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Audio Podcast: Family and Individual Resource and Support Team (FIRST)

Select the play icon, to learn more about the Indiana Institute's Family and Individual Resource and Support Team (FIRST)

Podcast Script: Greetings and welcome to the Indiana Institute’s in the spotlight podcast. This Podcast focuses on the Indiana Institute’s Family and Individual Resource and Support Team or FIRST. FIRST promotes and enhances the perspectives of families and persons with disabilities throughout the work of the Institute and serves as a resource to communities in Indiana.

FIRST membership includes Institute employees with a strong interest in ensuring that the voice of individuals with disabilities and their families is heard both within the Indiana Institute and across the state. The majority of FIRST members are parents, family members, or individuals with disabilities. Family members calling the Indiana Institute for assistance are paired with a FIRST member that most closely matches the expressed area of interest or concern. An interdisciplinary life span approach is embraced by the team, with representation from each of the seven centers at the Institute. Members bring a unique blend of personal and professional disability-related expertise to the team process and activities.

FIRST members…

Provide parent-to-parent support, information, and referrals for families;

Assist in the development of procedures for disseminating information on a regular and timely basis to individuals with disabilities and families; and

Ensure that individuals with disabilities and their families enhance their knowledge of disability issues by providing opportunities to obtain written products available from the Indiana Institute, provide access to Training Funds, and conduct trainings/workshops for families and individuals with disabilities.

Additionally, FIRST members respond to state-wide presentation requests on disability issues from parent groups, public/private schools, community organizations, and institutions of higher education on disability issues affecting family members and individuals with disabilities.

Visit the FIRST information page on the Indiana Institute website at www.iidc.indiana.edu.
Recently, the FIRST team completed two products designed to support individuals with disabilities and family members.

Tips to Promote Working Partnerships between Families and Medicaid Case Managers is a tool to help individuals with disabilities and their families in the interview process of hiring a new case manager. Checklists are provided to assist families and case managers in their communication and responsibilities. The content of this product was designed to fit onto a file folder, so families and case managers can keep important papers organized.

Tips on Emergency Preparedness for Families and Direct Support Staff is designed to provide information that does not focus on the scary aspects of emergencies. It offers the family and support staff suggestions on how to prepare in the event that an emergency does arise. The reader is encouraged to think of emergency preparedness as a project rather than a reaction to an unexpected and frightening event. The content of this product was also designed to fit onto a file folder, so families can keep emergency preparedness materials organized.

Persons interested in purchasing these products may do so by visiting the Indiana Institute’s e-store at www.iidc.indiana.edu.