Summer is winding down which means people of all ages are headed back to school. That includes students and educators with disabilities as well as professionals who want to keep their skill sets up to date. Thousands of classes and courses are available, many at low or no cost, both online and through community providers like libraries, community colleges, and centers for independent living. We looked around the NIDILRR grantee community and the wider disability and rehabilitation community and found many options to add to your course catalog:

ADA Courses

• Rocky Mountain ADA Regional Center catalog includes courses covering a wide array of topics including ADA history and standards, disability etiquette, accessible voting, emergency preparedness, and much, much more.
• New England ADA Regional Center web courses include topics like architectural accessibility, employment, and fair housing.
• More courses from the ADA National Network including ADA basics, customer service, and disability rights.

Blindness, Low Vision, and Employment

• Career Advantage for Visually Impaired Persons (VIPs) from the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Employment of People who are Blind or Have Low Vision can help you build your skills for finding, interviewing for, and securing a job, whether you’re just entering the job market or looking for a career change.
• Even more courses are available from this center for job seekers, human resource professionals, and service providers.

Health and Wellness

• Understanding Spinal Cord Injury: A Course for Personal Care Assistants from the Northern New Jersey Spinal Cord Injury System Center is designed to introduce personal care assistants to spinal cord injury (SCI)
• Integrated Health and Mental Health Care Tools and Self-Directed Recovery Suite from the RRTC on Health and Function of People with Psychiatric Disabilities include courses to promote physical health, wellness, and self-directed recovery of adults among mental health recovery

Knowledge Translation

• Knowledge Translation (KT) for Occupational Therapists (OTs): Supporting Evidence-Based Practices introduces OTs to KT concepts and how it can be applied to their practice and improve patient outcomes.
• The KT Academy from the Center for KT of Employment Research (KTER) offers classes and courses that build capacity for promoting awareness and use of employment research findings.
• The Center on KT for Disability and Rehabilitation Research (KTDRR) archives its conferences, webcasts, and workshops addressing knowledge creation and strategies for KT uptake. Many of these recordings confer continuing education credits. KTDRR also hosts KT Courses for Employment that cover business outreach, principles of adults learning, autism and employment, and students with disabilities and employment.
• Idea 2 IMPACT: An Introduction to Translating Assistive Health Technologies and Other Products from the Initiative to Mobilize Partnerships for successful Assistive teChnology Transfer (IMPACT) guides participants step by step through the experience of developing an innovative and entrepreneurial idea in the area of assistive technology.

Supporting Transition-Age Youth

• The College Faculty Guide to Academic Supports for College Students with Serious Mental Health Condition from the RRTC on Living and Working During the Transitiont o Adulthood (Transitions ACR) provides information and strategies for college faculty members regarding how to support the academic participation and success of students who experience mental health conditions.
• Engaging Young Adults in Work and School also from Transitions ACR helps service providers support students with serious mental health conditions as they pursue their career ambitions.
• Supported Employment in College: Increasing Paid Employment for College Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities from the RRTC on Employment of Transition-Age Youth with Disabilities provides higher education professionals with tools and knowledge on evidence-based employment practices that are designed to increase paid employment opportunities for college students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Where else can you find courses and classes?

• Practitioner Training resources from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
• Office of Disability Employment Policy Employment First Communities of Practice.
• Center for Independent Living (CIL) may offer classes and courses for health and wellness, career development, life skills, caregiving, and much more.
• CIL staff can also build their own skills and improve their center’s services through rapid courses from the Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU) Program.
• Career centers can connect individuals to courses and programs to build skills and credentials to advance their careers.
• Public libraries often subscribe to online course platforms to support the continuing education of their patrons. Find your local public library.

If you would like assistance in finding a class, course, or program in your community, contact our information specialists.