Education Resources
The Center for Enriched Living
The Center for Enriched Living (CEL) provides a wide range of services to enrich the lives of teens, adults and seniors with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). CEL programs include social, recreational and employment programs, events, adult day programs, and mental health and wellness support to people with IDD, their families and caregivers.
CEL is independently funded and partners with the community for donations, regular volunteers, advocacy and collaborations that support people with IDD.
For questions, please contact (847) 948-7001 or info@CenterForEnrichedLiving.org.
The Early Years Project is a free online toolkit from the Illinois Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program featuring easy-to-follow videos, activities and resources. Parents, caregivers, and educators can use these materials to help foster sensory development in young children, from birth to 6 years old.
The Early Years Project toolkit aims to supplement home visiting and early education programs. It includes information on developmental milestones, activities, resources and more in four areas:
- Hearing
- Vision
- Communication
- Language
The Guthrie-Koch Scholarship for Individuals with Certain Metabolic Disorders
The Guthrie-Koch Scholarship from flok is for individuals with one of several metabolic disorders. The scholarship is for students who demonstrate character, academic achievement, and engagement with their community, and who are pursuing post-secondary educational or vocational opportunities. Students from any country can apply. Scholarship applications open by mid-December each year. Applications are due in mid-March.
To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must have one of these metabolic disorders:
- Classical HCU
- Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD)
- An Organic Acidemia
- Phenylketonuria (PKU)
- Tyrosinemia
- Urea Cycle Disorder (UCD)
For questions, please contact flok at (973) 619-9160 or email info@flok.org.
The Kinda Guide is designed to be a weekly survival guide for parents and families that will include expert tips on remote learning, parenting advice, virtual camp activities, simple meal and snack ideas and at-home family adventures.
The Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center at Gallaudet University
The Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center at Gallaudet University is a federally funded center providing elementary and secondary education programs for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The Clerc Center Online Community provides best-practice videos, research, toolkits and resources for families of deaf and hard-of-hearing children and the professionals who work with them.
Clerc Center resources include:
- The Language First Parent Guide, a step-by-step roadmap for parents with children who are deaf and hard of hearing
- Family-focused activities such as American Sign Language (ASL) classes, bilingual storybooks and more
The Odyssey Project at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Odyssey Project offers free University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign courses in the humanities to income-eligible adults in east-central Illinois. Odyssey students can earn up to eight transferable college credits in an environment designed to support non-traditional students, especially those whose education has been interrupted for whatever reason.
The courses include free textbooks and course materials, access to computers, bus fare to and from class and more.
Visit the Odyssey Project website for more details and program fact sheets in Spanish, French and Simplified Chinese.
The Parent Advocacy App for Families of Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing Children
The Parent Advocacy app is a free application for families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing attending Individualized Education Program meetings, 504 Plan meetings and more.
The app aims to help you understand your child’s rights and prepare to work with the school in your child’s best interests.
The Penguin Project provides a supportive environment for children with a wide range of disabilities to explore the performing arts. The program encourages children and young adults ages 10 to 24 to discover their creative talents, build self-confidence and make new friends by rehearsing and performing a modified version of a well-known Broadway musical. The young artists work side-by-side with age-level “peer mentors” through four months of rehearsals and the final performance.
The project has several chapters in Illinois. Visit The Penguin Project website for more details.
The Salvation Army St. Clair County
The Salvation Army St. Clair County provides a variety of programs and services to help individuals and families remove barriers, build job skills, find childcare and remain in their homes. It offers:
- After-school programs where youth and teens have a safe place to complete homework, learn new skills and relax with friends
- Pathway to Hope program that helps families identify barriers and address them by connecting with community support organizations and more
- Homelessness prevention services
- Emergency help with rent/mortgage, utility bills and other needs to keep families in their homes
For questions, please contact the Salvation Army St. Clair County in Belleville, Ill., at (618) 235-7378.
Think College provides resources, technical assistance and training related to college options for students with intellectual disabilities. It also manages a national listing of college programs for students with intellectual disabilities in the United States.
See the Think College fact sheet in English or Spanish for more details. Think College resources also include:
- Learning modules for families on exploring college options, how to pay for college and more
- The “Student Corner” and Emerging Advocates Student Group
- A searchable list of colleges nationwide and what they offer
- Recursos para Familias (Family resources in Spanish)