“Always connected with thousands Of ‘friends’ — yet feeling all alone” – California HealthLine
by Sharon Jayson
“AUSTIN, Texas — Connor Wilton moved here for the music scene. The 24-year-old singer-guitarist “knew zero people in Austin” and felt pretty lonely at first.
While this capital city is one of the nation’s buzziest places and ranks at the top of many ‘best’ lists, Wilton wasn’t feeling it. He lived near the University of Texas at Austin but wasn’t a student; he said walking through ‘the social megaplex that’s UT-Austin’ was intimidating, with its almost 52,000 students all seemingly having fun.
“‘You definitely feel like you’re on the outside, and it’s hard to penetrate that bubble,’ Wilton said.
Read this article at California Healthline in its entirety — click here.
Tips for finding fulfilling employment when you have a disability
Photo via Unsplash
by Jenny Wise
Having a disability shouldn’t prevent you from going after your career goals. While your job search will likely look very similar to that of someone without disabilities, you may face a few unique challenges along the way. Here are some tips to help you hit the ground running with your job hunt and land a position where you can let your skills shine.
Focus on What You Do Best
Anyone looking for a job should focus on their strengths above all else. Of course, it’s important to keep in mind the kinds of things you need in an ideal work environment and narrow your search to jobs where your disability will not limit you in any way. But it’s also crucial to think about the things you can do best! Avoid fixating on your limitations. Make a list of your greatest strengths to help you decide on a career field where you will thrive.
When you eventually go for an interview, use these strengths as your jumping off point. Talk about all of the things you can do well. Consider coming up with a short, but powerful, elevator pitch that reflects the unique ways you can benefit the company. Think about what drives you, why you are motivated to try your best every day, what aspects of the job you’re passionate about, and why you would be the perfect fit for the job. This really shows hiring managers that you’re driven to succeed.
Be Confident
Hiring managers love to see that a potential employee is confident in their abilities. You can display this confidence by addressing your disability in your interview and demonstrating how it does not affect your ability to do great things. If you feel uncomfortable disclosing your disability, that’s okay too! You don’t have to tell your interviewer anything you don’t want to. However, many people feel their confidence soar when they use their disability to show how they’ve overcome challenges or dealt with judgment in a constructive way.
Asking questions is another great way to show interviewers that you’re extremely driven. Do your research on the company and come prepared with a few questions about the organization. This really shows that you know what you’re talking about. You can also ask questions about development opportunities, professional responsibilities, and what success in the position would look like.
Craft a Skills-Based Resume
If you haven’t been employed for a while or you’ve switched jobs a lot in the past, a skills-based resume is your best bet. Instead of listing work history and education in chronological order, a skills-focused resume displays the targeted skills that make you uniquely qualified for the job. Adjust your resume for each job you apply for, listing a different combination of skills tailored to each position. Check out this article from Career Sidekick for help tailoring your resume to a specific job.
On your resume and in your interview, try to show your skills rather than simply telling about them. Avoid using clichés such as “hard-working” or “strong attention to detail.” Instead, use facts, numbers, and results to display your accomplishments.
Know Your Rights
As you go through the job-hunting process, make sure you have a solid understanding of your rights as a person with a disability. There are several federal laws that protect you from discrimination both during the job application process and in the workplace. For example, employers cannot reject you just because you cannot perform tasks that are not essential to the job position. Your employer must also make reasonable accommodations to help you do your job, like adjusting work schedules or modifying equipment. You can learn more about the Americans with Disabilities Act on FindLaw.
Companies today are realizing the valuable talents and skills that people with disabilities bring to their businesses. While it may have been extremely challenging to find work in the past, the future of employment for people with disabilities looks promising. More and more companies are providing accommodations, advancement opportunities, and accessible tools for people with disabilities, allowing them to thrive in jobs they enjoy.
An idea that’s time has come? | “Rethinking What Makes a Great Roommate” – AARP
“Many older adults own homes with rooms to spare and could use some help around the house. Young, helpful renters need safe, affordable places to live. Nesterly is helping them find one another.”
“PHOTO BY GARY BATTISTON, CITY OF BOSTON – Brenda, an empty nester, and Phoebus, a Ph.D. candidate from Greece, used the Nesterly website to become housemates in her Boston home.”
“Noelle Marcus and Rachel Goor, urban planning graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology turned business partners, wanted to put their skills to use in addressing two housing crises: the paucity of affordable housing and the financial difficulties faced by older people who don’t want to give up their homes.
“The result: Nesterly, a website that connects older people who have rooms to spare with young and lower income people seeking medium-term affordable housing. ‘Homeshare with another generation: The easy, safe way to rent a room,’ states the site’s homepage.
“Launched in 2016, in partnership with the city of Boston, the service stems from the chaos of Hurricane Sandy, which hit the Northeast hard in October 2012. At the time, Marcus noticed that Airbnb was asking its hosts to house people whose homes were in danger from the storm.”
Continue reading this article at AARP, click here.
OPINION: “Mindfulness is not a fad. Try it.” – The Boston Globe
by Andy Puddicombe
“‘Be present, be patient, be gentle, be kind . . . and everything else will take care of itself’ were the words of my teacher as I left behind my life as a Buddhist monk, some 15 years ago, to set out on a very different kind of adventure, one that would eventually lead to me getting married, having children, starting the Headspace meditation app, and moving to America.
“People often ask which I prefer: the simplicity of a monastic life, or the chaos of a working, family life? But life is not like that. Outside of extraordinary or unfortunate circumstances, our happiness is not typically defined by where we live, what we do, or what we possess.
“But instead of looking inward — recognizing that our experience of life is defined by our perception — we chase or hold on to things that we think make us happy, while running away from anything we believe makes us unhappy. This creates a never-ending cycle of hope and fear, leaving us exhausted, stressed, and no closer to the peace of mind we seek. So it’s worth considering how to step out of that cycle.”
Community HealthChoices (CHC) is coming in January 2020.
Community HealthChoices (CHC) is coming in January 2020.
The counties included in the third and final phase of the program’s implementation are:
- Lehigh/Capital Zone: Adams, Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Fulton, Franklin, Huntingdon, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Northampton, Perry, York.
- Northeast Zone: Bradford, Carbon, Centre, Clinton, Columbia, Juniata, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mifflin, Monroe, Montour, Northumberland, Pike, Schuykill, Snyder, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Wayne, Wyoming.
- Northwest Zone: Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, McKean, Mercer, Potter, Venango, Warren.
What you need to know:
CHC information for providers or participants can be found at www.healthchoices.pa.gov. The website will be updated as events are scheduled, so please check back often.
Click here to take our online trainings and read CHC fact sheets.
Access a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about CHC by clicking here.
Contact a CHC managed care organization (CHC-MCO) to become part of their provider network:
AmeriHealth Caritas | Phone: 1-800-521-6007 email: chcproviders@amerihealthcaritas.com
Pennsylvania Health & Wellness | Phone: 1-844-626-6813 email: information@pahealthwellness.com
UPMC Community HealthChoices | Phone: 1-844-860-9303 email: CHCProviders@UPMC.edu
Sign up and encourage your peers to subscribe to CHC emails here. By signing up, you will receive regular communications regarding CHC distributed from the Office of Long-Term Living.
Here’s a schedule of what’s coming in 2019
Late Spring/Early Summer 2019
Save the date for our upcoming provider summits in the Northeast, Northwest, and Lehigh/Capital zones. These summits are educational conferences specifically for providers to learn more about CHC. More information regarding times and locations coming soon!
Lehigh/Capital Zone
Monday, May 13: Harrisburg Area Community College
Tuesday, May 14: Shippensburg University
Wednesday, May 15: Kutztown University
Thursday, May 16 (Transportation Session Only): Kutztown University
Northwest Zone
Monday, May 20: Edinboro University
Tuesday, May 21: Lock Haven University
Wednesday, May 22: University of Pittsburgh-Bradford
Thursday, May 23 (Transportation Session Only): University of Pittsburgh-Bradford
Northeast Zone
Tuesday, June 4: East Stroudsburg University
Wednesday, June 5: University of Scranton
Thursday, June 6: Bloomsburg University
Friday, June 7 (Transportation Session Only): Bloomsburg University
Summer 2019
An introductory flyer will be sent to participants identified within the CHC population. View the flyer by clicking here.
Fall 2019
- Notices and enrollment packets will be mailed to participants.
- Information on the LIFE program will be sent to potentially eligible participants.
- Informational sessions will be held for participants to learn about CHC and how to select a CHC-MCO.
March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month
Art by Gary Murrel
“Each March, the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NACDD), partners with Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) and National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) to create a social media campaign that highlights the many ways in which people with and without disabilities come together to form strong, diverse communities.
“The campaign seeks to raise awareness about the inclusion of people with developmental disabilities in all areas of community life, as well as awareness to the barriers that people with disabilities still sometimes face in connecting to the communities in which they live. DD Awareness Month covers three main areas: education, employment and community living. Throughout the month of March we will use these themes to guide our weekly content.”
Read this article in its entirety at the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities.org.
“Attorneys general are urging Congress to pass legislation cracking down on spam calls.” – Route Fifty
“Consumers received almost 48 billion robocalls last year, up 56 percent from the year before. SHUTTERSTOCK”
by Kate Elizabeth Queram
“Attorneys general from every state, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia signed on to an appeal urging Congress to pass legislation cracking down on robocalls and spoofing techniques that trick consumers into answering by making calls appear to come from local numbers.
“‘The State AGs are on the front lines of enforcing do-not-call laws and helping consumers who are harassed and scammed by unwanted telemarketing calls and robocalls,’ reads the letter, sent last week to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation. ‘Robocalls and telemarketing calls are currently the number one source of consumer complaints at many of our offices, as well as at both the FCC and the FTC.’
“The proposed legislation, titled the ‘Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act …'”
“California Looks To Lead Nation In Unraveling Childhood Trauma” – California Healthline
“What they found was striking. Almost two-thirds of participants reported experiencing at least one kind of adversity, and 13 percent — about 1 in 8 — said they had experienced four or more. Those who reported experiencing high doses of trauma as children were far more likely to have serious health problems as adults, including heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes. And the higher their ACEs score, the worse their health was likely to be.”
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester
“Imagine identifying a toxin so potent it could rewire a child’s brain and erode his immune system. A substance that, in high doses, tripled the risk of heart disease and lung cancer and reduced life expectancy by 20 years.And then realizing that tens of millions of American children had been exposed.
“Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, California’s newly appointed surgeon general, will tell you this is not a hypothetical scenario. She is a leading voice in a movement trying to transform our understanding of how the traumatic experiences that affect so many American children can trigger serious physical and mental illness.
“The movement draws on decades of research that has found that children who endure sustained stresses in their day-to-day lives — think sexual abuse, emotional neglect, a mother’s mental illness, a father’s alcoholism — undergo biochemical changes to their brains and bodies that can dramatically increase their risk of developing serious health problems, including heart disease, lung cancer, asthma and depression.”
Keep reading this article at California Healthline.
“Who are you calling senior? For older folks, some terms are fast becoming radioactive” – The Boston Globe
by Robert Weisman
“Jill Tapper knew she’d made a mistake at the annual meeting of condo owners in Salisbury when she referred to their 55-plus complex as an ‘aging community.’ She may as well have invoked rocking chairs and shuffleboard.
“‘Some of the other members were furious,’ recalled Tapper, a longtime social worker. She quickly backed off and tried again. ‘Now I just call it the Windgate community.’
“Tapper had stumbled onto the third rail of life-stage nomenclature. Words once commonly used to describe older folks and their lives — ‘elderly,’ ‘geriatric,’ ‘in their golden years’ — are now scorned by some as patronizing.”
Millersville University announces Disability Pride events and film | April 14 & 15
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