It’s May, and we know you and your students are sliding into summer after what’s been a particularly challenging year. Many of our teens and young adults may be facing several months of isolation and could be even less connected to friends and their communities than they are now.

It’s also Mental Health Awareness Month, so we want to make you aware of a couple of good resources.

• Study.com has an online Mental Health Guide for High School Students. It’s not pushy and offers good tips and suggestions from a teen perspective. Includes information about technology supports, establishing social media limits, diet, exercise, meditation, sleep, escaping into nature, and more. Interesting tidbit: The guide includes a note in the COVID section about the importance of both creating a routine as well as breaking it sometimes. (They suggest an 80/20 percent split.)
• The Indiana School Mental Health Initiative (ISHMI) is a project of the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community (so are we!). Check out their resilience resources in the Topics A-Z section. You’ll also find a listing of the state’s School District Behavior Consultants and of the Social Emotional Learning/Mental Health Coordinators in the Resource section.
• Involve your students in Mental Health Awareness Month by sharing information and materials from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) campaign “You Are Not Alone.” You can read stories there of individuals who’ve shared their experiences, or you can share your own.

Reminder:Join us tomorrow for Transition Talk at High Noon. We’ll be chatting with and learning from team members of the Center on Community Living and Careers who specialize in employment—from both a VR and community employment perspective. For more information and the Zoom link, see our Transition IEP Training and Support page.