Special Needs Alliance
“The Special Needs Alliance is a national organization comprised of attorneys committed to helping individuals with disabilities, their families and the professionals who serve them” (Special Needs Alliance, n.d.). There are currently no jobs listed on the website or available to individuals who do not practice law. The website claims that those working for the alliance do so through invitation-only, with each member having an average of 18 years of experience but no less than 5 years. However, they are still a great organization to partner with or add to my community of practice since families need their assistance
Autism Action Partnership
The Autism Action Partnership is an organization that seeks to improve the lives of individuals with autism and offer assistance to their families. Their goals and initiatives include supporting and strengthening families; workforce development (to help adults with autism enter the workforce); enhancement of social skills and education; to increase awareness/acceptance/understanding; and to act as a supporting capacity within the autism community. As of right now, the only job opening available is that of resource development manager. In order to qualify, I need a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree (Master’s preferred) and 5 year experience in development to include grant writing.
The Pacer Center
The Pacer Center offers workshops to parents offers free workshops help parents of children with disabilities and the professionals who serve them; the organization provides puppet programs that cover disability awareness, abuse prevention and bullying prevention; and their technology center provides software and devices and training that will help children learn how to communicate through technology. They look to improve the quality of life of all individuals with disabilities. Pacer Center relies on organizations and volunteers to contribute and keep their services free to the families they serve. There is currently a Grant Coordinator and Development Associate position available. In order to meet the requirements for this job, I would need to acquire skills in grant writing.
Website: https://www.pacer.org/about/PACERfacts.asp
Alvia,
ReplyDeleteGreat choice of organizations for your blog post this week. I like that you chose the Pacer Group as one of your organizations. What I like about them is their Simon Technology Center Lending Library (Pacer Group, 2019). Through this library they are able to lend out Assistive Technology (AT) to families to try before making a purchase (Pacer Group, 2019). I did notice that they mainly lend these devices to families in Minnesota but also have out-of-state options. While the borrowing is not free, it is much cheaper than making the expensive purchase of AT devices to make sure it is the right choice. I have witnessed the importance of having the right device first-hand so I like that there is a library that lends AT out to families. Thank you for sharing,
Trish
Pacer Center. (2019). Simon Technology Center Lending Library. Retrieved from: https://www.pacer.org/stc/library/
Alvia,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post very informative and the three organizations you choose Special Needs Alliance, Autism Action Partnership, and The Pacer Center are all well respected organization that I have heard of but am not to familiar with their work. From the information you provided it sounds to be part of the Special Needs Alliance is all about who you know, which reminds me of one of our earlier classes where we had to network and become familiar with our colleagues in order to be successful. Most of my educational jobs were based on knowing somebody that knows somebody that helped and guided me through the hiring process. Best of luck!
Paola