My name is Lidia White. I live in Victoria BC.
I have been doing a lot of thinking about how I would like support services to look like for people with disabilities.
I imagine support being about making community a place that people with disabilities can learn, make friends, gain confidence and have fun.
When you access this new kind of support, people will feel accomplished at the end of the day.
People with disabilities will be in control of how things happen and what they do and who they do it with.
People who use this service will be able to give feedback to staff without feeling like they will get in trouble.
The staff will have a new way of thinking that will change their perspective about people with disabilities and what they are capable of and where they belong in community.
The service will be led by people who use it. We will feel like we are a community that belongs in the bigger community.
The staff of this service won’t tell us what to do, but rather will give us more options about what we can do.
The staff will treat us like we are on the same level. They won’t treat us like what they think we should be treated like.
They will treat us like they would anyone else. They will move past their training and see us like everyday people who want to do everyday things.
This service will help people with disabilities get connected with their community in new ways.
It will help us gain confidence, independence and general happiness. People will feel good about themselves because they are contributing to their community.
This service won’t assume that all people with disabilities want only to hang out with other people with disabilities.
We want to expand our horizons and meet new people who we might have something in common with and who will challenge us.
I am excited to change how people think about people with disabilities.
Are you?
