Breaking cycles of oppression as a community

Creating a Forum for Alliances for those working with Disabilities:Parents/Caregivers, Educators,Non Government Organizations,and Institutions Working to break the cycles of oppression in our community and education services for individuals with exceptionalities . By Lee-Anne Dore CHT, BA, GCEEC. June 22, 2013.

Breaking cycles of oppression as a community • Collaboration for our purpose is a well integrated system that includes training and skills development for individuals with exceptionalities. • Commitment to education ensures that people with a developmental disability and a mental health issue and/or challenging behaviour have access to the highest quality of education and care delivered by skilled specialized service professionals across sectors working together • By building partnerships across multiple and diverse sectors, including developmental services, health, justice and education to break cycles of oppression

Alliance partnerships for People with Disabilities Alliances could include: • BC Ministry of Education School District teachers • Ministry of Social Development and Housing Canada. • Vancouver Island Health Authority Mental Health and Addictions • Inclusion BC ~ formerly Association for Community Living BC • Representative from Local First Nations or from local First Nations Friendship Centre • Canadian Mental Health Assoc. Triumph Vocational Services • VIVRS: Vancouver Island Vocational and Rehabilitation Services • Non Government Organizations: Providence Farm, Growing Opportunities, Community Gardens, Disability Resources Centre, Literacy Nanaimo, and many other organizations • NRGH Outpatient Psych Unit: Occupational Therapist, Psych Nurses, Program Facilitators • Parents/Caregivers, Social workers, support persons • Universities and colleges-for practicum students • Community mentors/and those teaching apprenticeship for youth/adult clients. • Local Justice Representative from Corrections BC

Making Alliances is Collaboration • Collaboration = Making Alliances • Working together • Creating new possibilities for those with exceptionalities or barriers • Understanding diversity and difference • Allowing room for difference of opinions • Understanding that there are many ways to develop solutions • Sharing information and resources

What the consultant should do before a meeting… Before meeting things the consultant should know and do… • Understand and research communication and listening styles of those whom you are meeting • Communication is the key to liberation, so take time to speak or email each person prior the forum meeting. • Understanding: there is no “one” expert, no one person can know everything rather it is better to think out in a neutral place for shared responsibility and accountability for • The consultant/facilitator is to guide program-not provide answers rather steer to a solution, offer solutions to the group to work together • Be courteous, empowering, respectful, and aware of environmental factions such as languages, culture diversity • Create Timelines, Agenda, format or template to keep on track: have a Problem Solving Worksheet with note sharing at end of the forum • Use the tools at hand and share the resources so that all participators can share the research and keep everyone on the same page to create a place for unlimited possibilities • This helps to plan ahead - by sharing information and having an outline prior the meeting to keep focus, knowing all the factions, and creates accomplishment towards stages of goal(s) or success of the meetings, • Be aware of: listening, linguistics, semiotics, focus on power-ups and what is doable with the tools at hand • Honour emotional needs by listening and embracing diversity and acknowledging difference • Acknowledge the Territory of the First Nations of whom the forum meeting is being held.

The Beginning of Making Alliances • Create a seating circle in which to sit and work • Meet your facilitator and introduce yourselves to each other giving a brief description of why you have come together • Discuss the purpose of the meeting, set expectations-questions that need to be addressed, discuss outline process and templates provided for the forum

Get a larger Picture of what’s going on… • What are the major issues that are bringing everyone together? • In a round or circle briefly discuss prior interventions and the positives that worked if only for a short while. • What was used? What could have been done different? • Who administrated the interventions and what was their background/discipline? • What partially worked? Investigate how changes were measured, and whose lens was being used at what times in the students progress? • What was the monitoring systems and timelines used to create data and can it be analyzed further to use? • Identify the positives or Power-Ups (positive acknowledgements) the individual has, these could be used for further success • What are the barriers and environmental factions-physical, emotional, intellectual, socio-economic, cultural, language, age maturity • Together define the problem(s) • Together establish strategies for working together to create a goal statement – a goal mission can be a statement question as their may be no solution at this time rather more questions on how we can work together-this is about working together not about the final goal

Create a manageable scene: • Tasks breakdown of all players involved letting everyone participate and offer their expertise • Decide who does what? • Create timelines that are doable • Create a developmental system in stages for smaller goals • Use cognitive activities for the individuals for mentorship’s and apprenticeships where applicable

Measurements of success • Develop and create measurable outcomes • Or qualitative and quantitative data with questions to address if objectives are working • Define what for what purpose: example are the objectives concrete or is it performance-based • Create measures that register behavioural/academic modifications give an example of an measurable outcome • Goal for success make it doable and focus on the powerups and positives of the individual • Again set timelines with what happens next when completed • Or if it was not completed where to go from there? • And what does success look like? • Begin at the beginning if unsuccessful and look at what worked and how to go from there

Implementation of a feasible plan • Using the documents at hand create a new template for new plans; • A plan that is doable with the tools at hand with a knowledge base of all involved • Sharing resources and options for consideration • Offer gentle reminders about the effects of change and the resistance that it sometime brings and that it takes time • Think outloud in a neutral place allow a chaining: an idea triggers another that may actually work, respect each other especially what the parents and student/client have to say

A new plan for gathering more data • A new plan may need new data for an assessment plan design • There may be a need to gather more information in case there is not enough data • Together the group makes a decision that reflects sensibility for follow through-(a ratings scale may be needed for pros and cons) • Develop and outline the tasks with steps and decide who is responsible for those steps and how they can succeed through the process of the steps for all those involved.

Write the finalized plan out • Consult with each other to write and record a constructive plan or vision from which to work • Each member of the alliance team describes the steps as they visualize the steps. • Design a system for measuring – with the possible use of graphs and charts, qualitative and quantitative measures: that are easy to understand • Create performed based assessments, portfolios, actual samples of projects empowerment with behavioural counts if needed • An interview time at the end of plan with the student/client being shown everything including the monitoring changes in success-and their feedback

Preparing to exit and Gauging success • Create a time to follow up with a meeting to be arranged to review the work, or an online collaboration with feedback • Find a way to measure success • Perhaps use mediums such as video, photos, audio, etc. to show the student/client the empowerment they have succeeded, and ask them what they think can be done to help them further.

Evaluation for success • Evaluate the last IEP: individual education plan or program/strategies developed for the individual in need of support • Meet again in the future and come back to the beginning to review the problem and follow up with progress reports showing the success or to discuss what needs to be done different and to acknowledge each other and discuss what does the future entail? • Reflect and look at templates and notes and communications and question did it work, what could be done different? • Perhaps we need to return to beginning processes follow through stages again until quest is melded with a new solution or a outline for further study. • The outcome is a shared pool of knowledge, expertise, and resources for parents, caregivers, and supporters of those living with disabilities or mental health issues and creates a greater flexibility for professionals.

Tools and Resources • A resource guide of local resources for people with disabilities should be made available to parents/caregivers such as: Surviving in Nanaimo A Guide to Local Social Services Agencies, available through the City of Nanaimo’s Community Planning. • Local First Nations Friendships Centres http://www.nafc.ca/ • Guide of resources from Ministry of Housing and Social Development BC for those living with disabilities http://www.hsd.gov.bc.ca/pwd.htm • Local Mental Health and Services for those with Disabilities for adults: http://www.viha.ca/mhas/locations/nanaimo/ • For children and families: http://www.viha.ca/search.htm?q=services+for+children+and+families&ChannelGuid=%7b15783B71-F1FB-4569-88C5-8B73660DE2B8%7d • Youth Nanaimo: http://www.youthnanaimo.com/services.html

References • Working Together: The Art of Consulting and Communicating.Deboer, Anita. (1995). Sopris West. ISBN: 9781570350419 • Community Networks for Specialized Care. (n.d) Retrieved from http://www.community-networks.ca/ • SETS EDPD 585 Collaborative Planning for Students Success. (Spring 2013). Retrieved from http://www.edpd585.setsviu.com/ • Becoming an Ally Breaking the Cycle of Oppression. Bishop, Anne. (2nd edition 2002). Fernwood Publishing. “Tools for achieving equity in people and institutions.” (n.d) Retrieved from http://www.becominganally.ca/Becoming_an_Ally/Home.html. • “Anne Bishop offers a critical perspective on understanding the complexity of oppression in the lives of individuals and institutions and explores the depth of the structural, historical and political roots of oppression… concerns how we can become critical of individual and institutional power, learn to look at the world from a ‘structural’ perspective, and position ourselves in alliance with one person, or various people, (Dean, Ann V. State University of New York at New PaltzBook Review, pg 45, para 1&2)”. Retrieved from http://ojs.uwindsor.ca/ojs/leddy/index.php/JTL/article/download/108/142

Breaking cycles of oppression as a community