Alyssa Thorn, Esq., staff attorney for Project HEAL (Health, Education, Advocacy, and Law), and Tami Goldsmith, self-advocacy program coordinator for People On the Go Maryland (POG), completed the Charting the LifeCourse Ambassador Series through the Institute for Human Development at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 2019.
The Charting the LifeCourse framework is a set of tools to help individuals with disabilities and their caregivers organize their ideas, visions and goals to achieve a good life. The series’ principles are intended to help individuals problem-solve, navigate and advocate for supports. This framework is supported by the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Administration, and the MCDD and POG are two of the organizational members of the statewide leadership team.
Since their training in 2019, Thorn and Goldsmith have been working on ways to incorporate Charting the LifeCourse principles throughout Kennedy Krieger Institute to better serve patients and students, and their family members. On February 11, Thorn and Goldsmith presented the tools and framework to Kennedy Krieger’s Therapeutic Foster Care program. This preliminary presentation sparked many ideas for future collaboration and implementation. The MCDD is looking forward to continuing this work to bring the Charting the LifeCourse principles to Kennedy Krieger.