This edition of CRUcial Times focuses on the theme of "Personalised Approaches"
This edition contains the following articles:
Editorial. Person Centred Approaches: Pursuing the means to an end.
Jane Sherwin
From the President
Mike Duggan
Being at the centre of my life
Lisa Lehmann is a young woman who lives and works on the Sunshine Coast, with many connections in her local and wider community. Lisa seeks to be a change agent in people’s lives. Lisa also has a physical disability.
Planning for the personal or personalised planning
Peter Miller is currently Senior Trainer with Training and Evaluation for Change Inc in South Australia. He has worked in a variety of human services for over 30 years, including as the Director of Client Services for the Intellectual Disability Services Council in South Australia. In this article Peter identifies and critiques some of the current perversions of person-centredness.
Recapturing a sense of the whole
Veronica Brady offers the following perspective. Person- or family-centred approaches require us to think about who we are, and how we are as people in the world.
Knowing us as a family
Shirley and Ian Prouse live in Hervey Bay with their three children: Jacob, Kerryn and Leah (aged 13, 8 & 7 years respectively). In their spare time Shirley enjoys ceramics, sewing and gardening, and Ian pursues computing and electronics. In this article, Shirley and Ian describe the characteristics of a family-centred service by reflecting on their experience of Local Area Coordination.
Listening with intent and acting with purpose
Kathryn Treston & Bronwyn Moloney have each been involved in the lives of families and individuals who have disabilities in formal and informal ways for over 20 years. Bronwyn is a Key Worker for families supported by Mamre Community and a strong advocate for change in the disability sector. Kathryn is Director of Mamre Community. She is leading the Mamre community at a time when the organisation is striving to deepen family-centred approaches in order to ensure effective support for families. In this article Kathryn and Bronwyn explore some of the key questions relating to person-centredness and family-centredness by thinking about some of the practical work they are engaged in.
Reflection on student-centred learning: Three principles of conscious practice
Paul Toon has worked in the field of community development and education for nearly thirty years in a range of settings, including Primary, Secondary and Special education, as well as within the Tertiary sector. His approach to education and community building is based on mutual learning within the context of community life. In this article Paul explores person-centredness as it applies to the learning environment through student-centred approaches.
Listening differently
Patricia Fratangelo is the Executive Director of Onondaga Community Living (O.C.L.), a relatively small organisation in Onondaga County in central New York. Pat has worked with people with disabilities for over twenty years, the last thirteen at O.C.L. Last year Pat visited Brisbane to share her experiences of working in person-centred ways. In this article Pat builds on this work, by exploring how we can learn to listen more deeply to people.