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In the early1980s, I was working at a Regional Center in Northern California. Regional Centers provide or coordinate services and supports for individuals with developmental disabilities. At that time, individuals weren’t very involved in any aspects of directing their own lives. As an advocate for person-centered practices, I started collecting and writing plain language information … Read more
While written some thirty years ago, this piece by Michael Smull and Susan Burke Harrison is a classic and deserves a read or reread. his 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: From the forward: “This handbook … Read more
by Michael Smull and Mary Lou Bourne All people respond to their environment. Whether we are happy or miserable is largely determined by what surrounds us. For happiness or even simply contentment to exist, certain things must be present and other things must be absent. What happens when we don’t have control over what is present or absent? … Read more
Essential lifestyle plans are developed through a process of listening, learning and acting. In the pages that follow, you will find a collection of articles on how to do that in a responsible way. A way that supports people in living the good quality life they deserve. These are selected writings by Michael W. Smull on … Read more
Over the years, we have developed two documents that amounted to coffee table books. They were accepted for use by the funders, but seldom if ever used. Those documents are listed below. We encourage you to download and use in whatever manner you would like. They can be excerpted, adapted, or edited in any fashion … Read more
What exactly does a “good”person-centered plan include or look like? What are some outcomes we might anticipate for the person? This resource outlines promising practices for person-centered plan documentation anddescribes indicators of truly person-centered plans for quality monitoring purposes.
Michael Smull, Susan Burke Harrison, John and Connie Lyle O’Brien , Beth Mount, Marsha and Jack Pearpoint and others have written about person-centered thinking, planning, and services and supports for some time. We consider their work from the 1980s to today to be foundational and want to make sure that they’re not lost. We have … Read more
by Michael W. Smull This is a thirty year old article that’s as relevant today as ever! We give our daily rituals and habit scant conscious attention as they ease us through our days. Perhaps it is the absence of conscious attention that has led us to neglect the role of ritual in the quality … Read more
It’s My Choice First printed in 1988, the 2017 edition of It’s My Choice (by William Allen) has been updated and is now available and still free. The content reflects 21st Century language and thinking about services and supports for individuals with developmental disabilities; and the format is designed for easier navigation and to improve usability. The concept and … Read more
by Michael W. Smull, Mary Lou Bourne, and Helen Sanderson Most state developmental disabilities (DD) systems have supported the development of best practice pilots and have defined the desired best practice outcomes. But the challenge to move typical practice toward best practice to “take best practice to scale” remains. To do this, state leaders need to … Read more
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