“Person-centered” isn’t a term you tend to hear outside the world of intellectual and developmental disabilities. Perhaps this is because of our intrinsic anthropocentric view of things: We just presume people are the center of the universe. (I might be tempted to use the term in La Plata County to differentiate from the tendency toward dog-centeredness, but that’s another matter.)
In the IDD realm, the term “person-centered” has been developed as a philosophical movement in contrast to the current way our systems think about disabilities.
From the time of the institutions to our more modern community-based settings, supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities has been a largely paternalistic endeavor. Most of our services are designed with the intent of protecting people with IDD from harm.
With all the best of intentions, professionals in the IDD field look at what we need to do to keep people with disabilities safe and healthy. We plan their lives around what they need to be better behaved or take the right medications at the right times. The preferences and desires of the people impacted by these plans rate a distant second, if they are considered at all.
Can you imagine someone else deciding how your life should be lived? Would you tolerate someone having that kind of power over you for the rest of your days on this planet?
Say your young adult daughter is dating “that guy.” You are worried that her judgment is clouded and the undesirable boyfriend will end up running off with her/getting her pregnant/breaking her heart/etc. You probably wish you could just make the decision for her and get rid of the dude.
If your daughter had an intellectual disability, you probably could.
Perhaps you’d protect her from harm. But she would never have the chance to learn from her mistakes, and she would never have a chance to live her dream of having an intimate relationship.
Being person-centered puts that dream at the forefront of all decisions. It finds a way to better balance what is important to a person (his or her dreams and life goals) with what is important for a person (and health and safety are important, don’t get me wrong). The change in thinking puts the person with a disability at the center of her own story. It potentially allows a person with a disability to take risks and sometimes to fail, just like we all do. And after failure, she gets to try again. That’s how we eventually succeed.
A person-centered thinking approach to IDD services shifts the power to the person with disabilities. It allows him to set his own priorities with the support of whomever he chooses. The question is, what took us so long?
A two-day training on person-centered thinking is coming to Durango on May 4 and 6. The training is free and open to anyone who is interested in learning more about PCT. Seats are limited. Information and registration can be found at copct.org.
Tara Kiene is the president/CEO of Community Connections, Inc.
