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Living my BEST Self-Determined Life

sites@tailorbrands.com — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 13:57:40 GMT

Living my BEST Self-Determined Life

Living my Best Self-Determined Life!

by Storytellers Staff | Nov 7, 2023

My name is Chilton Moralls. I am a gamer and pixel artist, and I love Magic the Gathering. I am also an Autistic adult in the Self-Determination Program. I have been a part of the Regional Center’s traditional program for 17 years. When I was in high school, the traditional regional center services were not meeting my needs. I wanted to learn about social skills, but they wanted me to join groups where the only thing we had in common was Autism.

My diagnosis does not define me. I wanted to socialize with people who shared common interests with me. I am also a non-traditional student. I was part of a vocational program that taught in a very traditional way, and it was simply not working for me. I was miserable, and it was making me feel like a failure.

Since I joined the Self-Determination Program, I have been able to use my person-centered plan to help guide my decisions about what I want to do. I am a strong self-advocate and did not want a team of people for my plan. I worked with my close-knit circle of support and created a plan that reflected my wants and needs.

This was challenging and exhilarating since many of these decisions were made for me up until this point. The person-centered plan was a great exercise to help me determine what my self-determined life would look like and not what other’s hopes and dreams were for me. I purchased a bicycle and helmet so I could get out in my community independently.

I changed vocational programs and am working with a person who understands my creative process and how I learn. We are working on my portfolio and developing my characters. I am using customized employment to help find a job in the field that I want to work in that utilizes my skills and talents while honoring my needs. I have a part-time job and have transportation, so I can get to work on my own. I have a few personal assistants that drive me to outings. We go out into the community to do the things that I enjoy when I want to do them, not on someone else’s schedule.

I get to choose who to hire, so I pick people who have similar interests to me so we have fun. I have help setting up, scheduling, and maintaining my Self-Determination Program. It is extra work compared to the traditional system. But it has changed my life completely. I love the independence and control it gives me. I am an adult, and I have the rights of an adult, and I don’t need to be fixed.

I am living my best self-determined life!

Original Source: https://scdd.ca.gov/2023/11/07/living-my-best-self-determined-life/

Taking Charge: Stories of Success and Self-Determination

sites@tailorbrands.com — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 13:52:47 GMT

Taking Charge: Stories of Success and Self-Determination

Sheryl Burgstahler, Ph.D

Students with disabilities sharing tips for success

We often hear about the problems young people with disabilities face—physical obstacles, social rejection, academic failure, and medical crises. Yet some people do overcome significant challenges and lead successful lives. What does success mean to them and how do they achieve it? What internal characteristics do these individuals possess and what external factors have been present in their lives? What advice do they have to help young people build personal strengths to overcome the challenges they no doubt will face?

Included in this brochure are insights from successful young people and adults with disabilities associated with DO-IT. These insights may help young people learn to lead self-determined lives. But what is self-determination? There are many definitions to choose from. The following definition is concise and incorporates a number of common themes found in other definitions.

Self-determination is a combination of skills, knowledge, and beliefs that enable a person to engage in goal-directed, self-regulated, autonomous behavior. An understanding of one's strengths and limitations together with a belief in oneself as capable and effective are essential to self-determination. When acting on the basis of these skills and attitudes, individuals have greater ability to take control of their lives and assume the role of successful adults. (Field, S., Martin, J., Miller, R., Ward, M., & Wehmeyer, M., Self-determination for persons with disabilities: A position statement of the division on career development and transition," Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 21(2), 113-128.)

Gaining control over your life involves learning and then successfully applying a number of self-determination skills, such as goal setting, understanding your abilities and disabilities, problem solving, and self-advocacy. The personal process of learning, using, and self-evaluating these skills in a variety of settings is at the heart of self-determination.

The content of this publication is organized around advice synthesized from hundreds of responses of the successful young people and adults with disabilities who contributed to the following topics:

Define success for yourself.
Set personal, academic, and career goals.
Keep your expectations high.
Understand your abilities and disabilities.
Play to your strengths.
Develop strategies to meet your goals.
Use technology as an empowering tool.
Work hard. Persevere. Be flexible.
Develop a support network. Look to family, friends, and teachers.

Perhaps young people with disabilities will find the experiences of others useful as they set their course toward successful, self-determined lives.

Define success for yourself.

People define success in many ways. Several successful people with disabilities use these words:

Success is defined by who we are, what we believe in, and what we think it means to be successful. For some it is money; for others it could be relationships, family, jobs, religion, or education. I believe that success is reaching my own personal dreams. I'm not done with my dreams, but know that I have been successful so far because I've worked toward my goals regardless of my disability. –college student who is deaf
Success is possessing the capability for self-determination. Self determination is the ability to decide what I want to do with my life, and then to act on that decision. –high school student who is blind
A successful life is one where I can be actively engaged in creative activities that make a contribution to the lives of others. Success is a kind of by-product and NOT an end in itself! –professor who is blind
To me, having a successful life is being able to do things independently for myself, and not always have someone there to do things for me. It's achieving my goals on my own terms and at my own pace. –high school student with a mobility and orthopedic impairment

Set personal, academic, and career goals. Keep your expectations high.

Below, successful young people and adults share their views about how they set goals and maintain high expectations:

A combination of people and events has helped me maintain high standards. This all started during the summer months when my mother and neighbor friend pushed me to improve my academic skills. At the time, it wasn't high standards that I was working for, but rather escaping embarrassment. For me, I wanted no one to know I had a disability and would have done most anything to hide it. Summer study sessions provided a stepping stone for future success in high school and college. Success builds upon itself. This was my start to expecting to do well in school.
I'm just stubborn and I refuse to lower my expectations. –college student with a mobility and orthopedic impairment
My parents helped me maintain high expectations for myself. They taught me never to say, "I can't," at anything I try. –high school student with cerebral palsy
My mobility teacher made me confident in my ability to learn, which has helped me maintain high expectations. –college student who is blind
My parents expected me to do as well as other students without disabilities, if not better. My parents actively sought help for my hearing impairment in the forms of speech therapists, audiologists, and teachers to make sure that I had an equal chance in public schools. Before choosing a new house, my parents did a lot of research on the local schools. –college student who is deaf
My brother and sister had one single expectation that determined my success: I was not treated differently in any way because I could not see. –computer scientist who is blind
I am still in the process of learning to stretch but I start by identifying what I can already do, what I am comfortable doing and feel good about. Then I say to myself (sometimes in writing) I can do more. I can do better, what is it BEYOND what I already can do that I want to be able to do? Then I write down goals or ideas and make efforts to stretch myself. –adult with hearing and mobility impairments
Very early on, I became the stubborn guy I am today. "Can't" wasn't in my vocabulary, which, of course, was helped by a set of parents who offered me opportunities to do most of the things everyone else did and encouraged me to set very high standards. By now, I do realize that everyone has a path in life that their unique set of talents and lack thereof gives them. I will never be mistaken for an athlete. However, knowing what talents I do have, I press myself to be the best historian, philosopher, and writer that I can be. –college student with a mobility impairment
I set personal, academic, and career goals by knowing where my limits are and working around them. If someone says I can't do something, and I haven't tried it before, that just makes me more determined to prove that someone wrong. If I fail, at least I tried. That's what counts. –college student with mobility impairments
One of the main reasons people do not set high expectations is fear of failure…. Start by having achievable goals that are not long-term. Develop week long, achievable goals that lead to success. Build on each success and make each goal a little higher. Think of it as a metaphorical high jump. You cannot set the bar too high in the beginning or you just set yourself up for failure. –adult with hearing and mobility impairments.

Understand your abilities and disabilities. Play to your strengths.

People with disabilities who consider themselves successful generally accept their disabilities as one aspect of who they are, do not define themselves by their disabilities, recognize that they are not responsible for their disabilities, and know that they are not inherently impaired. They recognize their responsibility for their own happiness and future. Below are insights from successful people with disabilities:

My personal opinion about disabilities is that everyone is disabled. It just so happens that there is a certain group whose disabilities are more obvious than others. –high school student with mobility and visual impairments
My parents helped me learn to accept responsibility for myself by treating me the same as my siblings. They gave me the same punishments and chores, and they expected me to do well in school. –high school student with speech, hearing, mobility, and orthopedic impairments
Do not make people feel sorry for you or pity you. Get people to view you as an able person who is capable of anything within your reach if the doors of opportunity are open. –graduate student with a hearing impairment
Clearly disabilities can be obstacles. However, they ought to be focused on as obstacles which problem solving can surmount. Sometimes trade-offs do exist. I once wanted to go into biochemistry, but my lack of fine-motor skills and general distrust of lab partners made me realize that I wanted something I could do on my own—hence, history-philosophy. Perhaps I could have found adaptive technology to help me in biology and chemistry, but I had other loves as well, so I went for them. Admittedly, I rerouted, but for those who are determined to be biochemists and such, most obstacles can be overcome by abilities. –college student with mobility impairment
Focus on the ABILITY in disability more than the dis. If we can do that, then we are more apt to succeed. Also, know your limits. If you don't know what you can or can't do, how do you expect other people to know? Plan for success by using more of the cans than the can'ts. –college student with mobility impairment

Develop strategies to meet your goals.

Successful people use creative strategies to reach their goals. They look at options and make informed decisions. Successful planning requires that you know your rights and responsibilities and strengths and challenges; set goals; work toward those goals; and use tools and resources available to you. One key skill for success is self-advocacy. Being able to self-advocate requires that a young person become an expert on their disability, know what specific services and help they need, and be able to use strategies to obtain this help and support. One's life should not be defined by the assumptions of others. Insights by successful people with disabilities are shared below.

We don't have to be victims of other people's assumptions. We are only victims if we choose not to take charge of a situation. If you are blind and someone grabs your arm and pushes you across the street and you don't say anything, but would like to, then you are letting the other person force the result of his assumptions on you. If you, on the other hand, either say, "thank you, but I'll be fine," or, "let me take your arm," depending on what you would like to do, then you are taking charge and aren't a victim. –adult who is blind
I could never achieve anything without writing things down. Sometimes I use a calendar, sometimes a blank sheet of paper or my notebook, and sometimes the computer. But without putting my plans on paper, I am not able to get things done. I use a prioritization process. I write out everything that I need to do, including the small things like getting dressed, taking medications, and riding the bus. Then I mark the things that must get done today or tomorrow as opposed to later, and I prioritize in order of importance. The list I make is constantly changing but I get a lot of satisfaction crossing off accomplished steps. It also helps me to break down larger tasks into smaller ones. I make lists, plan how to do the things on the lists, then use the lists to motivate me to get things done. I never leave home without it! –adult with mobility and hearing impairments
The more often I express my needs and preferences, the easier it becomes, and the easier it becomes, the more comfortable I am, and that makes people more comfortable, and on and on and on... and somewhere in the midst of this is the need to be both polite and clear. –adult who is deaf
The way to preempt or erase assumptions is to tell people what you need rather than let them act out what they think you need. It is okay to say what you need help with. I think that is part of being independent. And just by being out and about and going about your normal business you also show people what you don't need help with. –adult who is blind

Use technology as an empowering tool.

Being technologically competent has become an avenue to academic and career success. Computer technology is one of the most powerful tools available to individuals with disabilities. Technology, including computers, adaptive technology, and the Internet, can help maximize independence, productivity and participation. It can lead to high levels of success—personally, socially, academically, and professionally. As reported by successful individuals with disabilities:

The computer helps me organize my thoughts. I can read and make improvements with ease. I can check all of my papers for spelling errors before I send them. I am a really BAD speller. –high school student with a learning disability
I use a combination of a palmtop note-taker computer and a desktop computer to write. Without them I'd be lost. –college student with mobility and health impairment
Without computers or the Net I would not be doing many things that I'm doing today. For instance, I am involved in a writing forum on the Net that lets writers talk about writing and share their pieces of literature with each other. Since I want to be a writer this has been very helpful. –high school student with Dyslexia and Attention Deficit Disorder
One of my two or three best friends—maybe best next to my wife—and I met on the Internet, and we are not only friends but close working colleagues. –professor who is blind
Technology is not a nicety; it is a necessity. Get it, learn it, and use it. –college student who is blind

Work hard. Persevere. Be flexible.

Knowing and valuing yourself, setting goals, and planning help build important foundations, but action is required to make your dreams come true. To take control of your life it is necessary to choose and take appropriate action. Take charge. Move forward. Sometimes students with disabilities need to work harder to achieve the same level of success as their peers. As reported by one student who is blind:

I accepted the fact that I must work harder than other students to get the same grade.

But learning to work hard has a positive side:

Sometimes I think that all of us with disabilities have an advantage over those who have things come easier to them. Whatever it is we want, we have to want it and then work for it. That necessary desire promotes drive to accomplish, succeed, or achieve. Others around us may be content to float, or do the minimum most of the time, but not us. For us, having what everybody else has is an accomplishment, and having tasted success we want to keep succeeding.

The willingness to take risks is critical to achieving success. As reported by one young person with a mobility impairment:

I keep going when people tell me I can't. I am not afraid to try things and I don't give up. My parents took me everywhere and I did everything like a normal kid. I have a good friend from kindergarten who is able bodied, and she knows me so well that we do all sorts of stuff that people might not think I could do, but we come up with a flexible plan and we do it.

Advice about risk taking from successful people with disabilities includes:

Nothing worthwhile comes without risk. Without risk, success cannot be achieved.
Never give up.
Do not pity yourself for what cards you have been dealt. It happened... now move on.
That moment of insecurity is worth the achievement in the end. It is important to keep that in mind throughout life.

Develop a support network. Look to family, friends, and teachers.

Successful adults with disabilities report that they were supported in youth by opportunities for inclusion, high expectations from adults, disability-related accommodations that de-emphasized their differences, promotion of autonomy, encouragement of friendships, and support from caring adults. On the other hand, their progress was inhibited by segregation, treatment that highlighted their differences, restricted opportunities for independence, social isolation, and social rejection.

Below, successful individuals with disabilities share examples of how they stay actively involved.

I am in my school's band and on our youth leadership team. In the past, I was part of the speech team and student council. I think being a part of clubs has given me confidence and boosted my self-esteem. I enjoy music, and I think it is an awesome feeling to be able to go out and be a part of my school's band to cheer on the sports teams and to contribute to a music concert. –college student who is blind
I have been involved in the drama club at my school. –high school student who uses a wheelchair for mobility
I have been involved in internships. They give me experiences that are needed for jobs. I've also been part of a city hall committee. This will help me know how professional life is. –college student with mobility and health impairment

No one achieves success alone. The comments below provide examples of how successful individuals with disabilities have found, accessed, and used resources to help them achieve success personally, socially, academically, and professionally.

Most of the resources I use I either found through word of mouth (from parents, friends, and others I know), from newsletters, or from the Internet. Sometimes, I find out about something useful by accident, and at other times I ask around or look on the Internet for a specific resource. I often ask others whose opinion I respect for advice, especially when I am making a making a major decision. I subscribe to a few newsletters and magazines that provide information on topics that interest me and keep lists of useful websites on my home page. –Ph.D. candidate who is blind
I ask questions. –high school student with a brain injury
One of my resources is my best friend. When I take her along with me, I can tell that people who don't know me feel comfortable being around me. My friend and I think that there isn't a way that I can't be a part of what she is doing. Being with her is one of the ways I use a natural resource. –high school student with mobility, orthopedic, and speech impairments

Original Source: https://www.washington.edu/doit/taking-charge-stories-success-and-self-determination

Person-Centered Thinking in Developmental Disabilities

sites@tailorbrands.com — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 13:52:47 GMT

Person-Centered Thinking in Developmental Disabilities —

Dreaming Possible Dreams

By Lynn K. Jones, DSW

People with developmental disabilities dare to dream outside the box of standard social services options with the guidance of astute, creative professionals, family, and community.

“I have a dream today…” intoned Martin Luther King, Jr., as he painted his vision for America’s future. From that moment, America was changed. The power of that dream publicly shared with a crowd on the Washington Mall continues to be felt 40 years later, reverberating through the message of hope that set the tone of Barack Obama’s election.

Trying to understand the dreams that people have for their lives is not foreign territory for most of us; as children, we were encouraged to dream. What child wasn’t asked the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

But dreams are still denied to some groups of Americans. Rarely have people asked those with developmental disabilities what dreams they’ve had for their lives. Their futures, limited by the reality of their disabilities, have been about finding suitable options within the social service system. For many, these options have been based on what is available among institutions and group homes, sheltered workshops, and day programs, not on their dreams. Instead of being encouraged to dream about their futures, they have been forced to grapple with the realities of their disability and how it defines their lives.

Susan L. Parish, PhD, MSW, an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and director of the Developmental Disabilities Training Institute at the University of North Carolina, explains it this way: “Honoring the desires of the individual and his or her family is a vastly different proposition from putting a person into a residential facility and then giving them whatever that facility offers. In some facilities, if occupational or speech therapy is offered, then the person will automatically get that. That is a different approach from saying, ‘Well, here is an individual, and what is it that they want to achieve with their life? What can we scaffold around them to help them to achieve their desires?’”

An Appreciative Perspective

Shifting thinking about people with developmental disabilities from their deficits to appreciating what they have is at the core of person-centered thinking and akin to social work’s strengths-based approach.

Angela Amado, PhD, has been working on implementing person-centered approaches for people with developmental disabilities for the last 20 years. She explains how a person-centered approach differs from the familiar systems-centered approach: “In a system-centered approach you see someone as a client and focus on their deficits and their needs, which lead you to certain conclusions as to what kind of treatment the client needs or what kind of support the client needs. In a person-centered approach, we see someone as a person first, not someone who is defined by their disability. By understanding who this person is, we see the person in terms of the person’s capacities; we appreciate the person for what the person can do, for the gifts the person has, and how the person can contribute to others. This shifts thinking to how can we help the person have as normal a life as possible. This does not mean ignoring the disability but rather supporting it in as normal a way as possible. The focus is on supporting the personhood as much as possible.”

Stephanie Beck, MSW, LCSW, is a clinical director in North Carolina who works from a person-centered perspective and explains how supporting personhood alters the focus of social workers: “The individual has the right, and we have the responsibility. You talk to people who just want to go to school or just have guitar lessons. Our responsibility as social workers is to identify the steps to achieve what they want. It is like an onion. We have to peel the layers away to see what the steps are. All the steps are the barriers that have prevented the individual from achieving their dream.”

Dreaming the Possible Dream

How does one begin to find out another’s dreams, especially someone who has been bombarded with the message that dreams are limited by a disability? Amado says it is not easy. “Some people with developmental disabilities don’t talk; some just say what they think is available in the services system,” she explains. “I met a woman once who lived in a facility with 24 beds. I asked her, ‘What do you see as your future?’ She responded, ‘Well, first I’m going to a waiver home then independent living.’ She had all the system categories down. That was what she had learned. But it wasn’t her dream. If you separated out what was offered to her in the system, what she really wanted was to live in her own apartment and get married.”

Helping people with a developmental disability dream involves being an astute listener. “You have to see underneath the first thing people say; you have to listen for the unsaid,” explains Amado.

Some social workers who are helping people with developmental disabilities to dream begin by taking all the traditional service options off the table. This forces the person to think about what else may be in their future beyond the service system.

Expanding the Possibilities

“Our understanding of what is possible for people with a developmental disability keeps expanding,” explains Amado.

Sue Harding is an example of a woman who has been helped to dream about a life that few would have thought possible for someone with a developmental disability. Patti Scott, the CEO of an organization in New Jersey that supports people “to live the life they want to live,” helped Harding figure it out. Scott explains: “I first met Sue in 1998. She was living with her parents. We spent a number of months planning for what she wanted her life to look like. Because of her disability, she needed help with some basic self-care and in tasks like cooking. We put together a plan where she would move out of her parents’ home and would live with someone who did not have a disability and could help her in the ways that she needed help. We were all set to submit her plan to the state when she called and said, ‘I have decided I want to be a nun. Don’t tell my parents.’ She had done some paid work with the Sisters of Mercy, and it turned out she had been secretly dreaming about being a nun since she was 8 years old.”

Sometimes articulating the dream is the first step in making it happen. When Scott and Harding asked the sisters whether Harding could join their community, the idea seemed out of the question at first, but they figured out a way. Today, Harding has been an “associate” in the Sisters of Mercy community for the last 10 years. As part of her duties, she attends associate conferences, does some computer work for the community, coordinates volunteers, and answers the phones. “I may not officially be a nun, but I pray with the sisters, and I had a private ceremony with God. I do everything with the sisters,” Harding says.

Scott says that Harding has a “reciprocal relationship” with the sisters. With the supports that she has developed through the Sisters of Mercy community, the staff support that she needed dramatically diminished. In fact, she hasn’t needed any extra support for the last three years. She has developed a rich social life, including singing around the state with several sisters in a group they formed called Tender Mercy.

Actualizing New Futures

Actualizing the dreams of people with developmental disabilities involves including the people who love them, care about them, and have been a part of their lives in some way. In Harding’s situation, these people included the Sisters of Mercy and her parents. Initially, she hadn’t wanted to tell her parents about this dream. When they learned of her dream, however, they supported her.

“A group of committed people come together to create a life of meaning and purpose on behalf of the individual with a developmental disability. If the people care about the person, they generally are willing to think more,” explains Amado.

Amado helped the mother of the 24-year-old woman, who could only dream about going to a waiver home, gather all the people who loved her daughter. This included her daughter’s “babysitter” from her teenage years. During the meeting, Amado determined that the woman had been the happiest when she had a relationship with her babysitter, who really loved her. “We found this out by asking questions of the group: ‘When was she the happiest in her life? When did she flourish the most?’” Amado explains.

The meeting resulted in an arrangement for the woman to move in with her beloved babysitter, her husband, and their new baby. The money that would have been spent paying for a caretaker went instead to the babysitter, allowing her to be able to stay home and take care of the family’s new baby instead of going back to work. It was a win-win situation for everyone.

Systems Transformation

Person-centered thinking is transforming whole systems of care and organizations that serve people with developmental disabilities.

The Tri-Counties Regional Center in southern California is responsible for developing plans and providing services for more than 10,000 people with developmental disabilities within its three-county service area. The center is an example of an organization that has been transformed by creating “a person-centered thinking culture.”

Omar Noorzad, PhD, the center’s executive director, explains that they are committed to doing more than just consistently and successfully meeting basic assurances—the clear, nonnegotiable requirements that keep people safe, healthy, and protect their basic rights. “We need to also have the skills, actions, and practices that will support the vision of the future for each person that we serve,” he says. “This entails changing from a consumer mindset to an informed and active citizen mindset. Increasingly, people tell us what they expect: It is that meaningful and individualized results are paramount. Person-centered thinking is essential to achieving these outcomes.”

To see people with developmental disabilities as informed and active citizens rather than consumers of services is a dramatically different view. Just as King dreamed of a future when black children would not be judged by the color of their skin, today a new future is being constructed for people with disabilities to dream possible dreams.

— Lynn K. Jones, DSW, is a freelance writer and an executive coach and organizational consultant in Santa Barbara, CA. As a specialist in organizational culture, she supports leaders and organizations in developing mission-driven cultures.

Key Values and Principles of a Person-Centered System

A person-centered system involves person-centered thinking, planning, and organizations. These guiding principles apply to the system serving all people who need long-term services and supports, and their families. A person-centered system acknowledges the role of families or guardians in planning for children/youth and for adults who need assistance in making informed choices.

To be person-centered means the following:

• treating individuals and family members with dignity and respect;

• helping individuals and families become empowered to set and reach their personal goals;

• recognizing the right of individuals to make informed choices, and take responsibility for those choices and related risks;

• building on the strengths, gifts, talents, skills, and contributions of the individual and those who know and care about the individual;

• fostering community connections in which individuals can develop relationships, learn, work and produce income, actively participate in community life, and achieve their full potential;

• promising to listen and act on what the individual communicates;

• pledging to be honest when trying to balance what is important to and for the person;

• seeking to understand individuals in the context of their age, gender, culture, ethnicity, belief system, social and income status, education, family, and any other factors that make them unique;

• acknowledging and valuing families and supporting their efforts to assist family members;

• recognizing and supporting mutually respectful partnerships among individuals, their families, communities, providers, and professionals;

• advocating for laws, rules, and procedures for providing services, treatment, and support that meet an individual’s needs and honor personal goals;

and

• endorsing responsible use of public resources to assure that qualified individuals are served fairly and according to need.

Original Source: https://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/exc_011909.shtml

How Kids Benefit from Self-Determination

sites@tailorbrands.com — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 13:52:47 GMT

HOW KIDS BENEFIT FROM SELF-DETERMINATION

Posted June 30, 2021

What would it mean for people with disabilities if they could decide, with their family support system, what to do with funds provided through the San Diego Regional Center? For participants in the three-year-phase-in-period of the Self-Determination Program (and their parents), it has been life changing.

Adam (age 14) takes cooking classes and is learning to play the piano—all paid for through his budget from the Regional Center. “Before self-determination, his services consisted of respite only,” says his mother Josie. “But utilizing the annual budget designated for respite, Adam decided he wanted to take piano lessons and learn to eat healthy through cooking classes (which we couldn’t afford otherwise). Being able to use our Regional Center budget to pay for these classes is enriching Adam’s life so much more than simple respite services were.”

In July 2021 the Self-Determination Program (SDP) becomes available as an option to all San Diego Regional Center consumers, providing them with more freedom, control and responsibility to choose services and supports that help them meet objectives in their Individual Program Plan (IPP).

Under the new plan, participants are able to access many services that were suspended during budget cuts in 2009, such as social and recreational programs and camps.

“When families have the opportunity to think and engage in a person-centered way, it enriches the partnership between the family and the San Diego Regional Center,” says Suzy Requarth, M.Ed., regional manager and project manager of the Self-Determination Program. “The role of the service coordinator evolves into one of empowerment. How can we empower families to embrace the person-centered planning process, think creatively about the services and supports their children need, and develop a plan that truly helps children achieve their goals and connect them to their community? It’s an exciting journey for the entire team.”

The SDP allows participants to have more control in developing their service plans and selecting providers to better meet their needs. This is a voluntary program and participants are not required to use Regional Center vendors.

The SDP is based on a 20-year-old pilot project in which almost 200 individuals participated in a test of self-determination in five regional centers. The pilot program was deemed a resounding success and is being expanded throughout California. In SDP each participant receives a budget that is calculated by the amount spent on their services from the prior 12-month period, plus any unmet needs that are identified through the Person-Centered Planning Process.

Using their allotted budget, consumers can choose who supports them, and they have the freedom to purchase services that interest them. With budget cuts a decade ago, all recreation programs were dropped from the Regional Centers’ budgets. Now consumers can access those recreational options (and more) again!

At a Glance: What is the Self-Determination Program?

Self-Determination is a voluntary alternative way of receiving services through the Regional Centers of California that will be available to Regional Center consumers over the age of 3.
The Self-Determination Program emphasizes personal control over funds and services.
For Self-Determination Program (SDP) participants, the Individual Program Plan (IPP) must be developed utilizing a person-centered-planning process. Person-centered planning is an approach to determining, planning for and working toward the preferred future of a person with developmental disabilities. The preferred future is what the person (and family) want to do, based on the person’s strengths, capabilities, preferences, lifestyle and cultural background. Person-centered planning is a framework for planning and making decisions.
Participants receive a budget to purchase their own services, which are not limited to Regional Center vendors.
Budgets are established using the prior 12 months of expenditures, plus any unmet needs that are identified in the Person-Centered Plan.

Original Source: https://specialneedsresourcefoundationofsandiego.com/how-kids-benefit-from-self-determination/