Community mapping is about establishing meaningful connections in your community. It happens at every age and stage of life.
It starts with knowing what is available in your community, and supporting your student’s access and exposure so they can begin to understand all the ways in which they support and are supported by the community. To get started, consider where you live and the places you visit which sustain your family. Explore new places together to encourage self-discovery and return to familiar places to acknowledge and build on your student’s expressed interests.
Building community and establishing meaningful connections positively affects outcomes. It opens doors, creates opportunities, and lays the foundation for interdependence.
None of us is an island. Helping your student learn the importance of building and sustaining meaningful connections is the cornerstone for a fulfilling life.
When collectively pooled, resources for students and youth with complex needs can create a synergy that produces services well beyond the scope of what any single system can hope to mobilize.”
Crane and Mooney, 2005
How community mapping happens – and why it’s so important
Community mapping helps to:
Recognize, develop and establish true “community” supports for work, fun, living and learning
Expand networks and connections vital to a healthy, interdependent society and define “circles of support”
Strengthen the community, building upon the reciprocal nature of giving and receiving, celebrating the individual contributions everyone brings to the community
Identify the diverse perspectives that group members bring to the community
Map the resources and needs in the community for awareness, advocacy and action
Building and expanding circles of support
We live interdependently, in community with one another.
Interdependence is “defined as mutual dependence between people or entities. By nature, it involves collaboration, reciprocity and mutual benefit…We are all connected to each other and we need each other to reach our goals in life. We are undeniably linked to our families, communities, and the world at large…We really do need each other and once we learn this, life can be richer and fuller.” (VisionAware)
Participating in an exercise to identify your student’s circles of support is a reflective way to think about how we fit into our world and into our community. The people who you include can be anyone your student connects with from family members, school personnel, and peers, to neighbors, shopkeepers and beyond, including:
Family
Friends
Caretakers
Neighbors and close community contacts
Professional support
Take a moment to complete the circles of support with your student. In addition to recognizing those meaningful connections, it’s also a way to identify gaps, as well as set a direction for filling those gaps, if appropriate.
When does community mapping happen?
At every age and stage! Early community integration helps develop foundational skills for future community transitions and engagement
Anytime there is transition to a new community:a new residence, school or workplace
Anytime there is transition to a new activity in the community, such as joining a bowling league: “How do I rent the bowling shoes?” “Where are the bathrooms?”
When planning ahead for a transition from school to adult living
Who does community mapping?
Family members, who are the most familiar with their home community
Educational teams help students gain general community access skills at school such as participating in “community experience” classes and field trips, participating in recreational activities, using different forms of transportation, orienting to a store, exploring vocational placements
Service providers help make connections to specific supports in home communities such as case management, vocational/rehab counselors, O&M, doctors, personal care assistants (PCAs), other specialists
Where does community mapping happen?
Community mapping happens in the home, school and work communities. Here are just some examples of places to establish community connections:
Pharmacy
Hospitals/medical centers
Spiritual institutions
Gyms/fitness centers
Libraries/museums
Parks/recreational centers
Peer camps and youth programs
Retail/shopping centers/grocery stores
Personal services (hair and nail salons, dry cleaners)
Banking
Adult education centers
Community centers
Advocacy groups and disability specific networks (NFB)/social platforms
Restaurants
Access points to public and other transportation methods
Community mapping can also happen virtually! Virtual opportunities are available for peer networking, job exploration, college campus tours, among others
My daughter loves attending appointments with healthcare professionals. She introduces herself, provides her phone number and tells people that ‘No, my insurance hasn’t changed’ and says ‘And this is my mother, she can tell you everything else!’
Mother of a Perkins’ student, speaking during person-centered planning on the value of making connections
Where do I start?
The opportunities are out there – and to find them, you just have to start with a plan.
Identify and organize
Identify strengths, skills, interests and preferences with your student
Identify established community connections (people, places…)
Identify gap areas
Maintain lists:
Student interests and preferences
Circles of support
Community activities that have been successful (and why)
Community activities to try
Think creatively
If your student has a favorite hobby or community activity, could it become a vocation? Are there others in your community that are doing that job that would be willing to be shadowed?
If the right group doesn’t exist in your own community, can you start your own?
If you don’t have the time to explore that activity can you look to your circles of support for other options
If an activity doesn’t seem accessible, reach to circles of support and/or connect with an advocacy group
Build a foundation of skills
Exposure to the community such as going along on shopping trips, out to restaurants, community events
Repeated exposure to the same people and places in the community to develop familiarity, increasing duration over time, and then building on those connections by coupling them with novel experiences
Develop a broad repertoire of community activities
Explore and sample new activities to fully assess interest/preference for a new activity; it can take several repeated experiences to truly establish preferences
Continuum of community participation, from passive (going along for the ride) to active (initiating participation in planning a recreational outing, maintaining regular participation in a community group)
Identify needed access skills: physically accessing the community such as getting in and out of a car, staying with the group, bringing along communication systems, seating or special mealtime equipment, self regulation skills for being in new environments/around new people, safety with strangers, communication skills (e.g., greeting people in the community, ordering at a restaurant, asking for directions) and more
Leverage your student’s team to create a plan for an enriching community experience; include team members such as SLPs, PTs, O&M, behavior analysts, and teachers, as appropriate
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