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Open Future Learning @Open_Future

Open Future Learning is the online learning resource for the developmental disability | intellectual disability | learning disability workforce.

Joined June 2011
  • Tweets 2,501
  • Following 968
  • Followers 3,996
1,510 Photos and videos
Absolute legend. Ft Steven Brandon. Excerpt from “A Day in the Life” - full video on our YouTube channel.
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Too often, we mistake presence for participation. We invite people with developmental and intellectual disabilities into rooms, have people sit at tables, and then move ahead without really making space for their thoughts, choices, or feelings.
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Inclusion is measured by whether someone is given a real way to be understood, and whether others take the time to listen. If you want to know whether someone was included, don’t ask if they were there. Ask if they were respected, heard, and able to influence what happened next.
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A good day is not the same as a compliant day. Too often, people with intellectual disabilities are praised for being “good” simply because they followed directions and caused no problems. Doing everything you are told is not the same as living a meaningful life.
ID: Title reads: Remember: For people with intellectual disabilities compliance is not the same as a good day. Image shows a professional-looking person talking to a support staff person. The speech bubble reads: “He had a really good day today.” Person with an intellectual disability with a thought bubble: “I did everything you told me to.”

ALT ID: Title reads: Remember: For people with intellectual disabilities compliance is not the same as a good day. Image shows a professional-looking person talking to a support staff person. The speech bubble reads: “He had a really good day today.” Person with an intellectual disability with a thought bubble: “I did everything you told me to.”

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“Be my microphone, not my voice.” - Dave Hingsburger
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There are some people who could hear you speak a thousand words and still not understand you. And there are others who will understand without you even speaking a word. #intellectualdisabilities #downsyndrome #developmentaldisabilities #autism
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Not a child. Not your property. #developmentaldisabilities #intellectualdisability #downsyndrome #autism
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Real support should make friendship possible, not replace it. ... ID: Fionn holds a cardboard sign above his head that reads "I don't want support staff as friends" - a person walking by has stopped to read the sign.
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It is too much to ask?
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Great support doesn’t mean stopping people from choosing wrong. It means being there with them when they choose, and staying if things don’t turn out well.
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“I found this job at a moment when my life felt dark. I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety since I was young. I’d just left my home health aide job that didn’t feel meaningful anymore. I needed something that felt more fulfilling." Read: facebook.com/OpenFutureLearn…
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There is a lack of men in disability support. But as Hasan Kreik shows in this video, the ability to provide great care and support has no gender.
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Stereotypes.
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The people we support aren’t ours. They belong to themselves. Forget that, and we stop supporting and start managing. Use people's names whenever you can. Use language that is person-centere: the person I support, the person I work for, the people I assist. Words matter.
ID: Image shows a man sat on a chair looking sad and reflective. To the left text shows that words are being spoken at him as follows: My Consumer, My Individual, My Client, My Service User, My Friend, My Participant. To the right is a speech bubble that reads: I am not your anything I am Nigel.

ALT ID: Image shows a man sat on a chair looking sad and reflective. To the left text shows that words are being spoken at him as follows: My Consumer, My Individual, My Client, My Service User, My Friend, My Participant. To the right is a speech bubble that reads: I am not your anything I am Nigel.

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If you want to support people, stop bubble-wrapping lives. Start making space for risk, for growth, for the dignity of trying.
ID: Image shows a man with his arms folded smiling. Text reads: Control disguised as “care” is not kindness, it’s captivity.

ALT ID: Image shows a man with his arms folded smiling. Text reads: Control disguised as “care” is not kindness, it’s captivity.

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Stealing from people with intellectual disabilities? Read: openfuturelearning.org/blog/ #developmentaldisability #learningdisability #downsyndrome #autistic
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Trump and RFK link pain reliever Tylenol to autism - but many experts are sceptical. #trump #autism #TYLENOL
ID: Image shows popular meme with man being distracted by another lady as he walks with girlfriend. On the other lady text reads 'Tylenol' on the man it reads 'RFK Jr' on the girlfriend it reads 'Science/Reality.'

ALT ID: Image shows popular meme with man being distracted by another lady as he walks with girlfriend. On the other lady text reads 'Tylenol' on the man it reads 'RFK Jr' on the girlfriend it reads 'Science/Reality.'

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The head tilt is the look many give when they meet someone with an intellectual or developmental disability. It’s that slight lean to the side, the softened eyes, the syrupy smile. It’s supposed to say, “I’m being kind.” But what it really says is, “I see you as less.”
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It’s a gesture soaked in condescension, the nonverbal equivalent of baby talk. People don’t tilt their heads when greeting a banker, a teacher, or their neighbor at the grocery store. The tilt isn’t about welcome; it’s about pity dressed up as compassion.
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And pity is never respect. Respect stands straight up. Respect meets your eyes level. Respect recognizes the person in front of you without the sugar, without the syrup, and without the tilt.
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