Positive Support –
Improving Quality of Life
Part 2
A 2 Day training program for
Disability Support Workers

Positive Support –
Improving Quality of Life

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
Historical views about people with disability –
• child-like
• objects of pity
• in need of charity
Batching people = separate, unequal
Activity

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
We view an impairment as a problem.
We tend to place a higher value on people who are young, beautiful, thin, employable, independent, quick, smart.
So being a member of the group ‘people with disability’ puts someone at a low status to begin with.

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
Quality of life, sense of identity and safety are closely connected to the power they have in their lives and the strength of their networks.
Power means someone’s capacity to make things happen and to control events in their own life.

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
9% of population have low social value and have very little power –
• homeless, permanently unemployed
• old or ill
• children in the care system
• people with disabilities
Seen as unimportant, have little capacity to take control over their situation.
They are at risk of being excluded.

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
• no control over living arrangements
• no choice in the staff who support them
• little control over their money
• restricted mobility
• limited communication and selfexpression
• little self-confidence
• had no experience in making decisions and giving instructions

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
• We need to work in ways that extend people’s personal power and control over their own lives.
• How much power does the person have in their own life?
Activity

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
• Support Workers DO have a certain amount of power in people’s lives.
• Keep asking yourself:
“Whose life is it, anyway?”
“Who should have the power, and who really does have it?”
• We need to have power WITH people, not power OVER people.

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
What is meant by communication?
• understanding and being understood by others
• Transferring a message from a sender to a receiver
Communication is fundamental to all aspects of life.

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
What about someone who doesn’t talk?
Just because a person doesn’t talk, doesn’t mean they don’t have something to say.
We communicate through our entire message.
Words: 7%
Body Language: 93%
So watch person closely when they are communicating with you.

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
To help you to communicate successfully with a person who has a communication disability –
1. Make sure you have their attention
• Use their name
• Make eye contact
• Touch their arm
2. Assume the person can understand you, then adjust level based on how they respond

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
Find out how the person communicates if they don’t use speech.
• communication aids: pictures, tablet
• yes or no answers
• eye gazes, head or hand movements
• facial expressions
• sign language, gestures

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
• Use appropriate language.
• Use simple, clear words, short sentences.
• If an adult, don’t speak as to a child.
• Don’t raise your voice – it won’t help!
• Don’t rush, give time to process and respond.
• Communicate one thing at a time.
• Be patient!

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
• If the person doesn’t understand you, ask in a different way.
• Ask them to rephrase your message in their own way, to check that they understand.
• Don’t pretend to understand them.
• Be honest and ask them to repeat it.
• Always be respectful.
• Acknowledge the value of their contribution.

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
Remember to keep up the social chit-chat.
We all need it to remain connected with what’s going on around us.

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
Brain Plasticity –
• We should not assume that a person with an intellectual disability cannot learn and develop new skills. The brain is ‘plastic’, meaning it can change from experience.
• People can continue to learn at any age.
• All people deserve respect on their own terms.

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
Human Rights
Respect for the Individual
• Equality - the right to be treated equally.
• Safety - the right to be safe from violence and abuse.
• Home and family - the right to be part of a family, and to start one.
• Privacy - the right to privacy.

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
Human Rights
Inclusion in the community
• Independent living - an equal right to live on our own in the community.
• Work - an equal right to work, in a job they choose, and to earn a decent living.
• Education - the right to an equal education, side by side with everyone else.
• Health - the right to the best possible health care.

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
Human Rights
Activity
How would you respond if one or more of these rights were taken away from you?

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
“On current estimates, one in ten people lives with a disability. Of these, a high proportion live in poverty, on the margins of society, and their rights are all too often breached.
In many cases, people are simply unaware that they have rights and unaware of the opportunities that exist to combat inequality and bring about positive change.”
— Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
The Disability Discrimination Act protects everyone against discrimination based on disability in all areas of life –
• Employment
• Education
• Access to premises and services
• Accommodation
• Same rights as everyone else

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
Sexuality
Same sexual desires and needs as others.
Myths around people with disability
What comments have you heard about the sexuality of people with disability?
Most information about sexuality and relationships is acquired through life experiences.

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
People with a disability —
• overprotected by others, or have been limited due to their level of disability
• often have difficulty learning social rules and patterns of behaviour
• sometimes learn inappropriate behaviours from others
Sexuality & Disability = complex problems

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
Boundaries
The role of a Support Worker is to build, support and strengthen the existing social network of a person with a disability.
It is the role of the worker to build friendships with others in the wider community.

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
Support Workers –
• Genuinely care about the person
• Advocate and stand up for them
• Are sensitive and respectful
• Can be trusted
• Aware of role as a professional
• Avoid getting emotionally entangled

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
Any sexual contact between Support
Workers and the people they support is a serious breach of ethical responsibilities, and should not occur under any circumstances.

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
Sexual activity is a basic Human Right for every adult. Your role is to assist the person to expand their social networks and encourage them to form friendships.
This may lead to the development of more intimate relationships.
Healthy sexuality is an important part of a person’s overall health and well-being.
It is not only about sexual intercourse.

POWER: Whose life is it, anyway?
Specialist education services are available for people with an intellectual disability.
If an adult you support (over 16) is seeking sexual activity but they are not in a relationship, an option is to access a sex worker.
Refer these issues to your Coordinator.
Activity