Assistech Systems LLC SBIR Phase I Award,

This project addresses the need for increased opportunities for customized employment for individuals with cognitive disabilities by developing the Person-Centered Planning ToolKit. The Toolkit will enhance implementation of personcentered planning (PCP), often limited by lack of follow-through on action items and a lack of tools to match career preferences to specific customized employment opportunities. The goal of the project is to create two applications for selfdirection of PCP implementation by transition students with significant cognitive disabilities and their PCP or IEP team members. The first is a Team assignments, Collaboration, and Task Tracking tool (TACT) that will enable users to understand action items and due dates, systematically remind participants of commitments, and track completion in ways that clearly identify who is responsible and when items are completed. The second component is a Community Assets Mapping application (CAM) that supports the employment discovery process by crowd-sourcing identification of community businesses, associations, mentors, and professionals who can be resources in exploring career discovery. Results will be detailed on a mapping interface similar to Google Maps and will be interoperable with the TACT. Usability and feasibility will be established through collaboration with two user groups: 30 transition students aged 18-22 from a secondary school district transition program, their teachers, and six PCP facilitators and parents, two of whom will use the ToolKit in actual PCP facilitation.