Miss. Code. tit. 32, pt. 3, subpt. 2, ch. 1, att. E
Confidence-building Activities
Emerge Center training requires participation in a variety of physical activities, including activities that may be difficult or strenuous. Training may also be emotionally challenging, demanding, and even stressful. Examples of activities include walking, climbing steps, crossing streets, walking on uneven or slippery surfaces, and exiting buses and other vehicles. Additional activities include preparing food, cooking, and using household cleaners. Other activities may involve the use of tools used in home repair projects. Some outdoor activities may require exposure to heat, wind, and rain. The training may also involve more physically demanding activities, such as hiking, rock climbing, horseback riding, and participating in water sports. To provide opportunities to develop alternative non-visual techniques for performing tasks to work and live independently, learning shades are worn during training and confidence-building activities.
Emerge Center students will encounter members of the public on the streets, in stores, and other locations. It is not acceptable for the public to touch students in any way that makes them feel uncomfortable. Therefore, students will learn self-advocacy skills and ways of managing interactions with the public.
Setting
The Emerge Center training takes place in a mixed gender setting with 10 or more students. The Emerge Center is a residential program. Students live in two-bedroom apartments. The training includes instruction to help the students gain non-visual blindness skills and is provided in a variety of classroom, lab, field, and seminar settings. The Center is not a medical facility, and there are no medical or health professionals on staff. Medical, mental health, and pharmaceutical services are available in the Long Beach community.
Physical Contact
Emerge Center training involves some physical contact. For example, you may need to touch the hands, arms, back, or shoulders of an instructor to learn specific non-visual techniques. Likewise, an instructor may need to touch your hands, arms, back, or shoulders while instructing you in a specific non-visual technique. Such contact is done in a professional manner, and the Emerge Center staff has received training on appropriate touch required during training.
Whenever possible, the instructors will ask for your verbal consent prior to initiating physical contact. The instructor may ask you to place your hands on the instructor's hands. This is called the hand-under-hand technique. At times, the instructor may need to guide your hands using a hand-over-hand technique with the instructor's hand over yours. If you feel uncomfortable with the contact at any time, you should let your instructor know and disengage from the physical contact.
Unintentional, incidental, or accidental physical contact may occur with staff or other students. However, if you are touched in a manner that makes you feel uncomfortable or in a manner you believe to be inappropriate, immediately report the contact to Dorothy Young, Director of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind at [phone number], Antonio Williams, Acting Emerge Center Assistant Director [phone number], or your rehabilitation counselor. If you believe the inappropriate contact is a violation of law, you should immediately report the contact to appropriate law enforcement.
Emergency Evacuation
During an emergency, there may not be time to ask for your consent before initiating contact; however, once the emergency has passed, the staff person will explain why the emergency made it impossible or dangerous to ask your prior consent. It is possible that an emergency may arise that could result in the need to evacuate the Emerge Center immediately without assistance. If staff or emergency personnel are not immediately available to help, you may have to evacuate the Center on your own. As part of training, you will learn the location of exits and established emergency evacuation meeting points.
CONSENT AND AGREEMENT
I hereby consent to the foregoing, and I assume the risks associated with any of the described training or activities.
I further agree to tell my Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor if I have a physical or mental condition that might restrict or impact my participation in the foregoing training or activities. I agree to discuss any such condition I may have with the Emerge Center Director so the Director may work with my Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor to determine if the Emerge Center training is appropriate to meet my blindness skills needs and to identify any necessary modifications to the training. I agree to tell my Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor if I have a sensitivity to touch or physical contact. I will also discuss this sensitivity with the Emerge Center Director so the Director may work with my Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor to determine whether and what any modifications may be necessary.
Date: ___________________________
Consumer/Student Printed Name: _____________________________
Consumer/Student Signature: _________________________________
Miss. Code. tit. 32, pt. 3, subpt. 2, ch. 1, att. E