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Standing at the Crossroads

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.

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Standing at the Crossroads

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  1. Standing at the Crossroads Adult Protection and Advocacy Conference August 1, 2013 Shirley Paceley

  2. Lessons From Our Greatest Teachers In the beginning… rampant abuse and neglect

  3. Forty Years Later… Three women share their stories of violence. How far have we really come?

  4. Consulting the Experts Anna teaches us about freedom and equality

  5. “It’s All of Us” Differences in ability is ordinary, not special, and something most of us will experience at sometime.

  6. 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.

  7. I am not my label • Label cans not people

  8. 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.

  9. Signs of Inequality • Separate restrooms • Separate standards/rules • Withholding of information • Power over… • Behavior programs • “Non-compliant” and “Inappropriate" • Mass Dreamicide

  10. 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?

  11. Consulting the Experts Lynn teaches us the value of common sense. “I am so sorry.”

  12. Consulting the Experts Mary teaches us the value of seeing the whole person. “I thought I wasn't good enough and was being punished.”

  13. Consulting the experts • A 20 minute lesson that changed my life • One of my greatest teachers • In 2011, the microphone phone call

  14. FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF MANY YEARS.

  15. FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF MANY YEARS.

  16. Honoring the Victims When our attitudes are evident in our findings… Unsubstantiated or Unfounded?

  17. 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

  18. Where Are We Now? We must be honest with ourselves to see the gaps in our systems.

  19. 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.

  20. 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.

  21. Deep Question • Are we screening people out or screening people in? • Who is helping the people we screen out?

  22. 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.

  23. 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

  24. To include me is to empower me, to exclude me is to devour me. excerpt from a poem by Cathy Lynn Saunders

  25. 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.”

  26. How Do We Listen? Listen with our Listen with our Listen with our

  27. 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?

  28. What Direction Do We Want To Go?

  29. 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.

  30. Making the Commitment If not you, who? If not now, when? “Please don't forget about us. Please.”

  31. Blue Skies • Poem by Denise Bissonnette

  32. Long-Term Care Ombudsmen (and women) and Adult Protective Services, you give us HOPE.

  33. What we all want

  34. 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.

  35. Standing at the Crossroads What will you choose?

  36. Blue Tower Training Center 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

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