Active Support Handbook Module 44
Active Support: Overview
Active Support
A handbook for supporting people with learning disabilities to lead full lives
Edwin Jones, Jonathan Perry, Kathy Lowe,
David Allen, Sandy Toogood, David Felce
Part One: An Overview
Part Two: Interacting to Promote Participation
Part Three: Activity Support Plans
Part Four: Maintaining Quality
Produced by ARC Cymru on behalf of the authors
ii
Active Support: Overview
Part one
An Overview
Active Support: Overview
CONTENTS
2
PAGE
Principles Active Support
3
Where does Active Support fit in?
5
Implementing Active Support
6
Why is Active Support important?
7
4
Active Support: Overview
PRINCIPLES
People with learning disabilities are entitled to lives which are as full as anyone else’s.
Although every one of us differs, there are some core things we all have in common. It is important for most people to:
• be part of a community
• have good relationships with friends and family
• have relationships that last
• have opportunities to develop experience and learn new skills
• have choices and control over life
• be afforded status and respect ... and ...
• be treated as an individual.
So important are these core elements of life that they have come to define what we mean by leading a socially valued lifestyle.
Engagement in a full range of typical activities is part and parcel of such a lifestyle. Basic requirements for a full life are the opportunities to:
• participate in the full range of activities that everybody else does
• be involved and share interests with other people ... and ...
• develop relationships, skills, and experience.
When a person is not able enough to do typical activities independently, he or she will need support to do them.
Active Support is designed to make sure that people who need support have the chance to be fully involved in their lives and receive the right range and level of support to be successful. Several research studies have shown that it is
Active Support
A handbook for supporting people with learning disabilities to lead full lives
Edwin Jones, Jonathan Perry, Kathy Lowe,
David Allen, Sandy Toogood, David Felce
Part One: An Overview
Part Two: Interacting to Promote Participation
Part Three: Activity Support Plans
Part Four: Maintaining Quality
Produced by ARC Cymru on behalf of the authors
ii
Active Support: Overview
Part one
An Overview
Active Support: Overview
CONTENTS
2
PAGE
Principles Active Support
3
Where does Active Support fit in?
5
Implementing Active Support
6
Why is Active Support important?
7
4
Active Support: Overview
PRINCIPLES
People with learning disabilities are entitled to lives which are as full as anyone else’s.
Although every one of us differs, there are some core things we all have in common. It is important for most people to:
• be part of a community
• have good relationships with friends and family
• have relationships that last
• have opportunities to develop experience and learn new skills
• have choices and control over life
• be afforded status and respect ... and ...
• be treated as an individual.
So important are these core elements of life that they have come to define what we mean by leading a socially valued lifestyle.
Engagement in a full range of typical activities is part and parcel of such a lifestyle. Basic requirements for a full life are the opportunities to:
• participate in the full range of activities that everybody else does
• be involved and share interests with other people ... and ...
• develop relationships, skills, and experience.
When a person is not able enough to do typical activities independently, he or she will need support to do them.
Active Support is designed to make sure that people who need support have the chance to be fully involved in their lives and receive the right range and level of support to be successful. Several research studies have shown that it is