Category: belonging

aaron johannes, advocacy, belonging, books, community, community living, disability, facilitation, research, toolsLeave a comment

Planning for Vulnerabilities with Self Advocates

Aaron

Why is there a photograph of Woodlands Institution in a posting about planning for vulnerabilities with self advocates?  Because, once upon a time, our society thought that the best way to keep people safe was to look them away.  Ken Scott, in his historical research article, The BC Public Hospital for the Insane, 1872-1902, writes of the earliest institution being built in 1878 and in 1894, only 16 years later, with a total of 117 patients there was already a royal commission into abuses: . . . to investigate questionable practices . . . when a male patient died after … Continue reading Planning for Vulnerabilities with Self Advocates

aaron johannes, belonging, community, community living, critical disability theory, disability, person centred planningLeave a comment

Stories about access and cognitive dissonance

Aaron

“In A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance (1957), Leon Festinger proposed that human beings strive for internal psychological consistency to function mentally in the real world. A person who experiences internal inconsistency tends to become psychologically uncomfortable and is motivated to reduce the cognitive dissonance. They tend to make changes to justify the stressful behavior, either by adding new parts to the cognition causing the psychological dissonance or by avoiding circumstances and contradictory information likely to increase the magnitude of the cognitive dissonance. “Coping with the nuances of contradictory ideas or experiences is mentally stressful. It requires energy and effort to … Continue reading Stories about access and cognitive dissonance

aaron johannes, advocacy, Al Etmanski, barb goode, belonging, books, community living, dads of children with disabilities, disability, family, inclusion, innovation, liz etmanski, self advocacy3 Comments

#powerofdisability review of Al Etmanski’s new book

Aaron

“I discovered that people with disabilities have been major players throughout history. If you were to take away their contributions, you wouldn’t recognize the world.” I can’t remember the last time I read a book so quickly.  I’ve heard of people “devouring” books and always wondered about that terminology but now I know how that feels.  I meant to read a few pages – it’s a snowday here, the second dump in a couple of weeks and while the first was much worse, everyone is still tender from black ice and fender-benders and the college is closed, my students are … Continue reading #powerofdisability review of Al Etmanski’s new book