Walk in Our Shoes: People with Disability Share their Experience of Person-Centred Practice

NDS STATE CONFERENCE 2011

‘WALK THE TALK…TOGETHER’

THE HOUSING CONNECTION

Anne Louise Hickey (Manager: Client Services) Renée Koonin (General Manager)
and presenting their experience:
Susan Adrian. Charlotte Addison and Michael Minahan

‘Walk in our shoes…people with disability share their experience of person-centred practice’

Table of Contents

Introduction

In the early eighties, a group of parents of people with intellectual disabilities, got together to form PARIS (Parents and Relatives for the Implementation of Services). Aware that at that time their only option was institutional care, they were determined to create a different model of support. Members of PARIS considered that the ‘lack of opportunity and support to develop skills to find, secure and maintain a place of their own in the community’ was the primary barrier to the life they desired for their family member. They had a vision: Looking ahead at the future of their loved ones, they envisaged a life in which their family members could:

• live valued, rewarding lives in the community;
• develop their skills to their maximum potential and
• receive support that would meet the needs of the individual, rather than the individual needing to ‘fit’ into a program.

To this end, they approached the Lower North Shore Disabled Persons Action Group in 1985 to extend their current Accommodation Support Program and to establish the first funded community based service in the region.

This community action process led to the formation of The Housing Connection Inc. The principles which guided this work were enshrined in a policy manual which was written in the first person, from the perspective of the person with a disability. At the outset it was understood that this manual was dynamic and subject to change and improvement.

The philosophy of the fledging organisation was to carry out its mission in a way that reflected the core belief that ‘given appropriate personal support and opportunities people who use The Housing Connection (NSW) will occupy chosen, positive, valued roles within the local and wider community’.

The policy manual clearly articulated its vision, principles and expected program outcomes. The key principles were:

1. All support had to start with the individual needs and aspirations of the person requiring a service.
2. A focus on the rights of the person with a disability including:
   • Respect for human worth and dignity.
   • A right to quality of life.
   • The right to make decisions about their own life.
   • The right to privacy and dignity.
   • The right to have options.
   • The right to complain.
   • The right to individually tailored support.
   • The right to protection from abuse and neglect.
3. A focus on establishing valued roles in the community. Within this rights based citizenship perspective, The Housing Connection adhered to the principles of Social Role Valorisation.

To demonstrate this commitment to the centrality of those supported within the service, the organisational structure has always shown the individual at the top of the organisational chart, supported by the Board at its base, then the management and staff.

Table of Contents

Related posts:

1. People with Disability Share Their Experience of Life Transitions
2. People with Disability – Factors Affecting Satisfactory Resolution of a Transition
3. People with Disability – Coping Strategies
4. People with Disability – Defining Transitions
5. What do the values of the community sector look like in practice?
6. People with Disability as Researchers
7. People with Disability – The Effect of Badly Managed Transitions
8. People with Disability Facing Life Transitions