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(female narrator) Welcome to our online workshop about an Ontario online resource for youth with disabilities
or "Door 2 Adulthood"
This website resource was created to improve the process of transition to adulthood for Ontario youths
by providing information about services, resources, and events related to transition
as well as an opportunity to network and share ideas.
On the homepage you will find two way to enter the site.
If you are a youth, click on "Youth".
If you are a parent or professional, click on the title "Professionals and Parents".
You can also share a great resource, program or service that is in your community,
just click on the "Tell us about a Great Service, Resource, or Event" button.
You will be provided with information about how to contact us, by email or phone.
We are now going to take you on a journey through the "Youth" section of the site
and highlight areas that we feel are particularly useful for youth.
When we speak of 'transition' in this workshop, we are referring to the move from adolescent to adulthood.
During this time, you may experience many kinds of transitions, including:
moving into new programs, working with new agencies or service providers, and making new friends.
Transitions involve change, adding new expectations, responsibilities or resources and letting go of others.
One of the key transitions you will be making is a healthcare transition:
the move to an adult healthcare provider.
We have provided a link that will take you to the "Transition Guide" section of the website.
Here, you will find a listing of many transition guides.
You will find the "Health Care Transitions" resource to be a valuable resource
as you prepare to move into the adult health care world.
There are a few ways on this site to find out what other youth are doing and experiencing.
You can link to "Youth Stories" where you will find youth websites and stories from around the world.
You can also read a personal journey on transition.
You may also want to join a group to share ideas and experiences.
The eChat link will take you to the "AbilityOnline" site where you can connect with other youth.
As you move from adolescent to adulthood,
you will need to take more responsibility for many areas of your life.
What will you do after school or work each day?
How will you fill your weekends?
Door 2 Adulthood can provide you with a lot of information about what's going on
in your community, and the province.
On the "Youth" page we highlight a few events from around the province each month.
You can also go to the "News & Events" page
where you will find newsletters, items of interest in the media,
and links to many event listings and news sites.
This time of transition allows you to explore areas that you think you might be interested in:
Attend a social event and meet new people;
Explore the world of the arts and disability;
Perhaps you wish to know more about the advocacy work being done for youth with disabilities.
You can find a wealth of information on this site.
There are so many questions and it can be tricky to navigate the road to adulthood
Take a look at the tips provided on many topics, such as: Health & Sexuality and Money Matters.
You can ask youth mentors for advice or ideas;
or you can ask a "Service Navigator" to help you locate services that meet your needs.
If you want to find out about programs and services available in your community,
you can take a look at our database.
You will find drop-down boxes where you can click on the city of your choice and the topic you wish to find.
You can also link to resources available on any of the 12 topics.
The "Resource" tab is found at the beginning of the Cities list,
when you click on the "All Areas" drop-down box.
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(Mona Yassir) [voiceover] Hi, my name is Mona Yassir.
I'm 22, and live at home with my parents in Toronto.
For the past 4 years, I've been keeping busy:
being a university student, attending York for Sociology.
It's great because, for me, it's the beginning of a new and independent life.
But what does that even mean? Living an independent life?
I know it means being responsible,
and being able to manage things like: finances and my own health.
But that's all stuff my parents used to help me with
and its something that's scary to take into my own hands.
FInding the right tools to help me map out my path
was easy once I stumbled upon the Door 2 Adulthood website.
There are so many resources that are available to me that answered all my questions.
The best part was the fact that I learned that
there is someone called a "Service Navigator" in Ontario
who can help me think about what my goals are for the future
and what services and resources are available to help me.
With their help, I was able to identify four areas to focus on.
The first is finding ways to get more involved with my community.
The second is making sure I have all the information I need to be successful in my search for employment.
Next is educating myself about financial matters.
And lastly I need a way to keep track of my medical information.
Because there are such great resources available on this website,
let me share with you how and where I went to find the information on all of these areas.
Getting involved in my community is something that I've always been interested in.
Even though it's something I love to do,
it's sometimes difficult to find out how to get involved.
I decided to take a look first at the "Transition Services & Resource" database for my city.
I clicked on Employment and Volunteering.
There I found two great resources.
I learned about a volunteer program called: "Community Cave"
There are also many recreational and leadership programs available for youth
that are offered through Toronto Parks & Recreation.
The next goal that is important for me is to make sure that I'm a working member of the community,
making an income to support myself and my daily financial needs.
Sometimes it's really difficult to find out where to get a job,
let alone how to build a great resume that represents who you are.
The first place I went was the Tips pages.
I looked under employment and found some useful information on creating a resume
and was able to learn some great interview skills.
Learning interview skills really has helped me prepare for my future endeavours in the workforce.
It's always scary meeting someone new,
especially someone who's going to give you a pop quiz, on the spot.
This resource helped me familiarize myself with things to expect
and how to be presentable to a potential future employer.
I found an Ontario guide to career planning
and learned that there are many agencies in Toronto that are willing to help me ensure
that I have all the skills I need to be successful in my job search.
Getting a job is one thing,
but learning to manage your own money is always difficult.
Learning about financial matters is something I really really needed to learn about.
But, what does budgeting even mean?
How am I supposed to know which kind of bank account to choose?
And where can I find out where there are resources that provide financial information
specific to the needs of someone with a disability?
Door 2 Adulthood had many resources available to help me answer those questions.
I took a look at the Tips page section
and checked out the section called: "Money Matters"
I found great tips on how to budget,
and a section called "Everything Students Need to Know About Taxes"
Then I went to the database, and clicked on the "Money Matters" link, under topics,
and selected "Resources".
It had a bunch of resources that I found useful, useful to anyone no matter where you live.
My favorite part of it was the financial planning toolkit called: "Focus on your Finances"
Because it was specifically designed for youth, I found it perfect for me.
In the "Ontario Wide Links" section, I found a link to Service Ontario.
There I was able to find even more financial information.
The site also had a lot of other valuable information to help me plan for my future.
My last goal is to make sure that I can keep track of my own medical information.
On the Door 2 Adulthood website,
the "Transition Tools & Guides" section offered great tools to help me get organized.
I found out about the "Health Passport Online" tool on the Hospital for Sick Kids website.
It's a great way of keeping track of the information from my appointments
and my medical history in general.
They also have a great readiness checklist
that can help you understand what kind of information you need to know about your health
before you move into the adult health system.
I was also able to find information in the Tips section
and both the Health Matters and Resource section of the database.
Moving into the adult world can be scary,
but it's great to know I have this resource that I can keep coming back to.
Take the time to complete the transitions checklist,
it will help you find out what your goals are.
Taking it one step at a time,
and finding out all you need to know will help you make a smooth transition into adulthood.
Good Luck
(narrator) Thanks for taking the time to watch this video.
We hope you feel inspired to take control
and begin making your own life choices as you move into the adult world.
We would love to hear from you,
so send us your stories and feedback
about what we can do to make this a better resource for you.