Living the Good Life!

1. Living the Good Life! Presenters: Karen Kathy Kim Clinton Ed (Norm)

2. Ralph Waldo Emerson What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us

3. Question??? • Why do you work in this field? Please discuss.

4. Personal History • In order to begin the journey of helping people live a Good Life we must take a look at our own journey at work. It is important that we acknowledge what we have seen and heard and ask ourselves, “Do our past/current practices and actions help people live a better live… a Good Life?” • This is the first crucial building block in the Good Life and Ally Coach Experience.

5. Personal History Scavenger Hunt Directions: On the card provided, on one side write the type of heart you have, and on the other side write one thing positive or negative that someone you work with (coworker or person served) has said about you Place card on back table with heart side up. Look at what was written and try to find the person in the room who you think this comment may have been without actually reading it aloud (ask questions).

6. Personal History • We will never really know personal history without disclosure

7. Personal History • What were your take- a-ways from the exercise

8. #2 Harmful Outcomes Traditional Approaches to working with men/women with developmental disabilities have historically been driven by: • Punishment • Compliance • Aversive consequences • Physical control and restraint

9. #2 Harmful Outcomes • Over time it has been determined that these methods DO NOT promote the health and well-being for men and women we serve. • Even in our good intentions, traditional approaches damage the emotional-well being, physical well-being, self-esteem, and happiness. • Harmful outcomes of traditional approaches cause neurophysiological stress (manifest physically)

10. Harmful Outcomes • Willowick Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_sYn8DnlH4

11. #2 Harmful Outcomes • Discuss video in small groups. Answer the following question: As much as we have evolved as an agency, if 20 years from now someone were to take a video of how we do business, what improvements do you think we could make?

12. #2 Harmful Outcomes We have identified Labels as one of many harmful outcomes.

13. Labels • Categorical labeling is a tool that humans use to resolve the impossible complexity of the environments we grapple to perceive. Like so many human faculties, it's adaptive and miraculous, but it also contributes to some of the deepest problems that face our species. Psychology today, May 17, 2010, “Why it’s dangerous to label people.”

14. #2 Labels • a classic study by John Darley and Paget Gross showed similar effects when they varied whether a young girl, Hannah, seemed poor or wealthy. College students watched a video of Hannah playing in her neighborhood, and read a brief fact sheet that described her background. Some of the students watched Hannah playing in a low-income housing estate, and her parents were described as high school graduates with blue collar jobs; the remaining students watched Hannah behaving similarly, but this time she was filmed playing in a tree-lined middle-class neighborhood, and her parents were described as college-educated professionals.

15. Labels • The students were asked to assess Hannah's academic ability after watching her respond to a series of achievement-test questions. In the video, Hannah responded inconsistently sometimes answering difficult questions correctly and sometimes answering simpler questions incorrectly. Hannah's academic ability remained difficult to discern, but that didn't stop the students from using her socioeconomic status as a proxy for academic ability.

16. Label Activity • Directions: Write on one side of your card a bad habit that you possess. Example: “I am a nail biter” Wear the card around your neck and go greet to the admin. Asst. at the front desk.

17. Label Activity • Discussion point: • How did you feel when you walked up to the admin. Asst. knowing she could potentially read your card

18. #2 Harmful Outcomes • Neurophysiology of stress http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2M87KDNwtA

19. #2 Harmful Outcomes • EASE, but not with a Y simple explanation of the brain.

20. #2 Harmful Outcomes • Discuss stress and some examples of stressful situations and how you managed them.

21. #3 Self-Assessment Great professionals understand themselves and the impact they have on the people around them. They use this ability to adjust their approaches to the people they interact with. They appreciate themselves and the gifts that they bring to their work.

22. Interaction Style • Expresser • Relater • Analyzer • Director

23. Label card Activity • It is important to know the gifts and talents your bring to the work place. On the back of your label card, write a positive attribute or talent/gift you possess. Walk around the building very briefly displaying your name card with the positive side being prominently displayed

24. #3 Self Assessment • Discussion points How did you feel showing your positive attributes for a wider audience to see What are your take-a-ways from this activity.