3. Once obvious problems have been resolved, support team can move on to explore expanding individual’s quality of life. Is person satisfied with his or her living arrangement (who & where)? Does person like his or her job? Is person making enough income to support lifestyle he or she wants? Does person have hobbies or recreational activities to enjoy during free time? Are there any new skills (leisure or work related) that person would like to learn? Does person have satisfying relationships with friends & family? Are there any long term goals person would like to start working towards? As issues are discovered they will fall into 2 categories: short term easily addressed issues & long term goals that will take several steps to reach. If Joe has an interest in music & would like to buy latest compact disc by his favorite group – that’s a short-term issue. It is easily resolved as long as he has money to purchase CD & a CD player to play it on when he gets home. Your role may simply be to supply transportation to a local store or shopping mall. If, on other hand, Joe wants to go to backpacking in mountains on his next vacation – that’s a long-term goal. Your role will probably be to help Joe in a number of steps to get ready for his trip (saving money needed, learning skills needed to backpack in mountains, finding a reliable tour group or hiking partners, building stamina to vacation outdoors, etc. etc.). Our role is not say, “no problem – whatever you want”. Our role is to say, “that’s a great dream – here’s how we get there from here!”

Copyright 2000 Lisa Simmons