Day 4
Resistance
Blocks
Struggles
Barriers
Attitudes
What will you do?
4 CATEGORIES OF BARRIERS
•
•
•
•
COMMUNITY BARRIERS
FAMILY / HOME BARRIERS
TEAM LEADER ABILITIES & SKILLS BARRIERS
ORGANISATIONAL BARRIERS
(Barriers sourced from:
 Abbott & McConkey: Barriers to Social Inclusion – Journal of Intellectual
Disabilities (2006).
 Dr. John O’Brien: SSR: Supporting Social Roles (2010)).
What Organisational Policies,
Practices and Staff Attitudes may act
as barriers to inclusion in your
organisations?
• We don’t have transport..there’s no driver
on…there’s no car available…she’s not old
enough to be covered on the insurance.
• What about risks? What risks exist? Risk
assessments….it is my experience that the
people most at risk…are those who are having
the assessment done on. We can’t eliminate
risks we can only minimize them. Risk
Aversion & Blame culture…versus Duty of
Care.
• There’s only one staff on duty and they are
working on their own…they are on the
overnight, there’s no backup. They are
working with 3 other people.
• They need to be back for their medication.
• Mother won’t sign off approval/consent.
• Communication Barrier
• Accessibility Barriers
• Move from nursing model to social care to
connector model…staff and people in receipt
of servicers….the ‘care’ mindset
• Institutionalisation of service users and staff
• Duty of Care itself…Our Duty of Care?
• Policies…Our Health and Safety Policy?
• Garda Vetting
Attitudes and Practices within the
Community that may act as barriers
to inclusion
•
•
•
•
•
•
The ‘holy’ angel…eternal child attitude
The ‘you need help’….attitude
I’m not a specialist…attitude
The fear factor
Misunderstanding
Them and Us
• Addressing the person who is with the person
with the disability. Avoiding the person.
• Staring and looking
• Or… Looking away
• How are children treated by their parents…the
reaction of parents to the child’s attitude. Equally
important is the staff reaction to the child and
parent.
• Not knowing that disabilities can be invisible.
• Over helping and not asking first.
• They talk about the person’s disability in front of
them without any regard for the person…they
may understand!
Environmental Barriers to Inclusion
• Physical Access Barriers
• Social Access you may be allowed join…but
not included....a
club/society/workplace/group attitude can act
as a barrier
• Technology can act as a barrier…no-one
available to talk to or explain things or help.
How do we overcome barriers to
inclusion?
We start with ourselves…
“Be the change that you want to see in the
world” Ghandi
We need to be passionate about making
changes to organisational practices that will
promote inclusion. Lets move the conversation
into an Inclusion sphere…..Think Pro…Pro…Pro.
When we talk Pro something it is less
threatening that Anti-something
• Don’t forget…ALL OF YOU CEO’S HAVE SENT
YOU ON THIS TRAINING…..they signed up for
this.
• Use the language of inclusion and social roles
• Creativity…solution focused NOT problem
finding.
• Look for a support person to become an ally.
• Encourage the person you are working with to
advocate for themselves.
• Use a rights restriction form…and committee
if you have one…if not…establish one!
• Get families on board
• Ask for old established practices to be reviewed…use
the language of inclusion and be respectful in how you
ask.
• Are there voluntary resources that can help?
• Vantastic, volunteers, friends of family, neighbours
these can often help with driving.
• Brainstorming where ONLY solutions can be brought to
the table.
• TRY new options and then when that doesn’t work, try
other new options and when that doesn’t work..try
again. If the issue is down to a service deficit then bring
the evidence of your efforts to Senior Management
and look for their solutions.
Stay Strong…
• Celebrate the achievements….even the small
ones. This is really important….record the
progress…photos, videos and story telling.
• Remember this is lifetime work…it’s not
always going to be quick successes.
Relationships take time…remember how long
you have known your friends.
Sources of Information on
Barriers to Inclusion
•
•
•
•
•
Dr. John O’Brien - www.inclusion.com (2010)
“SSR: Supporting Social Roles
A Second Bottom Line for Services to
People with Developmental Disabilities”.
www.psawa.com/Barriers_to_participation_and_inclusion.html
“Removing the Barriers to Community Participation and Inclusion”.
Suzanne Abbott & Roy McConkey (University of Ulster) (2006)
Written for the Journal of Intellectual Disabilities
“The Barriers to Social Inclusion as perceived by People with
Intellectual Disabilities”.
Dr. John O’Brien – www.inclusion.com
“An Ethics of Possibility”. (This has Martin’s story as presented on Day 4).
National Federation of Voluntary Bodies (2009)
“Vision Statement for Intellectual Disability in Ireland for the 21st Century”.
This document makes reference to: self determination, friendships & relationships,
inclusion, equity and equal citizenship – with further reference to risk management
and service delivery).