Foundational Articles and Tools
Below you will find a partial list of articles that provide context to the evolution of The Learning Community for Person Centered Practices:
Person Centered Thinking
Supporting People with Severe Reputations in the Community
While written some thirty years ago this piece, by Michael Smull and Susan Burke Harrison, is a classic and one of the first pieces written about person-centered planning and thinking in action. It deserves a read or reread. The handbook presents the tools needed to develop better community capacity to support people with “severe reputations.’ … Read more
When Words Are Not Enough!
Read the story and the reminder of the tension between language change and meaningful action in disability advocacy. “From morons, to the feebleminded, to patients, to the retarded, to clients, and now consumers. You do that and then you go home feeling self-satisfied that you’ve just done something good and important for people like my … Read more
After the Plan
While we have an incredible workforce of trainers for developing person-centered plans, we have not paid as much attention to what happens after the plan. This issue includes a quick summary (adapted from Foothold Technology) of the process. This summary is followed by a classic article written by Michael Smull which dives deep into the … Read more
The continued importance of ritual and routines
By Michael SmullMarch 2020 Having rituals that I choose, that are followed, is also comforting. For most of us, our rituals are disrupted daily in some way. To cope, we cling to those rituals that remain and establish new rituals within our new reality. We seek ways to comfort ourselves and rituals and routines are … Read more
All About Person-Centered Outcomes
In order for a plan to be successful, the team has to know what the person being supported wantsto accomplish. Staff need to understand what is being worked towards in order to better supportthe person. When the team and person identifies the outcome, it creates a shared vision for thefuture. Read about developing person-centered outcomes … Read more
Key points about recent trends in person-centered planning
While Al generated, this makes for an interesting and quick resource.
Culture, Intersectionality, Identity, and Disability
Understanding culture is important to person-centered thinking, planning, and practices. Culture influences how we view health, mental health, well-being, illness, and disability. Culture influences what a person believes is important to them and their families. Since we are all cultural beings, programs striving to deliver person-centered thinking, planning, and practices must be responsive to culture. … Read more
Standing with Jon
In the early days (late 1980s) of person-centered thinking and planning, Essential Lifestyle Planning was created by Michael Smull and Susan Burke Harrison to support people moving from institutions to community living arrangements. In the early 1990s, Jon was one of the first individuals outside of an institution to work with Michael and Claudia Bolton on … Read more
ANDI for Consumers
Forty plus years ago (1982), Nancy Gardner and I wrote this piece. We called it the ANDI for Consumers. It was an easy-to-read version of the ANDI (A Normalization and Development Instrument) that was, in turn, based on the PASS (Program Analysis of Service Systems) by Wolf Wolfensberger). California DDS used the ANDI to evaluate … Read more