staff and the overall satisfaction of individuals attending a truly meaningful day program.

About the Agency:

Community Options is a nationally based nonprofit with the mission of developing housing and employment for persons with disabilities.

About Robert Stack:

Robert Stack is the Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Community Options. He has an M.B.A. and is a graduate of the University of Dayton. Robert has extensive international experience in entrepreneurial business development and non-profit management.

About AnaMaria Herrera:

AnaMaria Herrera is the National Training Specialist at Community Options. She has an M.S. in Human Resource Development with a concentration in Instructional Design and e-Learning from Drexel University. AnaMaria is an expert in training and development, curriculum design, and leadership development.

INTRODUCTION

Objective

Provide day programs with a curriculum and facilitation guide that will help support the staff in creating meaningful activities and engaging learning opportunities for individuals with disabilities, whom we serve.

Goals

Provide the individuals we serve with opportunities to actively participate in and integrate into their community;

Provide the individuals we serve with learning opportunities;

Guide and encourage the individuals we serve to advocate for themselves; and

Support the individuals we serve in becoming more self-sufficient.

Solution

Develop a day program curriculum that provides a thematic overview, desired outcomes, and suggested training/facilitation ideas for the program staff.

Training Outline

The Meaningful Day: Day Program Curriculum and Staff Guidebook provides the program staff with a thoughtful curriculum, desired outcomes, and suggested training ideas for working with the individuals we serve. Please note that we recognize that staff-to-individual ratios, time frames for day programs, and functionality of the individuals may prove difficult in implementing the entire curriculum. Regardless, in order to provide the individuals we serve with a meaningful learning experience each day, we encourage you to use your best judgment in managing the themed units, daily activities, and learning flow, which should always be intended to engage the individuals’ participation throughout their day program experience. Instead of saying, This is not possible, ask yourselves, How can we make it possible? Remember, this curriculum and guide should encourage creativity and flexibility, as well as provide opportunities to make choices within the existing program structure.

The curriculum is broken down by themed units, which will focus on key themes and subtopics and include suggested teaching/training ideas, learning opportunities, and/or activities within the 5-day time frame for each unit.

Each day of the unit will include identified desired outcomes, a range of suggested activities suitable for the development levels of the individuals we serve, and the average staff/group ratio of 1:8.

The provided time frames are broad in order to recognize the functionality of the individuals we serve and the time frames that day service programs have each day. Not every desired outcome may be met, but the curriculum is a starting point for providing better services and greater options to the individuals we serve.

The suggested training ideas are meant to be just that—suggestions. Feel free to choose the training ideas that would work best for your particular program and the individuals you serve.

Spend extra time on topics and desired learning outcomes that reinforce an individual’s support plan (ISP) and the goals identified therein. The curriculum provided should be linked to an individual’s goals and objectives, which will assist him or her in developing a structured routine.

Unit 1: Social Skills

Goal: Provide the individuals we serve with an opportunity to learn and practice appropriate social skills.

Desired Outcomes:

Learn, develop, and practice the following key socialization skills and behaviors: introductions, starting conversations, body language and eye contact, sharing and responding to questions, ending conversations, and saying good-bye.

Social Skills Unit: Day 1

Day 1 Topic: Meeting, greeting, and starting and ending conversations

Desired Outcomes:

Teach, role-play, and demonstrate to the individuals we serve what meeting a person for the first time looks like. (For example: "Hello, my name is ____. What is your name? It is nice to meet you!' Teach the individuals that it is customary to shake hands during a meeting. Remind the individuals that hugging is used when greeting close friends and shaking hands is used when meeting new people.)

Teach, role-play, and demonstrate to the individuals we serve what greeting a person looks like. (For example: "Hello, ____, nice to see you again! Hello, ____. How are you? I am well, thank you!')

Teach, role-play, and demonstrate to the individuals we serve what starting and ending a conversation looks like. (For example: "How is your day? Are you enjoying the weather? How is work going? How is your family? Have a good afternoon! It was nice talking to you! See you later!')

Have the individuals practice with others meeting, greeting, and starting and ending conversations.

Suggested Training & Facilitation Ideas:

Have the individuals role-play among themselves to practice what they learned.

Have them pair up and practice taking turns starting the meet and greet and starting and ending conversations.

Have the individuals watch two staff members meeting and greeting and starting and ending conversations; then have them take turns doing what they saw.

Have them go out and observe in the community; ask them what they see as normal meeting and greeting habits from what they observed.

Have the individuals practice meeting people out in the community or inviting community members to do a meet and greet on-site.

Social Skills Unit: Day 2

Day 2 Topic: Selecting appropriate conversations

Desired Outcomes:

Teach, role-play, and demonstrate to the individuals we serve what appropriate conversations are and why. (For example: It is okay to talk about the weather; it is not appropriate to talk about politics or personal problems to an acquaintance or someone you don’t know well.)

Teach the individuals we serve what types of conversation topics are acceptable.

Teach, role-play, and demonstrate to the individuals we serve what an appropriate conversation looks like. (For example: Hello, ____, nice to see you again! Hello, ____. How are you? I am well, thank you! How do you like the weather? What are you doing this weekend? What do you like to do? I like to read, eat, and dance!)

Have the individuals practice selecting appropriate conversations with each other and the staff.

Suggested Training & Facilitation Ideas:

Have the individuals pick appropriate conversation topics from a group of pictures of people, places, and things (e.g., pictures of a church, the outdoors/weather, people fighting, art, books, and TV shows.)

Role-play/demonstrate what an appropriate conversation looks like.

Role-play with the individuals in order to practice what the individuals learned.

Provide appropriate topics of conversation and have the individuals practice with peers and the staff.

Provide pictures of objects or locations and have the individuals start conversations based on those topics.

Social Skills Unit: Day 3

Day 3 Topic: Choosing appropriate body language and eye contact

Desired Outcomes:

Teach, role-play, and demonstrate to the individuals we serve what appropriate body language and eye contact look like. (For example: Look people in the eyes when speaking to them; make sure you are keeping your hands to your side or on your lap; make sure you are facing the person talking to you.)

Teach the individuals we serve what kind of eye contact and body language is acceptable. (For example: Do not look up and down at a person; do not stare at a person; change your facial expressions; don’t forget to smile!)

Have the individuals observe others and identify good and bad eye contact and body language.

Have the individuals practice good eye contact and body language with each other and the staff.

Suggested Training & Facilitation Ideas:

Provide pictures of people in conversations that show good and bad body language and eye contact; the individuals can then identify which are good examples of appropriate body language and eye contact.

Role-play what good and bad body language and eye contact look like; then have the individuals identify which are appropriate.

Ask the individuals questions regarding their observations of others (e.g., what the body language, facial expressions, and eye contact of others are like).

Social Skills- Unit: Day 4

Day 4 Topic: Sharing and responding to questions

Desired Outcomes:

Teach, role-play, and demonstrate to the individuals we serve what appropriate sharing and how to respond to questions look like. (For example: You can share how you feel at the moment, but you shouldn’t share what you don’t like with people you don’t know.)

Teach the individuals we serve what is acceptable to answer. (For example: If a person asks you how much money you make, respond nicely with, I don’t feel comfortable answering that or I don’t think that is an appropriate question.)

Have the individuals observe others sharing and responding to questions.

Have the individuals practice appropriate examples of sharing and responding to questions with each other and the staff. (For example: Responding with I don’t know is not as nice as responding with I am not sure or I don’t know, but I can find out.)

Suggested Training & Facilitation Ideas:

Role-play what appropriate and inappropriate sharing and responding to questions look like; then have the individuals identify which is and is not appropriate.

Have the individuals role-play/demonstrate to the group what they think is appropriate to share.

Ask the individuals questions, both appropriate and inappropriate, to familiarize them with proper responses.

Social Skills Unit: Day 5

Day 5 Topic: Learning to recognize, acknowledge, and regulate feelings and emotions

Desired Outcomes:

Teach, role-play, and demonstrate to the individuals we serve how to recognize and control feelings and emotions when interacting with others. (For example: You can share how you feel at the moment, such as with I feel sad or I feel mad, but don’t act out on your feelings.)

Teach the individuals we serve what emotional self-control looks like. (For example: Have them watch and observe the staff exhibiting good and bad emotional self-control; then have them identify how they reacted or felt from those actions, such as, role-play being mad and being happy.)

Have the individuals practice how to recognize other people’s feelings and react accordingly with each other and the staff. (For example: If someone is acting upset and mad, you should walk away; if someone looks sad or lonely, ask him or her if he or she is okay or needs anything.)

Suggested Training & Facilitation Ideas:

Demonstrate what different feelings and emotions look like; then have the individuals identify the emotions being acted out.

Search for and use an emotions/face chart and have the individuals demonstrate the emotions on the chart to the group; each individual can also identify the emotions he or she feels normally on a day-to-day basis.

Discuss with the individuals why they think it is important to be aware of people’s feelings and emotions.

Have them identify from the chart the faces/emotions that they see often and have them practice appropriate reactions.

Unit 2: Computers & Technology

Goal: Provide the individuals we serve with an opportunity to learn how to use computers and communication technology, such as phones. By doing so, we help support them learn to become more self-sufficient and comfortable interacting with existing technology.

Desired Outcomes:

Learn what can be done on computers.

Learn how to use a computer.

Become familiar with navigating the World Wide Web.

Learn how to use the phone.

Learn what new technology is available for the individuals to easily use.

Computers & Technology Unit: Day 1

Day 1 Topic: Learning what can be done with computers

Desired Outcomes:

Teach the individuals what they can do on computers, tablets, and phones (if applicable).

Teach the individuals where to purchase or find accessible computers, such as