community living

The Importance of Environment: From Toxic to Healing

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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

Where’s the Jello?

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The Saga of One Home’s Experience with the ICF/MR (Small) Program This is a re-print with some updating of an article originally written in the summer of 1985 by John R. Shea, Ph.D., a few days after a licensing and certification visit from California Health Services Licensing. At the time, John was executive director of … Read more

Foundational Writings

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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

Listen to Me! (fillable pdf version)

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Listen to Me! was developed at a time when Essential Lifestyle Planning (ELP) was one of the gold standards of person-centered planning. While it still sets a high standard, since that time, many other methods of planning with individuals for the lives they want to lead have been developed. Please make sure that you understand … Read more

Expressions of Wellness I: Pathways to Healthy Living

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A Guide for Adults with Developmental Disabilities (2000) The California Department of Development Services (DDS) has funded a series of activities to promote Wellness which will help ensure access to quality medical, dental, and mental health services with an emphasis on positive health outcomes. Taking a leadership role in this statewide effort, DDS has conducted research, … Read more

Supporting People with Severe Reputations in the Community

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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 more

The Principles of Supported Living

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  by Jay Kleinexcerpted from Not Just Another “Rung” on the Continuum, TASH Newsletter, 1994. Individualization Webster’s dictionary defines “individual” as a particular being or thing as distinguished from a class, species or collection, as single human being as contrasted with a social group or institution, as a single organism, as distinguished from a group, … Read more