Supporting Transitions to Adulthood

Speaker Information:

Christina Sarmiento, MD, Physiatrist

Dr. Cristina Sarmiento is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the University of Colorado. She is trained in both adult and pediatric rehabilitation medicine as well as general pediatrics. Her clinical and research interests are in improving health care access and outcomes across the lifespan for individuals with childhood-onset disabilities, particularly at the transition to adulthood. At Children's Hospital Colorado, she started the Cerebral Palsy Transition Program within the Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine Clinic and at UCHealth - the university-affiliated adult healthcare system - she started the Adults with Cerebral Palsy Clinic.

Patti Herbst, Executive Director, Center for Independence

Patti Herbst, CPA is the founder and Executive Director of Center for Independence through Conductive Education, an Illinois nonprofit.  The mission of the Center for Independence is to help children and young adults with disabilities achieve their highest level of independence in the home, school, community and workplace.  Patti is the mother of an adult with cerebral palsy and brings her unique understanding of the barriers people with disabilities face in transition to adulthood, especially in accessing the workforce.  

The Center’s program, Working Together Chicago, creates paid employment opportunities for people with disabilities throughout the Chicagoland area through job carving, job development, short-term job coaching and long-term volunteer mentoring.   Patti helped develop the Working Together Chicago survey, an online tool for employers to “Job Carve” a position for a person with a disability. The online tool challenges employers/employees to examine their daily tasks and identify those that can be assigned to a person with a disability - improving overall workplace productivity and efficiency. The survey fills the needs of an employer while capitalizing on the skills and strengths of workers with disabilities.

Patti’s son, Justin, works at Beds Plus, a homeless shelter, and lives independently with part-time support in the community.  GMFCS IV is not a predictor of happiness, inclusion or success.