Dignity and Respect

When working with individuals with developmental disabilities, dignity, and respect come up quite often. Teaching staff, parents, and community members what this looks like is one of the most difficult challenges in the field. Given how I was taught to treat people I could not sit back and watch this happen. I began to combat this disrespect for our individuals by developing training and modeling appropriate behavior. I began with our staff, by teaching them and then empowering them to show family and community members through staff's own actions. Soon I began to get phone calls and emails from community leaders and families of how our staff presented remarkable service and respect. That is when I knew my strategy was a success. The next step was to show people that this concept of dignity and respect applied to all aspects of life. It also showed staff we were not only interested in their work performance, but also their personal development as well.