Supporting Families

by | Mar 21, 2023

IF I COULD, I WOULD

Purpose

To find out what is Important, but not present, to key people in the person’s life.

Instructions

Ask the person to identify key people that he/she lives with and list those activities they would like to do but are currently unable to do.

Rae
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FAMILY GRAPHIC

Purpose

The Family Graphic is an additional way to pull together the information discovered in the other tools. It can be done on a large chart paper or on a regular sheet of copy paper. It is a visually pleasing way to focus on Important To and Important For for both the whole family and each individual. Once this graphic is completed, you can discuss with the family a more focused What’s Working/What’s Not Working in the family which can lead to an action plan to begin to support the whole family.

Instructions

Enter the family’s last name inside the sun. Insert rays of the rainbow for each person in the family. Fill in the categories for each person: who I am; what is important to me; what’s important for me; supports I need. Work with the person and family members to complete the four clouds surrounding the rainbow. Ask each family member to look at the graphic to make sure all information is openly shared.

Family Graphic is a tool that requires specific training. For more training on this tool, contact Support Development Associates at info@sdaus.com.

FOLK FAMILY
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FAMILY DESCRIPTION

Purpose

Supporting families/caregivers living together has long been recognized as a model of best practices in the developmental disability field. This tool helps develop a family/caregiver description which identifies how family/caregiver needs impact a person’s life. It identifies what paid supporters need to know, what they need to do to provide support for the family/caregiver to live together while balancing the needs of all family/caregiver members.

Instructions

Using information gained from other person centered practice tools you can also use with families/caregivers, have a conversation with the family/caregivers that will focus on the Family Description chart headings. Using “Guess, Ask, Write,” fill in the chart for each family member.

Family Description is a tool that requires specific training. For more training on this tool, contact Support Development Associates at info@sdaus.com.

RAE
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Core Concepts: Important To/Important For

by | Mar 21, 2023

Purpose

A way to help describe both how someone wants to live and a reasonable balance between the components that make-up Important To and Important For. Forms the foundation of all of the other work. As the core concept this is at the center of planning and practice. All of the tools that follow are intended to be used to

  • Learn more and inform ourselves about Important To;
  • Find a better balance between “to” and “for”
  • Discover how to implement what is learned

Instructions

We need to always ask what do we know before we ask what should we do? As people build their competency in thinking this way, all conversations about addressing issues begin with what do we know about what is Important To and what is Important For and the balance between them. Remember that Import To is learned through a discovery process. The tools we have found most useful are available here.

Stories and Examples

The following people and their stories have been chosen to illustrate examples of how the tools might be used with varying people and circumstances. Each person is introduced using one page profiles. Remember that one page profiles are developed using the discovery tools.

Rae
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