At Advancing Opportunities, we excel in providing residential and respite services to people of with all disabilities, along with advocacy and education services for parents and guardians and assistive technology support. As a leader in the field, we are pleased to share our experience, knowledge, and expertise with the disability community through our social media outlets: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. In our Disability and Ability Highlights of the Week column, we will select the best of what we found and shared and present them. Please click on the titles with embedded links to find the full article.
https://www.facebook.com/AdvancingOpportunities/
https://plus.google.com/b/113741235817976526648/113741235817976526648/
https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/5237078/
https://www.youtube.com/user/assistivetechcenter
https://www.pinterest.com/AdvOpps/
Please stop by our website, https://advopps.org/, and find out all we have to offer. In addition, we are specialists in the area of assistive technology and offer a huge array of services; the Assistive Technology Center is New Jersey’s premier source of information and equipment.
Quinn, an 18-month-old boy with autism, purposefully stacks cans. Photographer: Andwhatsnext, via Wikimedia Commons.
Advancing Opportunities job announcement of the week:
We’re hiring!
Advancing Opportunities has immediate openings for part-time Direct-Support Professionals in residential care programs throughout New Jersey. In April, we will be holding job fairs on the following days, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., as follows:
- Tuesday, April 11. Budd Lake. Advancing Opportunities, 98 U.S. Hwy. 46 W., Budd Lake, NJ
- Thursday, April 20. Parsippany. Family Resource Network, 322 U.S. Hwy. 46 W., Ste. 290, Parsippany, NJ
- Tuesday, April 25. Marlboro. Marlboro Free Public Library, 1 Library Ct., Marlboro, NJ
Advancing Opportunities provides supports to individuals with disabilities and their families, so they can live fully in the community.
Our team includes a diverse collection of men and women committed to treating the people and families we serve with dignity and respect and providing the highest quality services and supports.
Employees of the agency enjoy paid training and an excellent array of benefits, including health care and dental benefits for all eligible full-time staff and a 401(k) retirement plan for all eligible employees.
If you are unable to make it to one of the job fair open houses, you can also visit us online, at: https://advopps.org/careers/
Advancing Opportunities news:
Mark your calendars for Saturday, April 22, 2017! It’s only a month away. Come and plan to join us for the best barn dance this side of the Mississippi! Each year, the agency holds several fundraising events. We consider them “friendraising” events as well. Join us and learn more about how you can help provide vital services and supports to children and adults with all types of disabilities.
Disability in the news (mostly in New Jersey, the population we serve):
New Jersey adds 1,500 beds to community-based programs to accommodate people with mental illness. Advancing Opportunities is a major player in this residential care, allowing for maximum independence for this population.
This mom from Hopewell, NJ, (Mercer County) has worked tirelessly to raise both awareness and appreciation for children with Down syndrome, advocating for local parents.
For parents of a child with a disability (parenting):
A father and disability advocate creates an assistive technology app to assist his son with autism.
Special Education:
Slow processing speed and anxiety: here’s what you need to know.
Advocacy and self-advocacy:
This journal article examines the future of supported decision making for people with autism.
A violinist discusses using music to enact social change.
Assistive technology:
An exciting new piece of AAC assistive technology enhances accessibility for blind people.
With assistive technology, toddlers get up and go in their own set of wheels independently.
A neuroprosthesis enables a paralyzed man to feed himself independently.
This high-performance software for transcribing audio recordings can be a boon for people with dyslexia.
Employment for people with disabilities:
Revisiting an autism employment success story: The Rising Tide Car Wash.
A recent report on PBS examines the need for more job opportunities for people with disabilities, who often still face discrimination. This is a matter of civil rights, as well as one of dignity and independence for the population we serve.
Informative, positive, noteworthy (or all three!):
Here are ten books that feature positive depictions of characters with a disability.
“Make it Stop.” A brand-new and powerful awareness video to foster understanding of people with autism.
The Arts and People with Disabilities
Six blind professional musicians ranging in age from 17 to 65 come together in a London recording studio to create and record a musical tribute to Louis Braille.
After a debilitating accident, William Heard took up painting and founded an arts center in Mississippi.
People with a disability in the community (disability rights and acceptance; inclusion):
Tenafly, NJ, housing offers a chance at independence for people with disabilities. A leading disability advocate wrote an editorial.
Disability awareness and appreciation:
Teens describe their experiences with depression and anxiety.
“Twin Brothers Worlds Apart.” This British documentary, telling the stories of identical twins (except that one had autism), has garnered considerable acclaim.
Medical news – research:
New insight has been gained into the genetic and neuronal circuit mechanisms that may contribute to impaired sociability in some forms of autism spectrum disorder.
Two from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute:
- A Blood Test for Autism
- An RPI researcher talks about his groundbreaking research on Autism.
