Keeping food on hand that they do not have to heat or cook.
Ravioli, Tuna, PB, etc.
I would avoid any mention of alternatives for cooking or light that involve open flames (sterno, candles, matches etc.)

In that context, I would have to echo Denob, $10 of canned goods. These maybe a bit more than $10 but a combo crank radio/flashlight would be good too. Also, since you mentioned heat wave, how about those cooling bandanas?

personaly i found the 1$ dollars store to be a great place to begin u can find everything you need in fact
from back pack to food to knife and tarp and container even stuff to make fire and some long term can u could find much more if you use ur imagination has a minimalist 🙂
i bet for under 100$ u can have a damn good kit from china 🙂

Also teach to keep a check on the expiry dates and be able to remove the tin of ready to eat food ( I agree with Denob food on this )
before it expires and eat it and replace with new tin.

I still think many of them will panic.

Some large size yogurt containers or the larger plastic ice cream container can be saved to store some things in
and label them emergency supplies , and inside the container could be emergency directions

mamaizzy, what a great topic - I imagine this community is often forgotten/left to the wolves in an emergency. Kudos to you for giving such a class.

Will any of their friends/family/aides be attending this class? I imagine some are all alone, and may have to rely on themselves, but for those that do have nearby trustworthy people, what about prompting them to look into who else they could join up with, in case of emergency? Even a friendly neighbor may be able to help, and reduce their panic. Or even someone that could check in on them. In my neighborhood, we do that for elderly or if there is a big storm or outage, we make sure everyone is ok & accounted for. If you don't know your neighbors, sometimes a vulnerable person could be living right under your nose, and many people would be willing to take some time to check in on them, if only they knew. Of course trust is a big deal, since there is a higher risk of being taken advantage, for this population.

Are they in wheelchairs? If so, motorized wheeelchairs need to be charged..is there anything they can do for a backup?

Thank you all!
Well I am expecting a lot of them to be similar to my oldest son. He has Autism and is almost 20 but functions at a 10-12 yr old's level. He can take care of himself if he knows what to do. A lot of these kids/adults have been left to fend for themselves by society. Empowerment and confidence to help themselves is my goal. I know they can do it, they just need the tools to make it happen.
As most of them are on Disability support for finances, I have been trying to keep everything under $10 a month for prepping but, I have been working on little bags of goodies for them. Each bag is a little different. All have flashlights, some have a can of tuna, others have a can of soup, some have mylar blankets, some have baby wipes, some have bandaids, some have kleenex. About 3 items per bag but, it is out of pocket cost so I had to keep it affordable for me.

I am working on a hand out for tomorrow as well about what to do before the power goes out and once it does go out!

The yogurt containers are a great idea! I am going to put something together with that as it is simple and easy for them to store. Some of these guys are in itty bitty apartments.

I am focusing on what to do in a heatwave, brown outs or black outs...

It's the blackout we should be concerned with. Brownouts, spikes and surges (assuming they don't destroy your electronics) aren't even in the prepper handbook. Nevertheless I think I understand what you're saying.

$10 eh? Mentally challenged and/or mental health issues? There's not a lot you can do with $10 let alone specifically telling these people to purchase specific items. My recommendation for someone with mental issues on advising them what to purchase for $10 with respect to prepping would be to purchase a comforting food for them. Whatever they love most. If it's smarties then go to the bulk barn and buy $10 worth of smarties. Forget bartering or nutrition. It's all about state of mind in a situation like this and what better way to relieve stress then through a short-term comfort food solution. For $10 at bulk barn you'd actually get quite the amount!

This is a very sensitive situation. My suggestion (with respect to teaching) would be to lead them to a point to which they understand the following concepts:

1. This (any disaster) could happen
2. Knowing that anything could happen they should be prepared with the mindset of remaining calm.

Ok, so how do you (or anyone) remain calm?

Personally, I'd go right down to the basics. I'd advise practicing breathing exercises in the class. Get everyone to breath with you. Literally say in class (Ok, were' going to role play. A disaster has happened. What do we need to do first? We need to remain calm. How do we do that..?). ...and then walk everyone through basic breathing exercises...

There's lots of material on this online (that has nothing to do with prepping). I believe it's a 6-8-4 ration. This is to say that you inhale for 6 seconds, hold for 8 and then exhale for 4. Don't quote me on that please. It's been a decade since I read it in a book somewhere although I'm sure there are many variations online. The source I read originally stated that it stimulates the blood flow (lymph fluid) within your system remove 'coax' toxins from your body. The by-product is a more relaxed state of mind. That should be the primary focus of your teaching - getting your class to understand that something could occur and that remaining calm (through basic breathing techniques that you will teach them) is the best thing they can do for themselves. That would be class 1 anyways...

Che's comments made me think of an easy-to-read prep book called "it's a disaster, now what are you gonna do about it" ( http://itsadisaster.net/look_inside_book.html ). Perhaps this book could serve as an instructor guide to you? It is divided in sections (earthquake, power outage, hurricane...) so maybe you could chose one of the emergencies and make it the point to cover during each of your lectures?

I'm not so sure $ 10.00 worth of smarties or jubes is wise for mentally handicapped or some other form of handicap

A mentally handicapped might go through the whole lot of candy in 2 hours,and give them a stomach ache .
This could be a blackout for 72 hours. They are not going to be able to ration the candy.

While someone with a different handicap such as a wheel chair would need something more useful. Things like a loud whistle
in hopes someone hears them and comes to help them.

I am a Mom to 3 special needs teenagers, 2 of which are also preppers and the reason I got this opportunity today. These people have issues, they deserve a chance just like the rest of us. Breathing was not discussed today but how to store supplies and eat things you like and make it through an emergency was! We had candy, made coffee and discussed how to survive an emergency situation.
Thank you so much for your input and advice! And thanks to those who PM and emailed me with even more advice! Much appreciated!

AND it went really good!
We talked about the importance of water, canned foods, having a manual can opener. Went through some basics like what to do if the toilet isn't working, using solar lights instead of candles and how to shop a sale to get what you need to last a week or two on your own. Went through things like if there is no power then the bank machines and debit machines won't work so, to have what you need on hand for a few days is a big bonus! They were all very receptive.
Just as we were talking about Thunderstorms and Tornadoes a huge crack of thunder happened and everyone went "Ohhhhhh!" it made us all laugh. I said "See Mother Nature is getting my point across!"
We discussed a lot in the 2 hours I was there and they all had handouts in a colourful folder to take home. I showed them how to store preps under a bed or in a closet or living room without other noticing. They liked that I was showing them how to be sneaky with it. We also discussed not sharing what they have prepped and where they store it with others.
Everyone got a "goodie" bag and we did a raffle. Every thing I talked about for a "cheap" prep, I had with me. Foil, mylar blankets, soaps, waterless shampoos, baby wipes, cans of soup, fish, meat, etc. and as when I was done mentioning it, I put it in one of 3 bags. At the end we drew names for them. 3 people went home with fairly decent 72 hr bags.

I have been asked to come back and talk about what to do in the winter in case of an ice storm like last year. I am glad it was so well received and that they all learned something new today. ALL of them thanked me for coming and asked when I was coming back so that to me was awesome!
The bonus of the day, my 19 year old son told me he was so proud of me for sharing my knowledge and helping his new friends out (he has only been apart of this group for a few months). Money can't buy that feeling. It was a great day!

Good for you, that is just wonderful news! Thanks so much for the update and overview

My hat is off to you. You are passing along excellent information that everyone should know. You have a special skill to teach, especially to a special needs audience. Thank you for sharing your time for a great cause and for sharing this story. Hopefully it inspires more people.

GM1

Water. A little food is nice to have, but if the power goes out and they can't run tap water, depending on the severity of the mental illness they may die of dehydration long before starvation sets in. Food in an emergency kit is really more of a comfort thing. Having depression myself, I once took a survival course when I was in my teens, and I know that an empty stomach can drain your morale to nil, but water is of the most importance. $10 of water can buy more than 72hr worth of water, so a few bucks should be left over to buy some food, but most people don't just buy groceries day-to-day and do have SOMETHING in the pantry.

It is possible that many other people could benefit from your seminar , good job ! 🙂

Agreed, manual can opener.
Agreed, water is top of the list. People could bottle up their own water from tap water for their prepper supplies, doesn't have to be purchased water .