Living Opportunities offers consulting and mentorship in the areas of communication, social/sexual development and positive behavioral supports to individuals, families and service providers, with particular expertise in Autism.

Technology is bringing us to new frontiers, enhancing communication and optimizing the choice and control people have over their own lives.

“Technology is a very simple thing.  It is what makes life easier and safe.  I wear glasses because they make it easier to see and to read, and the DMV thinks they make me safer to drive.” Jean Atalla

If risk is high because of safety, then choice tends to be low.  We use technology to mitigate the risk, to put it more in balance, so the person experiences the sense of competence and accomplishment that comes from being independent.

Every time we’ve conservatively estimated what people with developmental disabilities can do, we’ve been wrong.  Over and over, the people we support have exceeded expectations in the acquisition of functional academic skills, in employment and in living independently.

“For people without disabilities, technology makes things easier.  For people with disabilities, technology makes things possible.” IBM Training Manual

Jobs that can become careers are a key component to breaking through the poverty barrier and helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities take a respected place in our communities.

For more than a decade, self-advocates, families, and leaders in our field have called for the elimination of segregated work and sub-minimum wages for people with disabilities. In line with our goals and mission, Living Opportunities closed our segregated workshop in 1996 and have developed jobs at or above minimum wage since 2007. In 2015, Oregon issued an Executive Order to close segregated workshops and promote integrated employment over the next 10 years.

To take a proactive role in this statewide system change, Living Opportunities obtained grants to mentor organizations state-wide through the Employment First and Employment Learning Collaborative projects. Nine organizations are currently being mentored, and competitive-wage jobs are being developed in typical businesses, in rural and urban settings, for individuals with a wide variety of abilities. The project is also nurturing leaders who can sustain this effort into the future, and establishing participating organizations as frontrunners in the movement toward a thoroughly integrated workforce.

INDIVIDUAL CONSULTATION-Not accepting at this time.

Our behavior consultants provide a full range of consulting to individuals and families, including visual communication systems (instruction in the use of assistive and augmentative technology), Social Stories^TM skills acquisition, Functional Assessment and development and implementation of Positive Behavior Support Plans.

Living Opportunities behavior consultants have expertise in numerous techniques and strategies that maximize the individual’s communication and self-management skills, thus reducing the frustration of all parties and mitigating engagement in problematic, challenging and even dangerous behavior.

H.E.L.P.S. - (Hands-on Education to Learn Practical Skills)

All too often families and support staff are energized by information learned at seminars, lectures and presentations, only to arrive back home or work and ask, “Okay, so how do I actually do that?” HELPS is a unique, modular curriculum, combining lectures, hands-on instruction and real-life practical problem solving. It is applicable across settings—at home, at work and in the community.  Participants acquire skills in teaching/coaching individuals to gain independence in self-management while increasing their understanding of the theory and application of positive behavioral supports.