WINAHEAD

Punch-In – Resources for Young Adults Seeking Employment

Punch-In is a project sponsored by the Great Lakes ADA Center. It is a free resource for young adults with disabilities preparing for and seeking employment.

One of the many offerings on the site is a free, online course to develop the skills and strategies necessary to be successful in career endeavors. Teachers and other professionals can set up a self-paced course to administered as group or individuals may take the course independently. The course includes over 100 high quality videos for instruction and advice.

There is also a moderator for every course to assist and encourage students.

There are five content modules:

Discover Yourself (Module 1) – This module is designed for students who are beginning to prepare for a job search. It offers tools to examine strengths in any potential job and explore careers options.
Get Prepared (Module 2) – This module offers the foundational steps to develop your work readiness skills and jump into the critical steps of writing a good resume and cover letter.
Find A Job (Module 3)- The Find A Job module helps set a job search in motion. A job search includes the way you find out, apply, and interview for employment. The module also has a special section on networking skills using social media to locate employment opportunities.
Know Your Rights (Module 4) – Understanding one’s rights and responsibilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is critical in the employment process. This module is an introduction to the ADA and other disability laws.
Use Technology (Module 5) – This module is an introduction to Assistive Technology (AT). AT may be a critical component for a successful career.

If you are interested in administering or taking the newly updated course join the Punch-in network at success-network.punch-in.org. You may also contact Janet Peters with any questions.

Great Lakes ADA Center’s mission is to increase awareness and knowledge with the ultimate goal of achieving voluntary compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Great Lakes ADA Center is a member of the ADA National Network which is comprised of 10 regional centers funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), a division of the U.S. Department of Education.

Supporting Families of Students with Disabilities in Postsecondary Education

The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth) assists state and local workforce development systems to better serve all youth, including youth with disabilities and other disconnected youth. NCWD/Youth works to ensure that transition age youth are provided full access to high quality services in integrated settings to gain education, employment and independent living.

Among NCWD/Youth’s many resources are numerous “Info Briefs” including:

Supporting Families of Students with Disabilities in Postsecondary Education is intended to create increased understanding of the important role that families can play in the post-secondary success of students with disabilities.

The many other “Info Briefs” Fact Sheets and other publications, all organized by topic, can be found at NCWD/Youth Publications

Tackling the Research Paper: Tips and Tools for Success for People with Vision Loss

For high school and college students, research papers are either viewed as a walk in the park or the bane of one’s existence. Some may be able to reel off several pages on a given topic in a matter of a couple of hours, while for others the very thought of a 10- or 20-page research paper on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire is cause for cringing.

If you are a cringer, an article by J.J. Meddaugh in AFB AccessWorld online magazine offers provides tips and tools to help make that next research paper a bit easier. Straight-forward and well-organized, even those who enjoy writing research papers might find this article useful and learn something new.