Keeping It Real:
How to Get the Supports You Need for the Life You Want
 Keeping It Real: How to Get the Supports You Need for the Life You Want was created with the understanding that we all need supports to achieve our goals.
Keeping It Real teaches students that knowing how to get those supports is a problem-solving skill they will use again and again throughout their lives. It is a skill that involves knowing who they are, what they want to do, what supports they need, and how to go about getting those supports. In other words, it involves becoming an effective self-advocate.
While the curriculum was primarily written for students who are getting ready to transition from high school, many adults will find it useful as well. Again, we all need supports to achieve our dreams, but it is not always obvious how to go about getting those supports for ourselves.
The table below highlights the focus of each of the chapters. Many of the chapters also include stories of fictional characters which are meant to give students an opportunity to talk about some helpful, and not so helpful, ways of handling challenges. Brief biographies of self-advocates are included as a piece of history that is often overlooked, and as a way to encourage students to think about what's possible in their own lives. Students are expected to create portfolios of information about themselves that can then be used to help access the supports they need.
Depending on the students involved, activities in Keeping It Real can be done alone, one-on-one with a coach, or in small groups. The "List of Activities in Each Chapter" (Chapter 2) is intended to help students and teachers decide what activities to focus on. When choosing these, it is important to keep in mind that each activity is meant to be a springboard for learning the basic skills of getting supports. These skills are:
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Identifying what I want to do
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Knowing what kind of help I need to do it
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Being able to effectively communicate this to other people
The Elizabeth M. Boggs Center of Developmental Disabilities/UMDNJ produced Keeping It Real: How to Get the Support You Need for the Life You Want with funding from the State of New Jersey, Department of Human Services, Division of Disability Services (DDS) as part of a Real Choice Systems Change Grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Funding to The Boggs Center for dissemination of the curriculum was provided by DDS as part of a CMS Infrastructure Grant.
To download files:
 Click on the title of the chapter you are interested in viewing. All files are in Adobe PDF format, and may be downloaded and printed for free.
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Alternative formats (i.e., read-only Word CDs for scan/read programs) are available upon request. Please contact Kathy Roberson at (732) 235-9317 or kathy.roberson@umdnj.edu for alternative format requests.
Keeping It Real Curriculum files - English |
Chapter |
Description |
Cover page and table of contents |
Chapter 1: Introduction |
Chapter 1 gives a brief introduction to the curriculum. |
Chapter 2: List of Activities in Each Chapter |
Chapter 2 gives a detailed list of the concepts and activities in each chapter. It is meant to be help students and teachers decide what activities are most relevant to an individual student. |
Chapter 3: So what's all this talk about "transition?" |
Chapter 3 gives an overview of transition, and why it is critically important that students be involved in planning for their life after high school. |
Chapter 4: Understanding Myself |
Chapter 4 gives students some tools for knowing themselves better - their likes and dislikes, strengths and challenges, learning styles, and disabilities. |
Chapter 5: Understanding Supports |
Chapter 5 introduces students to different types of supports - natural, community, formal and assistive technology. |
Chapter 6: Employment and Careers |
Chapter 6 gives students an opportunity to apply what they've learned about themselves and supports to Employment and Career goals. |
Chapter 7: Post-secondary Education and Training |
Chapter 7 gives students an opportunity to apply what they've learned about themselves and supports to Post-secondary Education and Training goals. |
Chapter 8: Living Arrangements |
Chapter 8 gives students an opportunity to apply what they've learned about themselves and supports to Living Arrangement goals. |
Chapter 9: Recreation and Leisure |
Chapter 9 gives students an opportunity to apply what they've learned about themselves and supports to Recreation and Leisure goals. |
Chapter 10: Moving Forward |
Chapter 10 gives students a chance to acknowledge and celebrate what they've learned. |
Chapter 11: Resources |
While not intended to be a comprehensive guide, Chapter 11 is included to give students a place to start as they look for supports that might be helpful to them. |
Chapter 12: Worksheets |
Chapter 12 provides a number of different worksheets to help students break down the process of getting and evaluating their supports into more manageable steps. |
Additional documents - English |
Parents' Module |
The Parents' Module is meant to give parents the information they need to help their children get the supports they need to reach their adult goals. |
Teacher's Guide |
The Teacher's Guide was developed to help teachers understand how the curriculum can be modified for different learning styles, abilities and interests. Links between the curriculum and the New Jersey 's Core Curriculum Content Standards are included, as well as a bibliography of related resources. |
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Budgeting Basics |
This companion guide teaches students basic skills for managing their own money. It is only available as a PDF file for downloading and printing through this website. |
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Keeping It Real Curriculum files - Spanish
Note:
The Spanish versions of Keeping It Real and the Parent's module are only available as PDF files for free downloading and printing |
Chapter |
Description |
Cover page and table of contents |
Chapter 1: Introduction |
Chapter 1 gives a brief introduction to the curriculum. |
Chapter 2: List of Activities in Each Chapter |
Chapter 2 gives a detailed list of the concepts and activities in each chapter. It is meant to be help students and teachers decide what activities are most relevant to an individual student. |
Chapter 3: So what's all this talk about "transition?" |
Chapter 3 gives an overview of transition, and why it is critically important that students be involved in planning for their life after high school. |
Chapter 4: Understanding Myself |
Chapter 4 gives students some tools for knowing themselves better - their likes and dislikes, strengths and challenges, learning styles, and disabilities. |
Chapter 5: Understanding Supports |
Chapter 5 introduces students to different types of supports - natural, community, formal and assistive technology. |
Chapter 6: Employment and Careers |
Chapter 6 gives students an opportunity to apply what they've learned about themselves and supports to Employment and Career goals. |
Chapter 7: Post-secondary Education and Training |
Chapter 7 gives students an opportunity to apply what they've learned about themselves and supports to Post-secondary Education and Training goals. |
Chapter 8: Living Arrangements |
Chapter 8 gives students an opportunity to apply what they've learned about themselves and supports to Living Arrangement goals. |
Chapter 9: Recreation and Leisure |
Chapter 9 gives students an opportunity to apply what they've learned about themselves and supports to Recreation and Leisure goals. |
Chapter 10: Moving Forward |
Chapter 10 gives students a chance to acknowledge and celebrate what they've learned. |
Chapter 11: Resources |
While not intended to be a comprehensive guide, Chapter 11 is included to give students a place to start as they look for supports that might be helpful to them. |
Chapter 12: Worksheets |
Chapter 12 provides a number of different worksheets to help students break down the process of getting and evaluating their supports into more manageable steps. |
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