How can People with Disabilities use Person-Centered Planning?
October 12, 2022
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I am 6-year-old and have Autism. Since I was very little, my family could see that I would need extra support to help me blossom into the awesome kid I’m turning out to be. I have a complex disability profile, and because my abilities can seem to spread out like spilled marbles, it has always been difficult for my therapists to understand the complexity of my disability and how to better support me; since I am on Self-determination, I have providers who truly get it, they know me and work together to provide me with the most effective and tailored interventions that I could receive.
Self-determination has improved my life in so many ways and has allowed me to access services and supports tailored to my unique and complex needs.
I have been more involved in my community and have had opportunities to learn social skills naturally and organically, which will be invaluable to me.
Since beginning this journey of Self-determination, I’ve started developing meaningful friendships with others, exploring my passions like cooking, drumming, and swimming, and building confidence in myself and my abilities.
My family and I are incredibly thankful that while we’re still figuring out everything that makes me special and unique, we have the flexibility to edit focus points as my different needs present themselves. I am grateful for everyone who has supported my family with my transition to SDP and everyone who works hard to make my program work, including my family, Carla Lehmann, my independent Facilitator, providers, my FMS, and Regional Center.
There are many things that I wouldn’t be able to do if I were making my journey through traditional services, and I would be missing out on some great opportunities as a result. I get to spend time with the sweet woman who runs my environmental enrichment program each week, which helps me find ways to understand and control my body, be more aware of the world around me, and create some cool projects at the same time! She also gives me great strategies for calming myself when experiencing powerful emotions and speaking up for myself when I’m with friends or other people in my community.
I also get to see my social coach each week, who works with me to understand the “hidden rules” in my environment to respond to others appropriately in the different situations I face in life. If I were using traditional services, I wouldn’t get to have a trusted and specialized mentor come to my house each day and take me on extraordinary adventures. Together we create plans for things I’m interested in, and I get to see them through, which builds my confidence in myself.
The work my family and Carla Lehman, my Independent Facilitator, do to manage this program pays off tenfold in the ways I’ve grown since this program began. I am fortunate because I have the contributions of a fantastic team that gets to be a part of my daily life. My vulnerabilities are targeted in natural and organic ways, making me feel heard and secure. The program focuses on my strengths, interests, dreams, and passions. It has opened many doors for me, and it is a privilege to be able to choose my staff and providers.
We had an amazing experience working with Carla Lehmann, as she walked us through the process into Self Determination. As our Independent Facilitator Carla was committed to providing consistent service and was very friendly to our family members. Carla was upfront with us and was extremely knowledgeable in regards to this extraordinary way of receiving services and we definitely liked that she listened to our needs and wants and did not try to impose her opinion into the services that we were requesting through self determination. Most importantly, Carla never gave up on our goals and dreams. We came into this process knowing what services we needed and Carla was up for the challenge of delivering and advocating for us to receive what we needed.
We attempted to go through this process with another independent facilitator that claimed that she was the best and we were extremely disappointed when she resigned from working with us in the middle of our transition.
Good service is all about keeping your promises, especially when providing a service to individuals with extra needs. Everything else is secondary in importance, and Carla never gave up on us and was remarkable in her performance as she held our hand through every step of the way.
Overall, Carla is absolutely the best independent facilitator that we have worked with. Self Determination has given us the choice, freedom and growth that we were looking for. For all of the negative experiences that we had with other independent facilitators, every time that we have cooperated with Carla Lehmann, we have been extremely pleased with her treatment of me and our family members that need the services of an independent facilitator. We never felt like we were inconveniencing Carla and she was extremely respectful and attentive to our desires. Carla would be a huge asset to any family that is seeking to transfer into self determination and working with another independent facilitator would be a huge mistake, especially when taking such a big and important step in life. We will definitely and absolutely cooperate with Carla again!
Self-Determination is a great program for our community. It allows freedom to choose services and providers that can help our loved ones meet their goals. My daughter is in SD and in less than three months she has made progress acquiring language, her palate has improved, and we see a positive change in social interaction.
My daughter is now able to self-regulate, she’s able to express her emotions. She has more speech, says spontaneous words. She’s also able to try new foods.
Because of the Self Determination Program, my son had the opportunity to have a bicycle. He learned to ride the bike and has made friends when he goes out on his bicycle rides. This helps him to exercise and especially to socialize. It isn’t easy to make friends for him, but now this opportunity enabled him to socialize with other children.
My son has attended programs that helped him socialize and exercise. He has been able to perform physical activities with an instructor at the park, using face masks.
My son has the opportunity to go to different places and be able, above all, to be included with other children of his age, to socialize, and have friends.
Self-determination is a great opportunity for everyone, many dreams can be fulfilled, especially inclusion.
The biggest benefit for my daughter has been being able to work with the people she really wants to work with and people that really want to work with her.
It’s worth it because you see your child happy, you see them progressing. What did not progress in one year [in the traditional system] can easily progress in 3 or 4 months.
My daughter can choose services that interest her, such as swimming, dancing, and going out into the community with someone the family trusts. I have seen a significant advance in all areas of her life but especially in her speech which I did not see for years in the traditional system.
At first, I felt that there were many procedures, but it is like everything to reach a goal requires work and effort, and it is motivating when one sees our children carried out in something productive and beneficial for their lives. We chose this bike with a color detail that lifts your spirits every day. My daughter bought the bicycle and laptop with her self-determination budget. There is still a camera, which I am looking for, which will be helpful for a future vocational career and motivate her always to do something beneficial. THE SELF DETERMINATION PROGRAM REALLY BENEFITS OUR CHILDREN!
A core mission of Exceptional Connections is to improve the quality of life for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
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