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Our Joanne assisting Frankie help himself.
"Let us help you, help your children, help themselves." |
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Professional Education and Respite Service LLC
P.O. Box 1015 Stephens City, Virginia 22655
540 664 9886
Toll Free 888 664 9888
Fax: 540 868 2053
IN-HOME NEWS APRIL, 2007
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| Vol. I Issue: # 3 |
April2007 |
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Dear Families, Friends, and Families:
I am often asked by parents what type of crisis intervention techniques our agency advocates. The quick answer is, "we avoid crisis as much as possible." We do so through a "no hands on" policy, positive behavior supports, structuring the environment for success, and having a realistic and functional understanding of the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral characteristics of the individuals we work with. When a crisis does occur and our clients become aggressive toward others we use guiding, redirection, and deflecting as our primary tools to keep the child/adult and ourselves safe. Many years of experience have taught us that if we have to place our hands on a child to calm them, the opposite effect typically transpires. The child becomes confused, fights against the hands on "restraint" and the aggression escalates. We believe if we physically deflect the child's agression, redirect him/her and provide space and time they will calm down quicker than any other approach. An aggressive episode that could last over 30 minutes or more to resolve can take less than one minute with deflection and redirection. Once the child is calm we can address the original issue that caused the upset and aggression. We invite all of you to open a dialoge concerning what your plans are when a child/client becomes aggressive towards others. We would be happy to talk to you further about our approach.
Sincerely,
Jesse A. Kushner, M.Ed.
President
Professional Education and Respite Service LLC
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One of Our Stars
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Joanne Aceto, Ashburn, Virginia, is a a veteran provider of services for individuals with special needs. Joanne is originally from Long Island with a BA degree from SUNY at Binghamton, and is working toward her provisional certificate in LD/Special Education and has 30 hours towards her Masters Degree. With over 20 years of experiences working with individuals with developmental disabilties, Joanne has managed and supervised group homes, employment programs, completed community based assessments, transitioned youth into employment and community living, and has worked with children requiring alternative communication devices and sign language. Ms. Aceto brings a wealth of knowledge and experience into our homes. We are pleased to welcome her into our professional community and into your homes. |
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"A No Hands On" Approach to Crisis Intervention
Staff have fun learning learning non-aversive hands off crisis intervention techniques.
Alan El Tashi instructing four of our staff members the principles of "By My Side" training.
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Alan El Tashi, one of the co-owners and Directors of Alternative Paths Training School in Alexandria Virginia provided ten staff members of Professional Education and Respite Service a fun fill day of training on April 14, 2007. Useful tips, role play, and lots and lots of practice and training were the marching orders for the day to help ensure all clients and staff are safe when clients become upset and aggressive when in-home respite, educational, and home based services. "We deflect, guide and redirect students to a safe area and wait for them to calm down. If they become aggressive again, we deflect, guide, and redirect once again. We keep on doing it until they get tired of doing it." says El Tashi. Other than gentle "guiding", the approach is virtually a "hands off" approach. "By My Side" Training is a mainstay practice at Alternative Paths Training School, a private contract school for children with Autism and other disabilities. It also serves as the philosophical and practiced crisis intervention strategy for the employees and clients of Professional Education and Respite Service. Moving students/clients on past their upsets and anger as quickly as possible in the safest possible manner is a priority for both organizations. As both organizations work with some of the same clients/students and provide a supportive wrap around service, it is essential that philosophies and practiced crisis intervention strategies are alignment.
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FUN THINGS TO DO TODAY
From Terri Mauro, Parenting Special Needs
Need something fun to keep the kids occupied? Try one of these activities you can do together.
Bake alphabet biscuits.
Build an edible Space Shuttle
Create a calendar
Make a CD animal
Make a Giant Panda mask
Make a pencil pennant
Mix up some glook.
Plant a butterfly garden.
Whip up some paper mache.
Start a collection
FOR THE COMPLETE LIST AND A LINK TO THE DIRECTIONS FOR EACH ACTIVITY GO TO :
WWW.SPECIALCHILDREN.ABOUT.COM/OD/NEEDINSPIRATION/A/FIVEFUNTHINGS.HT
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| Overhauling the Image of the Social Worker
Written by Susan C. Westgate, LGSW |
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As social workers, we are all conscious of the fights that we can and cannot control, the political powers that seek to diminish the spirits of our clients, and the social stigmas attached to the issues that are essentially the meat of our work. However, we must also seek to confront and hold true to our professional roots regarding issues within our own system of functioning, such as: steadfast adherence to ethical standards, working to empower vs. enable our clientele, and seeking to expand upon the image of the social worker. It is an undeniable reality that much of the population has a limited view of what a social worker is and what a social worker does. Many people believe us to exclusively be nonprofit case managers, to work only with families and children, to be the entities that divide families vs. unite them, and to be professionals within a field rampant with high turnover and even higher burnout. We must reflect on these commonly held images and discern what they mean. Furthermore, we must determine together what it means to be a social worker.
An adopted Image
I now offer up my adopted image of what it means to be a social worker. We are agents of change who pull from a strengths-based philosophy and that abide by the core belief system that all who come to us for help are entitled to such assistance. We are agents of change who believe that we are capable of providing aid through ethically conscious interventions drawn from individual and social empowerment. We are agents of change who believe that equality can heal wounds caused by racism, homophobia, heterosexism, patriarchy, classism, and oppression. We are agents of change who want to end oppression. These are the social problems that we battle and these are the values that we draw from to initiate the social change process.
Who we are as professionals, how we work toward social change, and the venues that we work in are boundless. It is time to discard the historical image of the social worker and to acknowledge that we exist in for-as well as nonprofit arenas, that we work within political systems, that we have an impact on not only individuals, but also policy formation, that we can and do run for political offices, and that we consult with educational institutions and major national and international organizations. Furthermore, we must also remind ourselves that we are not lone agents of change, and that instead we are connected to one another by our shared beliefs and core professional values. We must shed the historical image of the social worker also not only as a means to diversify our professional base and experience, but also to ensure the survival of our professional discipline. Demonstration of adaptation and flexibility serves to demonstrate professional competency to our clients and also demonstrates the vitality of life force that exists within this profession. Diversification of our professional base and vocational avenues also serves to bolster interest in those expressing early interest in the field.
Reinventing Ourselves
Becoming a social worker often begins with becoming interested in the notion of helping-of wanting to influence society in a meaningful and lasting way. However, many of those expressing early interest in the field become discouraged as a result of the perpetuated image of what a social worker is or does. These words are offered up not only to that audience, but also to already existing professionals. Social workers need to reinvent themselves and what we do in order to bring vitality and professional energy into this field. We must collectively recognize that helping, aiding, and supporting others in need may be our common thread-the thing that drives us into this profession with such passion and vigor. However, while that desire may be the initial spark, we must work to recognize that there are endless creative forms of providing support and assistance to individuals, groups, and communities in need. Ingenuity and creativity are often the things that best reach our clientele because such creative outreach efforts are often the efforts that clients regard as special and exceptional. These unique efforts and forms of our work are also the things that ontinually breathe new life into the profession.
Susan C. Westgate, LGSW, is an Employee Assistance Program Specialist employed at COPE incorporated in Washington, DC. Prior to joing COPE, Susan was an intern for Maryland Center for Veteran Eduation and Training in Baltimore, MD, providing clinical supports to people with a history of homelessness and poly-substance abuse. Susan holds a master's in social work with a clinical concentration in Employee Assistance Programs from the University of Maryland, class of 2006.
This article appeared in the Winter 2007 issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER. | |
We are in the business to help and assist you. "Let us help you, help your children, help themselves."
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Sincerely,
Prof. Ed. & Respite Service
Professional Education and Respite Service LLC |
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