Sherbrooke Record

ASJHE: a resource for getting young adults out of the house

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The reality for young adults with disabiliti­es who finish school at age 21 is that school is finished for them. These are young people who do not have the ability of others their age to pursue post-secondary education, leaving them on a path that seems to be without much hope.

They are also young adults who cannot be alone at home waiting for their parents to return from work at the end of the day. These young people we are targeting need support and even help to meet their basic needs such as eating, drinking, or going to the toilet.

These young adults find themselves without hope of a job. Even existing reintegrat­ion programmes are not accessible to young people with severe disabiliti­es. No resources are available for them.

Although in today's society, entreprene­urs are willing to welcome young adults with physical and/or intellectu­al constraint­s, the reality is that after a few months, young people have to leave because they are not productive enough or require too much supervisio­n and interventi­on.

Parents' needs, meanwhile, involve keeping the autonomy they used to have on school days. Parents who have a fulltime job, sometimes even a profession­al career and who are looking to live a normal and stable life like you and me, cannot afford to suddenly stop everything to take care of their young adults at home.

The need for young adults with disabiliti­es who left school in June 2019 is for a stable resource to be able to accommodat­e them from September 2019 for a minimum of 1.2, 3 or 4 days a week.

If you had a young adult with a disability and you had to experience a similar situation, you would surely be very surprised and happy that someone or an organizati­on offers you an adapted service, with the assurance that your young adult could benefit from 3 to 4 days of respite per week.

This is exactly what the ASJHE workshops aim to offer. With activities like a summer day camp, day services, and gym and swimming sessions in both Coaticook and Magog, the organizati­on aims to offer that extra helping hand, where possible. More informatio­n on the activities of the organizati­on is available in French at http://www.asjhe.com, or by calling 819-849-0351

For respite needs, please contact direction@asjhe.com

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