Self-Determination and the Future, Monadnock Developmental Services

Resources

Books

Shifting Power and Control - a book of training activities to help initiate a systems change effort in your organization

DreamQuest - a board game used to teach about the importance of person-centered planning in self-determination

PowerShift - a board game that teaches about personal responsibility in the process of empowerment (available from the MDS Training Department)

Training Materials

Self-Determination: What We are Learning - an article and discussion questions you can use to foster a deeper conversation with your team or department (pdf)

Self-Determination Mobile - download this hands-on project that's a reminder of the major self-determination principles (pdf)

Films

This is Freedom: Self-Determination Across America - by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Self-Determination: The Sean Tease Story - recounts the self-determination of a man local to the Monadnock Region

Self-Determination for Persons with Developmental Disabilities - by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

"Continuing dialogue about Self-Determination is extremely important as we all discover how to make it real for people with disabilities. Please send me your comments and ideas!"

Director of Training

Self-Determination and the Future

Introduction
In their continuing efforts to focus attention on the concepts and values that inform our work in Region V, the Management Team at MDS sponsored this workshop on Self-Determination. It's purpose was to foster dialogue about one of the most far-reaching ideas in the field of Developmental Disabilities: that the people who receive services should decide what their supports should look like.

It's a basic concept - one that each of us would expect for ourselves. Yet there are many problems and complications involved in actually implementing the philosophy of Self-Determination for people whom we support. Some of those complications stem from the historical realities of the institutionalization of people with disabilities. (For details about this, see the summary of a previous workshop, Perspectives for the Future, which highlighted the problems inherent in institutions.) Other difficulties in implementation arise from how we interpret the principles of self-determination as well as how those principles sometimes work in conflict with each other.

"Self-Determination and the Future" was an opportunity to identify and talk about these complex interrelationships. From this page you can access many opportunities to review the highlights of this important workshop.

What do you want to do?

Learn about the Historical Context of self-determination in Region V
Consider the Essential Concepts of self-determination
Apply the Principles of self-determination to real situations
Send us a real-life Story about a self-determination success or challenge
Find out about self-determination resources

Historical Context
It is important to recognize self-determination as a philosophy and not a process. It is a philosophy for creating opportunity for people with developmental disabilities to participate fully in the culture and in the community. Different people are at different places and understandings of what self-determination is or what it can mean for their lives. We realize that many people's lives are far from the ideal of what self-determination could mean for them. As a Region, we still have many examples of the old style of supports and services which often have elements of institutionalization. Yet in all our efforts, we strive to promote self-determination for people in whatever way is appropriate for them in the moment.

The workshop began with an overview of the history of self-determination in Region V. Highlights include . . .

1972 Monadnock Workshop opens, the first sheltered workshop in Southwestern New Hampshire.
1978 Class Action lawsuit: Garrity v. Gallen, seeks to improve the conditions at Laconia State School and Training Center.
1978 First Case Manager in NH, Len Tichy, worked through New Hope, New Horizons in Keene.
1979 First "group home" in Region V: 14 Pine St., Peterborough, 8 residents.
1979 NH Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services created.
1980 Region V now has four group homes housing 30 people.
1981 Action for Independence, the result of the Garrity v. Gallen lawsuit, was the court-ordered plan for improving Laconia State School which had 500 residents and 1000 staff at that time.
1982 Founding of Monadnock Developmental Services.
1991 Last residents leave Laconia State School.
1991 Sheltered workshops closed in Region V.
1991 First individualized service programs in Region V.
1992 Three people given authority over their budget and services.
1993 Beginning of the Monadnock Self-Determination Project through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 15 people each year for three years. It was "a test of whether self-determination would increase quality of life and decrease per capita spending."
1993 Opening up of the Monadnock Self-Determination Project to everyone in Region V. Data was still kept on the original 45 project participants.
1996 The Center for Outcome Analysis determines that the Monadnock Self-Determination project is successful in improving quality of life and decreasing per capita costs by 12 - 15%.
1996 The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation offers the Self-Determination Project nationally (12 states accept initially).
2003 The Moore Center in Manchester reopens some congregated settings to save money.
2003 Opening of Farmstead of New England in Epping by Deborah Gray for people with autism.
2004 Granite Cares, a plan to change Medicare funding introduced by Gov. Benson

As these historical highlights show, self-determination has not been fully realized. In addition, there are examples of how financial pressures sometimes make the return to older, non-person-centered modes of support look attractive.

What other pressures might work against the active self-determination
of people with disabilities?

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Concepts

There are several concepts that are important in the life of anyone who is on the self-determination journey. These are true for people with disabilities, children, women, people of color, and everyone else regardless of religion or sexual orientation. Which have been important in your life? Which do you need to be mindful of in the life of someone you support?

Role your mouse over a self-determination concept to learn more about it.

Principles of Self-Determination

Here are some additional questions to think about:

Which concept or principle do you think is most important for most people?
Which do you think might be least significant for most people?
What other principles would you add to the list?
Think of someone you know with a disability. Which concepts would be most important for them? Which principles do they have the least access to?

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Principles

As you think about the different concepts of self-determination, you will probably begin to see how they relate to and interact with each other. For example, if everyone had total freedom without any responsibility, our society would be chaotic. It is important to think about the implications of applying these principles to the every-day, real-time work of supporting people with disabilities.

Below is a chart which you can use to compare and contrast four important principles of self-determination. Numbers in the red squares, above the diagonal, stand for situations where the two principles interact negatively. Numbers in the green squares, below the diagonal, stand for situations where the principles interact in a positive way. Those numbers along the diagonal, either blue or yellow, stand for situations where a principle is carried to the extreme, either positively (blue) or negatively (yellow).

Click on a number from the Real-Time Self-Determination chart below to see an example of how these principles of self-determination can interact in the real world.

Send us your story!
Think about the people you know who are becoming self-determined. What are the challenges they face? How have they overcome obstacles? What successes have they had?

Write a few sentences about those experiences and send them to us in an e-mail by . We'll make sure your story can be used as an example and inspiration for others.

Thanks!

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