Monday, 29 June 2015

Benefits Of Group Homes For Developmentally Disabled Adults

By Edna Booker


There is a myriad of mental illnesses which result into varying degrees of disabilities. Some of the commonly encountered ones include autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy among others. Persons with mental disabilities are often faced with numerous challenges in their day to day life. When living in the general population, they may either face stigma of may fail to have their special needs addressed. Group homes for developmentally disabled adults provide a new lease of life to these individuals.

One of the biggest challenges that persons with the developmental disability is the fact that they cannot take care of simple tasks relating to personal care. This includes grooming, feeding, using the toilet and other survival skills. There is a heavy dependence on other family members which may result in inconveniences and friction among the family members.

How long can one stay in a group home? There are no hard and fast rules regarding the duration of stay in the facilities. This stay is determined by the severity of limitation and how fast they gain survival skills. There should be no hurry to have them come back home until they are fit.

It is important that you maintain the close family relationship even after you send a relative to the facility. Ensure that you visit as often as possible. This practice has been shown to increase the chances of success. At the same time, you will be in a good position to assess any form of progress yourself. This means that you need to identify a group home that is not too far from your family home.

Many different types of homes exist and choosing the best may be a bit difficult. There is need to compare several of them before settling on your final decision. All group homes needed to be licenced to operate. The authority that issues this licence is the Department of Human Services. If the affected individual has a coexisting medical condition as is the case at times, ensure that they are enrolled in a facility where treatment will take place.

Each residential unit is required to have a day activity centre. Day activities are designed to help patients undergo mental training and acquire survival skills. There is also a need to have patients undergo vocational job trainings or placement services. When properly implemented, this activities help with growth of the individuals and their subsequent integration into the community.

One of the advantages of the homes is that the individuals are given an opportunity to explore their talents which would not otherwise be discovered. When properly trained some of these people may be empowered to work alongside able bodied colleagues. Since each person has a unique problem different from the other, specially trained instructors are allocated to each of the adults. It is this instructor that is best placed to identify the skills of the individuals and to sharpen them so that they can be useful to society.

Developmental disability is usually associated with significant limitation in carrying out simple tasks. Some of these tasks are essential for survival meaning that people with the disabilities often need assistance to carry them out. Sending such a person to a group home should be viewed positively as it provides an opportunity to lead a better life.




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