Michael W. Smull
The most effective way to help people learn to develop essential lifestyle plans is to have people observe and participate in the development of a plan done with someone who has a disability. The person with whom you plan is your co-trainer. She or he must meet the following criteria if the training is to be successful, ethical, and reflect the values that you are teaching.
1. The person must find being the center of all of the attention that comes with being the focus person pleasurable, a good time. He or she should not be giving up something important to them (like a day of work) unless they are willing and compensated (i.e. paid).
2. The person must not have core/central issues that cannot be dealt with respectfully with a group of people who have never met the person before. Two examples of these issues are:
• someone with strong desires where a parent/guardian or agency managers equally strongly disagree; and
• someone whose behaviors present public safety issues that will have a major impact on what will be supported.
3. There must be at least 2 people available to come to training who know the person well and care about (like and admire) the person - they need to be able to talk about what a good day and what a bad day is like for the person from personal knowledge. (If the only people who can come are managers or professionals who spend only limited time with the person, keep looking.) While 2 is the minimum 3 to 5 people who know the person in different settings will work better.
4. There must be someone who agrees to take responsibility for -
• finishing the plan
• acting on what was learned
The trainer needs to make certain that these criteria are met, and to not hold the training if they are not met. It is the trainers responsibility to check with whoever is making the arrangements and discuss each of the criteria -
• as the training is being scheduled
• item by item with regard to the focus person selected; and
• again before the training starts.
If the trainer comes and these criteria are not met then the training needs to be rescheduled or the focus person for the training becomes one of the participants.
From time to time, in spite of these efforts someone will be selected who does not meet one of the criteria and this is not clear until after the training has started. The trainer then needs to decide what is the most respectful thing to do. The most common issue is something that cannot be dealt with respectfully in this group setting. It is then the trainers responsibility to make it clear that the issue will be dealt with but not during the training and help the group move on.
Please note at the beginning of the training that everyone has issues that they would not be comfortable in talking about (or having discussed) in front of group of people they hardly know. Further there are some issues that each of us is comfortable in discussing with some of our friends but not with others. After pointing this out to the group in training explain that this is why we often have a public plan with private components.
Also note that none of these criteria preclude doing training with a focus person who does not use words to talk. Some of the most powerful and successful training sessions have been with people who do not use words to talk who also have a number of people who love them at the session.
Excluding people with core/central issues that cannot be dealt with respectfully with a group of people who have never met the person before increase the need to assist people who are facilitating plans with these people. Consider offering training that assists people in coping with these issues, including how to sessions and co-facilitating the develop of plans with such individuals.