Developmental Disabilities Experience

Experience

Developmental disabilities are a diverse group of physical, cognitive, psychological, and sensory impairments that begin during growth. Developmental disabilities can either be acquired or congenital. People with developmental disabilities typically progress more slowly than peers and in some instances, fail to achieve milestones in one or more of the developmental domains. Consequently, a significant challenge for people diagnosed with a developmental disability is the limited ability to function in areas of daily living such as, independent living, communication, social and interpersonal skills, and self-care.

I have been employed in several positions, which addressed behavioral health and the challenges associated with developmental

disabilities. For instance, while employed by the Bethel School District, I worked in the Special Education Department. As a Behavioral Assistant, I provided individual and small group support to students with exceptional behavioral needs or who had developmental disabilities. The primary purpose of my position was to employ specific protocol in individualized behavior intervention plans, provide active supervision to student with such plans and maintain student progress data. Additional illustrations of responsibilities related to my post include:
• I instructed students in social skills, assisting students in understanding non-verbal cues, initiating and maintaining conversations through modeling, role-playing, and cartooning.
• I assisted students who had challenges with cognition (executive functioning) using a variety of development learning material.
• I aided students with developing self-awareness and how to identify their sensory and emotional needs.
• I planned techniques for dealing with academic content through priming and visual supports.

In addition to my position with the Bethel School District, the Lane County Developmental Disabilities Department also employed me.

The Lane County Developmental Disabilities Services strives to provide a responsive, cooperative lifespan delivery system of support, training, care, monitoring, protection and crisis response for persons with developmental disabilities and their families. Services are designed to maximize opportunities for self-determination and self-sufficiency.

As a Life Skills Mentor through Lane County, I instructed students diagnosed with Autism, implementing interventions prescribed by individual treatment plans. This involved teaching students social skills, focusing on nonverbal cues and maintaining conversations through modeling or role-playing. In addition, I assisted students in developing self-awareness, identifying sensory and emotional needs. Additional targeted objectives included: developing and maintaining relationships, navigating school, basic money management and utilizing public transportation.

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to relocate to the United Kingdom where I was employed by Greenbank

College.
Greenbank College has operated in Liverpool since 1983 to improve opportunities for people with disabilities and other disadvantaged communities through education, training, employment, transport, sport and recreation.
As a Learning Coach at Greenbank College, I was responsible for conducting assessments with students who referred themselves or were referred by their tutor. My role was to determine supports, which would allow students to successfully achieve their academic goals. This involved creating an accessible environment. For instance, providing resources such as software programs for the visually impaired, FM systems for the hard-of-hearing, adapting course material for individuals diagnosed with dyslexia or merely coaching an individual who was developmentally delayed in order to increase their confidence. In addition to ensuring supports were in place, I was responsible for supporting learners during their educational sessions, providing course assistance to tutors during sessions either one-on-one or in small groups. Outside of the classroom, I undertook administrative duties, maintained records, and submitted quarterly reports outlining soft and hard outcomes.
I also have experience working in the mental health sector with people diagnosed with severe and persistent mental illness. Several individuals I worked with were dually diagnosed, i.e. individuals who were developmentally disability and had a co-occurring mental illness.
As an Advocate with ShelterCare, my duties involved the delivery of care and psychosocial development. I was responsible for guiding residents through the daily schedule under the guidance of an individualized treatment plan, responding to crisis situations and employing crisis intervention techniques as needed. Additionally, I co-facilitated therapeutic groups, recreational activities and undertook daily administrative task documenting participation and progress.
All of my posts involved interacting with families to varying degrees. Communication typically involved discussing an individual’s progress, issues surfacing in the home environment and strategies for addressing problems, goal setting, and other challenges as they arose.

Oregon Intervention System

Through my employment with the Bethel School District, I undertook training in the Oregon Intervention System (OIS), which consists of positive behavior support and intervention. OIS is a process for developing, maintaining, practicing, and reviewing positive behavior supports within a framework of person-centered practices and self-determination. OIS is based on the following values and philosophy:
• Some people require significant supports
• Support is best provided in a person-centered context with an emphasis on self determination
• Supports must maintain the person’s dignity
• Behavior changes is best achieved through “life arrangement”
The emphasis of OIS is to design strategies that improve the quality of life of people who may exhibit challenging behavior. Attention is focused on creating and sustaining environments that improve the quality of life of the people we serve. The objective is on making challenging behavior, ineffective, inefficient and irrelevant, while at the same time, promoting more acceptable alternatives. In addition, interventions are developed that consider the context in which the behavior occurs, the function of the problem behavior, reasonable and effective strategies, and outcomes that are acceptable to the individual, the family and the support community.
I also have training in Professional Assault Response Training (PART), which OIS emerged from. PART training was created to assist employees with a means of identification and appropriate responses to potentially assaultive situations. The PART principles support the importance of self-control, assessment skills and verbal crisis intervention. The PART interventions are only to be used when the primary and back-up treatment plans fail, and there is an immediate threat of injury.
Person Centered Practices

Person-centered practices begin with the assumption that individuals must be active participants in all planning efforts in addition to other aspects of their lives. The individual should assume a leading role in these efforts. Another key principle is that a person must have positive and satisfying relationships to have a quality of life. The principle of having true choice is essential for a person to express preference and make important decisions in her/his life. Effectively implemented, person-centered planning, thinking, and practices result in a person living the type of life that she/he desires. Person-centered practices are firmly rooted in dignity and respect. Additionally, they support the ultimate goals of supporting the empowerment of a person. Supporting a person in living a meaningful life also means we have to be attentive to the challenges and struggles that may arise in their life.

Positive Behavior Supports

As I alluded to in my description of the Oregon Intervention System, OIS embraces the principles of positive behavior support and intervention.

Positive behavior supports is a behavior management system that serves as a guide in understanding a person’s challenging or inappropriate behavior. Typically, a person’s inappropriate behavior serves a function or purpose. It is not uncommon for people to receive reinforcement of their behavior in their environment. For instance, a child might seek attention through unsuitable behavior in the home environment. The response from the parents or caregiver can unwittingly reinforce the behavior through their response to the child. Thus, the child learns to exhibit this behavior in order for his/her needs to be met. One means of addressing a person’s challenging behavior is having a professional undertake a behavioral assessment that identifies and describes the function of the behavior. Through an assessment, positive behavior supports can be identified, developed and implemented through actions plans or goals. However, in order techniques to be effective at decreasing inappropriate behavior, they should be evaluated for effectiveness, feasibility and appropriateness for the person. In addition, strategies should be practical, so parents, schools, or others can implement the techniques

consistently.