It’s ironic that my current multiple roles are all focused on finding rewarding careers for people with disabilities. Ironic because that is exactly what they have given me. On this day, I need to thank the community of people who have given me a career and who have taught me so much about inclusion, potential […]
A Thank You Letter to People With Disabilities – IDPD-2014 Read More »
I’ve worked in Community Disability Services (CDS) since 1986 and have experienced work cultures that ranged from inspirational to traumatic. I’ve also seen firsthand the correlation between work culture and staff retention, engagement and innovation. It’s a pretty simple equation; some work cultures bring out our best – and some work cultures leave us disheartened
How Healthy is Your Workplace Culture (Community Disability Services) Read More »
Diversity & Inclusion Strategy Implementation – Best Practices in Employer Engagement Professionals working in the field of Supported Employment / Employment Inclusion recognize on a fundamental level that employment service outcomes for people with disabilities do not occur without the engagement and participation of an employer. We also recognize that although the foundation of our
Best Practices In Employer Engagement Read More »
A brand is not a Mission Statement, a Logo, a Tag-Line or a brochure. A brand is the character and personality and reputation your organization brings to a ‘customer relationship.’ It’s about maintaining your organization’s relevance to its ‘customers.’ Your brand is real whether you like it or not – it could be a hanging-on-by-a-thread
Most disability advocates and professionals have been aware for a very long time that sheltered or segregated environments (particularly in day options) do not generate good outcomes in the areas of inclusion and capacity building. Nevertheless, resistance remains to the closure of such environments. Some say more time is needed, others say that these environments
A Draft Transition Plan – Segregated to Inclusive Environments Read More »
The 2014 Alberta Council of Disability Services (ACDS) Spring Conference – held in Edmonton this year, turned out to be one of the best Employment Conferences I’ve been to in a very long time. Although Employment Inclusion is not the primary focus of ACDS, they have seen the ‘writing on the wall’ and invested heavily
ACDS Conference Review Read More »
This video is of Dr. Temple Grandin as the main speaker for the National Career Development Association’s annual conference (in fact it was their 100th anniversary in 2013!)
Differing Perspectives Read More »
It seems to be the question on everyone’s mind lately; where can we get really good staff training? It’s encouraging that people working in the field of employment inclusion are interested and invested in increasing the knowledge and skills of professionals on their teams. A great workshop, training session or conference can be really valuable
Staff Development – Is it in Your Culture? Read More »
Employment First is essentially a ‘best practices’ statement which simply asserts that employment in the general workforce should be the first and preferred outcome for publicly funded services for adults with intellectual / developmental disabilities. Employment First principles have been promoted most vocally by APSE – the Association of People Supporting Employment First – a national
Alberta’s Employment First Initiative Read More »
The movement towards outcomes-based services in the disability services sector is a clear trend. To a large degree, however, it’s only the trend that’s clear. Our collective understanding of outcomes is often limited within the sector and even once we’ve mastered the difference between goals, outputs, outcomes, etc. we still struggle with identifying the right outcomes to track –
Outcomes Based Services and Reporting for Non-Profits Read More »
