Curriculum for Recreation, Employment, New Skills, and Technology
Historically, providing high-quality activities has been a priority for organizations, a task often difficult to achieve. Meaningful days filled with intentional activities are crucial for delivering high-quality services. We found that other curricula are either too expensive, designed for children and not respectful of our folks’ age and life experiences, not adaptable to individuals who need different or more intensive support, or too academic for our folks with I/DD, ASD, and dementia.
Originally, Intersect for Ability envisioned creating a product resembling a collection of shared files. The pandemic hit as our collaboration was launching, providing the perfect motivation to create a product in a more accessible and usable format. We have created an online curriculum database of activities applicable to everyone we support, in all settings. The Current stands for curriculum for recreation, employment, new skills, and technology.
Each activity follows the same basic building blocks and is customized for each unique topic. All activities are created by individuals with experience working with people with I/DD and in activity development and curriculum planning, and reviewed and approved by an Editor with similar expertise to ensure they meet the expectations set in our Philosophy: all activities will have meaning and purpose, teach or practice at least one skill, and be fun, enjoyable, or bring joy. An essential part of our philosophy is that all participation is participation. Any participation is still participation. We focus on signs of participation and enjoyment, as well as how to adapt and modify – two aspects included in every activity! Tying the skills learned into community experiences and everyday application is another vital component of every activity.
Teaching facilitation skills is an essential aspect of The Current. Monthly training opportunities are available for both new and seasoned users. Training sessions focus on topics relevant to the I/DD community, including making choices, community engagement, vocational skills, and more. We call these sessions FLOAT: facilitate, learn, and organize activities together. Our database also includes curated lists of activities that pair well together, called Streams. The Streams are an excellent resource for those who create the program schedule.
To learn more about The Current, please see The Current Information Flyer. To reach out to The Current’s admin team or to find out about the next Info Session or membership rates, fill out The Current Interest Form. If you have questions at any time, reach out to editorsthecurrent@gmail.com.
KnowledgeOwl, the knowledge management platform that hosts The Current, appreciated the unique way we share resources across organizations. KnowledgeOwl chose Intersect for Ability as their first customer to showcase in a series of Customer Spotlight Articles. You can read about it here –> https://www.knowledgeowl.com/home/customer-spotlight