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Videos about... ideas that influence person centered work

The thinking, language, and practice of a "Person Centered" approach to supporting people with disabilities emerged in the 1970s,  with the process of de-institutionalization.  Forty years later, we face great challenges  in our efforts to remain faithful to the intent and spirit of work that honors the citizenship of all, and builds a "beloved community" that works for everyone. The videos on this page call us to remember what is important.

Living Room Conversations Series...

 Patti Scott and Dave Hasbury gathered with John O'Brien, Connie Lyle O'Brien, Beth Mount, Jack Pearpoint, and Lynda Kahn,  to reflect on influences, actions, and learnings, that have emerged through lifetimes of commitment to a just world that is built upon the contributions of ALL. This Living Room Conversation series captures some of these reflections.
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five valued experiences and five accomplishments

John O'Brien and Connie Lyle-O'Brien began more than 40 years ago developing a  "person centered" framework that can serve as a guide for thinking about the work of supporting people with developmental disabilities. It  incorporates five valued experiences and  five accomplishments that can shape the intent, focus, and delivery of support.
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the complexity of choice

Connie Lyle O’Brien and John O'Brien explore the complexity of choice for people with developmental disabilities in the absence of a breadth of experience, and a strong network of relationships.
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creating change: changing expectations

Beth Mount and Connie Lyle O'Brien reflect on lessons learned from the early days of moving from congregated institutional models of support to individual person centered ways of supporting people with developmental disabilities.

The Story Quilts Series

Beth Mount uses the artistic process as a metaphor for the design of a meaningful life and as a pragmatic tool for listening, visioning together, and mapping the present and the future. In this series of videos, Beth reflects on stories behind this art.
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Heart and Soul: Story Quilts and Person Centered Practice

Beth Mount reflects on how the creation of Story Quilts emerged in her practice as a means of capturing the beauty, dignity, and heart and soul of a person centered practice that is rooted in the quest for justice.
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power in the dark

The stories held in Beth Mount's quilt invite us to “see in the dark.”  Systems and structures make people invisible and limit their potential. Social isolation, loneliness, heartbreak, and blame make it still harder to see and to be seen. With focused attention, we can see how and why dominant systems confine people to specialized and segregated routines and roles. We can act to break the patterns and resist the forces that smother possibility.

"David Pitonyak on..." series

David Pitonyak reminds us all of the amazing capacity of the human brain and spirit. He has collected wisdom and knowledge through his consulting practice which is dedicated to supporting people who experience disabilities and exhibit, what some have called, "difficult behaviors."   David says, "In my view, what's most needed when a person engages in difficult behaviors is imagination.   The story-line that is floating around about the person is a major part of the problem.  What's needed is a new story." Patti Scott and Dave Hasbury interviewed David at The Creek House at his home in Blacksburg VA.
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coverage or relationships?

David Pitonyak reflects on the contrast between our human need for authentic relationships, and a system wide approach to services for people with developmental disabilities that provides "coverage".
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hardwired for belonging

David Pitonyak reflects on the "social brain", being "hardwired for belonging" and the implications of loneliness and disconnection for people with disabilities. ​
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being needed by the pack

David Pitonyak talks about the consequences of growing up with the identity of "needy", and the importance of developing a practice of contributing, no matter what our "disabling conditions" might be.
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the work of adolescence

David Pitonyak reflects on the "work of adolescence" as young people making connections with others who can then become their "second family", and how this can impact on their lives.

Visionary Practice Series

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Five Ways To Go Into The World

Tom Kohler has introduced people who have an established place in community to people with disabilities who have found themselves placed on the margins of community life. Together these people explore how their relationship can change their lives, and impact the life of their community. In this video Tom shares skills that can be developed for the work of connecting people.

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gifts and community part 1

Jenny Trott interviews Patti Scott and Dave Hasbury  about how to identify gifts in people, especially those who have a label of profound or complex disabilities.
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gifts and community part 2

Continuing the conversation about how to be brave in facing new opportunities as a parent; understanding the importance of finding out what your neighbourhood needs, as well as what you have to offer.

influential voices

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John O'Brien

Lithonia GA,
​USA​
More of John's writing
John O'Brien is a leading thinker who has written widely in the field of disability. He is a pioneer and lifelong advocate of Person Centred Planning. His values based approach emphasises learning with each person about the direction their lives could take, challenging and overcoming practices, structures and values that lead to segregation and underestimation rather than inclusion, and an approach to change in people's lives based on 'imagining better'. His thinking is based on Social Role Valorisation and the Social model of disability. He is an Associate Editor of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (formerly Mental Retardation), and was on the Advisory Boards of the Georgia Advocacy Office and Georgia PASS.

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Connie Lyle O'Brien

Lithonia GA,
​USA​
More of Connie's writing
Connie was raised in the southern United States. She remembers a time growing up,  before community services existed, when children with disabilities lived as one of the kids in her neighborhood. Connie has had a profound impact on the thinking, and person centered practices, of families, people with disabilities, and organizations that provide services. Through her research,  writing, public speaking, and education workshops, she draws people in to focus on the gifts of people, and the need for relationships that uncover what people have to offer to each other, and the communities where they live.

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Beth Mount

New York NY,
​USA
Beth's website
For over four decades Beth has been devoted to the possibility that all people,  particularly those with disabilities, are seen in the light of their capacities and potential. Beth's community works focus on many aspects of personal, neighborhood, organizational, and cultural change, so that the hopes expressed by people and their allies have some concrete impact on the structures of society. As a story quilt artist she stitches together symbols and patterns of the longings, joys, struggles, and beauty of thousands of people who are learning how to bring the gifts of every person to life and to create a more inclusive community by doing so. 

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David Pitonyak

Blacksburg VA
​USA
David's website
Much of David's work involves meeting individuals who are said to exhibit “difficult behaviors.” Most of these individuals exhibit difficult behaviors because they are misunderstood and/or because they are living lives that don’t make sense. Often they are lonely, or powerless, or without joy. Often they are devalued by others, or they lack the kinds of educational experiences that most of us take for granted. Too often their troubling behaviors are the result of an illness, or even a delayed response to traumatic events. Their behaviors are “messages” which can tell us important things about their lives. Learning to listen (see Herb Lovett) to an individual’s difficult behaviors is the first step in helping the individual to find a new (and healthier) story.

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Tom Kohler

Savannah GA
​USA
Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy
Tom is a native of Savannah, Georgia. For 40 years he introduced Savannah's citizens to one another through Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy. In the early days, Tom was taught that the question was “In what ways is this person broken and how do we fix them?”  It took 30  years to get to a better question, “The world has a deep crack in it;, how do we try and stitch it back together?”  This question follows Buckminster Fuller’s maxim, “Life is long; pick something big and interesting and work on it.”

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Neighbours International facilitates change in collaboration with people with disabilities, their families, the agencies that support them, the government that funds them, and the communities where they live. We all need people to dream, imagine the future, direct their own lives and support, and make contributions to as valued citizens and community members who belong.
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