Standing at the Crossroads
Adult Protection and Advocacy Conference
August 1, 2013
Shirley Paceley
Lessons From Our
Greatest Teachers
In the beginning…
rampant abuse and neglect
Forty Years Later…
Three women share their stories of violence.
How far have we really come?
Consulting the Experts
Anna teaches us about freedom and equality
“It’s All of Us”
Differences in ability is ordinary, not
special, and something most of us will
experience at sometime.
Beware of the Labels
The moment we judge, there can be no
understanding. I think “Alzheimer’s
Disease” and certain thoughts come into
my mind which limit my understanding
of that one person.
I am not my label
• Label cans not people
Stolen Identities
• Labels have power and can steal a person
of their identity.
• A diagnosis is not the most important or
most interesting characteristic about a
person.
• ‘Normal’ is a setting on a dryer.
• Listen to the words you use….they reflect
your attitude.
Signs of Inequality
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Separate restrooms
Separate standards/rules
Withholding of information
Power over…
Behavior programs
“Non-compliant” and “Inappropriate"
Mass Dreamicide
What Do You See When
You Look At Me?
• ‘Inappropriate’ behavior?
• Someone to pity?
• Someone with dreams, talents,
contributions?
• Someone who has been hurt?
• Someone who has equal value?
• Someone who deserves freedom?
Consulting the Experts
Lynn teaches us the value of common sense.
“I am so sorry.”
Consulting the Experts
Mary teaches us the value of seeing the
whole person.
“I thought I wasn't good enough and was
being punished.”
Consulting the experts
• A 20 minute lesson
that changed my life
• One of my greatest teachers
• In 2011, the microphone phone call
FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF
YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY
COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF
MANY YEARS.
FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF
YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY
COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF
MANY YEARS.
Honoring the Victims
When our attitudes are evident in our
findings…
Unsubstantiated or Unfounded?
What People with Disabilities
Taught Us About
Mandated Reporting
Best practices:
• Tell me if you are a mandated reported
• Offer me the chance to report with you
• Train mandated reporters how to support
me
• Keep me informed
Where Are We Now?
We must be honest with ourselves
to see the gaps in our systems.
Listening To Our Words
Helps Us To Identify Gaps
It’s not my job.
We don’t do that here.
We don’t know what’s going on.
We don’t have the power (resources,
authority, etc.) to do that.
• But we’ve always done it that way.
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Deep Question
Who or what do we blame?
When we blame someone or something for
a situation, we give up the power
to make a change.
Deep Question
• Are we screening people out or screening
people in?
• Who is helping the people we screen out?
Engaging Older Adults and
People with Disabilities
in Our Work
• Nothing about me without me.
• It is imperative that the people who work
within the system hear from people who
use the system.
• We need people to ask, “Does it have to
be that way?”
• Engagement means taking certain
actions, not just having the right attitude.
Engaging Older Adults and
People with Disabilities
in Our Work
• Focus groups
• Seniors and Law Enforcement Together
(SALT) teams
• Sexual Assault Collaborative Teams
• Trauma-Informed Accessibility
Assessments
• Disability Accessibility Assessments
To include me is to empower me, to exclude me
is to devour me.
excerpt from a poem by Cathy Lynn Saunders
People are People are People
“I would talk to someone who saw me as
strong, not as weak.”
“I would want to talk to someone
who focused on my trauma,
not my disability.”
How Do We Listen?
Listen with our
Listen with our
Listen with our
Ordinary or Outstanding?
• Don’t settle for average.
• Ordinary work is not what people with
disabilities and older adults need. They
need us to be extraordinary.
• Do not leave yourself out of your work.
• Is this person better off because of the
work I did today?
What Direction
Do We Want To Go?
Standing at the Crossroads
• What steps can we take to engage older
adults and people with disabilities in our
work together?
• What gaps need to be filled?
• What policies need changing?
• What partnerships need to be formed?
• How will we stay committed?
• Watch out for distractions
along the way.
Making the Commitment
If not you, who? If not now, when?
“Please don't forget about us. Please.”
Blue Skies
• Poem by Denise Bissonnette
Long-Term Care Ombudsmen
(and women) and Adult
Protective Services, you give
us HOPE.
What we all want
Growing the Community
When we bring different
passions, abilities,
experiences, and
attitudes together with
one main focus, the
possibilities to change the
status quo are endless.
Standing at the Crossroads
What will you choose?
Blue Tower Training (BTT) is a division of Macon
Resources, Inc. (MRI) which provides training,
consultation, training materials and resources on a
national as well as international basis.
Shirley Paceley
217-875-8890
spaceley@maconresources.org
Learn more about BTT by logging on to
www.bluetowertraining.com