Tavon Disability Support Intern (In-Person) (Interview Required) (Issaquah)

Tavon Learning Center is a non profit learning and community program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Our core goals are to facilitate social development, community involvement and ongoing learning opportunities for adults with I/DD. We do this through various programming, including a Recreation and Lifelong Learning Program. Our members range a wide spectrum in terms of communication methods, mobility, learning styles and more. Our mission is to provide them all with opportunities to be engaged and to continue learning. Students will help us achieve this through facilitating and creating fun activities with adaptations and considerations for adults with I/DD.

Work Description:

Disability Support Interns will start by working directly with our staff and members in our daily programming to become familiar with daily routines and get to know members—their interests, likes, and dislikes, etc. With collaboration from the on site manager and other program staff, students will plan activities to lead members through during “down times” throughout the day (typically, this is most needed between 11 am – 1 pm and 3:30-5:00 pm, but times can be flexible. Students will also compile their planned activities as written lesson plans with corresponding materials, so that Tavon staff can lead the same activities in the future. Activities have the main goal of facilitating engagement with our members (adults with a wide range of intellectual and developmental disabilities) and can be simple! Activities should plan to fill about 30 minutes to 1 hour. The content of the topics can be tailored to the students area of study.

For example, Health Studies students might plan activities such as:

-how to make a healthy snack of ants on a log (celery, peanut butter and raisins)

-lead members on a nature walk outside with step counters

-leading a simple yoga “cool down”

Education students might plan activities such as:

-leaf art project while learning about the plants the leaves came from

-flash card games (memory, matching, etc.)

-making sensory toys

One of our main goals with our members is to engage them, which looks vastly different based on the individual. Planning activities that allow for various levels of engagement from our members makes a big impact—it’s provides them with opportunities to learn, to socialize with their peers and more importantly—have fun. Additionally, students who plan activities that we can use in the future will have an even greater impact. Our staff often need ideas for simple activities when plans change unexpectedly, so having written plans from students to reference will help days run more smoothly and provides our members with a fun and meaningful experience.

Supervisor:

Holly Berman
Holly@tavoncenter.org
(425) 736-8840location
Issaquah, Washington

Students will be at one of our two locations (to be determined based on need and student interest). Both are located in Issaquah, within 10  minutes of each other.

Black Nugget Site is located at: 24017 SE Black Nugget Rd., Issaquah

Downtown Site is located at: 690 NW Juniper St., Issaquah

Must be 16 years old
Background check required

Skills Needed: No prior experience with individuals with I/DD is required, only an openness and willingness to learn! Students should be flexible—as plans often change and we are working with a wide spectrum of clients. Activities might not go as planned, in fact, you should expect that 😊 It is normal and happens all the time. We learn what works best through trial and error. Students should feel comfortable and confident facilitating group activities (will always be done with assistance from other Tavon staff), and come with a positive attitude and excitement for learning.

Times: You will choose shifts within 9am-5pm M-F