We have done a lot with Alex about planning for her future using person
centered planning (PCP), this is how we originally discovered Alex wants to
go to college. The following excerpt from Wikipedia
explains the design of PCP:
A central idea behind
person-centred planning, is that services which are set up to respond to problems
of social exclusion, disempowerment, and devaluation, can unintentionally make
the situation of individual people worse (i.e. further disempower, devalue and
exclude people). Person-centred planning is designed specifically to 'empower'
people, to directly support their social inclusion, and to directly challenge
their devaluation. One of the benefits of person-centered planning is that it
can address the perennial "service problems" of ethnicity, gender,
culture and age by starting with planning by or with the "whole
person".
Person-centred
planning isn't one clearly defined process, but a range of processes sharing a
general philosophical background, and aiming at similar outcomes. As it has
become more well known further processes and procedures have also been given
the title 'person-centred planning'. Some of these have little in common with
person-centred planning as originally envisaged.
As part of this planning we have created circles of support for
Alex and for us. From Wikipedia:
Person-centred
planning involves the individual receiving the service, with family members,
neighbors, employers, community members, and friends, and professionals (such
as physician/ doctors, psychiatrists, nurses, support workers, care managers,
therapists, and social workers) developing a plan on community participation
and quality of life with the individual. In contrast, traditional models of
planning have focussed on the person's deficits and negative behaviours,
labelling the person and creating a disempowering mindset from the start.
This past week I have learned a lot more about the importance
and power of circles. I learned circles do not only exist in our immediate
communities, they exist in the cyber community and can be even more powerful. Specially,
the circle created as a result of the death of Robert
Ethan Saylor a young man with Down syndrome who died as a result of asphyxiation
caused by police restraint. This homicide has recently been deemed by a grand
jury to have been caused by Down
syndrome. Essentially using genetics to explain away a death.
We have been graced by Down syndrome for almost twenty years
and in these last twenty years this is the SINGLEST most galvanizing event we
have experienced. National Advocacy organizations, Support Groups and Research
Foundations have all taken a stand. Hundreds of Down syndrome bloggers have
written of this horrific death as have people who have most likely never known
a person with Down syndrome. In fact, whenever I go to FB or on-line I see
Robert Ethan Saylor’s beautiful face light up my screen. When I think about his
death and his family’s loss I cry for them and for us. Are we all just a moment
in time from being brutalized too?
But that is not the purpose of this post, there are so many
other wonderful posts about this. The purpose of my post is to remind our community about circles. By his death Robert Saylor has been the catalyst for a
new and deeper understanding of Down syndrome. His death will bring new
training initiatives for police forces and schools, maybe restraint will
finally be banned from our school systems. It is because of Robert Saylor that
an immense circle of friends, who have never met each other are all working
TOGETHER, or at least recognizing that alliances must be made if we want to prevent
this from ever happening again.
Take a seat at the circle, stand up for what is wrong,
scream for what is right. We all need to support each other and our community
of people with Down syndrome. Through genetics
we are all connected, honor the power of the circle.
I wish it didn't take something like this to bring about those changes and the collaboration of the organizations to take action. Wonderful post about the circle, though - you got it spot-on.
ReplyDeleteI like that as a description for what I feel about the bloggers I follow. It feels like a circle of support - I learn of their challanges and learn from them. They respond to my questions and celebrate our victories even though we will never meet.
ReplyDeleteI know! It is so wonderful we have this technology to support each other!
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