Community Living

Supporting People with Severe Reputations in the Community

by Michael W. Smull and Susan Burke Harrison This handbook presents the tools needed to develop better community capacity to support people with severe reputations. For conceptual convenience, it is divided into four components: How people receive their reputations; How to plan with the individual for community services; How to recruit and develop the supports needed to … Read moreSupporting People with Severe Reputations in the Community

Finding A Way Toward Everyday Lives

by John O’Brien & Herbert Lovett (1992) This publication, so thoughtfully prepared by John O’Brien and Herb Lovett, describes the foundation of person-centered planning and its potential for creating a better future for people and for influencing change. It also addresses controversies and fears associated with [what was then] this new approach. While person-centered planning … Read moreFinding A Way Toward Everyday Lives

California Lifestyles

This was designed to be a short form, self-administered version of the Life Quality Assessment which we developed for DDS in the mid nineties.  Here’s the introduction we used: What is California Lifestyles about? The questions you will find below are designed to help Californians with developmental disabilities look at their own quality of life. … Read moreCalifornia Lifestyles

Community Supported Living Arrangements (CSLA) Evaluation: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In the mid nineties, we were lucky enough to be involved in the evaluation of the initial effort to develop supported living services and supports in California. The purpose of the evaluation was to provide information about CSLA of value to the Department of Developmental Services and others. The Department asked us to study the … Read moreCommunity Supported Living Arrangements (CSLA) Evaluation: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Moving to a system of support: using support brokerage

This article was written in 1994. Another classic! We’re guessing that both authors find it hard to believe that we’re still waiting for self-determination and a system of support brokerage. Michael continues to spread the word while Gary, unfortunately, passed away before self-determination became a national reality. Michael W. Smull & Gary SmithA cursory review of current … Read moreMoving to a system of support: using support brokerage

Thinking About Risks

by Michael Smull July 2013 Managing any risk begins with learning what is “important to” the person as well as what is “important for”, and helping to find a good balance between them. Often risk is significantly diminished when our understanding of what the person wants deepens and we find reasonably safe ways for the … Read moreThinking About Risks

Risks and Opportunities

Excerpted from Patterns ofSupported Living: A Resource Catalogue Developed for: California Department of Developmental Services 1600 9th Street Sacramento, CA 95814 D.D.S. Contract No. Hd290099by: Allen, Shea & Associates Napa, CA 94559 and Claudia Bolton 6/93 This is another article from way back in the ASA archives that is amazingly current! Introduction There are many dimensions which shape … Read moreRisks and Opportunities

Things Are Changing

This excerpt is from Patterns of Supported Living: A Resource Catalogue. Along with our colleague Claudia Bolton, we wrote this piece in 1993. The predictions have held up, but it took about 20 years longer than we thought. In about the mid-1980’s civil rights movement and consumer self-advocacy really started to affect the service system for … Read moreThings Are Changing