The Principle of Normalization In Human Services

The underlying principles inherent in Normalization have lead to such recent developments as the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons brought into being by the International League of Societies for the Mentally Handicapped. This book is the first one to document normalization from its origins in Scandinavian services to the mentally retarded to its implications to the field of human services. The National Institute on Mental Retardation has published this text to support the current growing interest in normalization concepts and fuller integration of the retarded into the community. This concept is currently having a major impact on the pattern of programming in a number of countries. The views expressed in this book do not neces­sarily reflect the Institute\u27s specific strategies, or those of its sponsor, the Canadian Association for the Mentally Retarded. The publication of The principle of normalization in human services, and earlier of Mental retardation • the law • guardianship and Standards for educators of exceptional children in Canada are examples of the Institute\u27s recently established publishing policy to bring to the attention of a wider public new concepts, innovative programs and reports of studies by the Institute itself and by others in the field of the mentally handicapped and in human services generally.https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/wolf_books/1000/thumbnail.jp

The changing of the guard: groupwork with people who have intellectual disabilities

This paper considers the impact of service systems on group activities. It describes an inter-professional groupwork project facilitated by a social worker and a community nurse. The project provided an emancipatory experience for a group of adults who had intellectual disabilities. The group was charged with the task of reviewing and updating the recruitment and interview processes used by a 'Learning Disability Partnership Board', when employing new support workers. The paper begins with a brief history of intellectual disability and provides a context to the underpinning philosophical belief that people should be encouraged and supported to inhabit valued social roles no matter what disability they may have. It then identifies the ways in which the sponsoring health, education and social care services impacted on the creation and development of a groupwork project. It might have been expected that the nature of the intellectual disability would have been the major influence on group process. However the paper reveals that organisational constraints had a significant impact on group functioning. Issues including, staffing budgets and transport contracts impacted on group process and function. The results of the project show how, with adequate support, people with intellectual disability can make important decisions that have long-reaching impacts on the services

Enhancing staff attitudes, knowledge and skills in supporting the self-determination of adults with intellectual disability in residential settings in Hong Kong: A pretest-posttest comparison group design

Background: The ecological perspective recognizes the critical role that is played by rehabilitation personnel in helping people with intellectual disability (ID) to exercise self-determination, particularly in residential settings. In Hong Kong, the authors developed the first staff training programme of its kind to strengthen the competence of personnel in this area. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of staff training in enhancing residential staff's attitudes, knowledge and facilitation skills in assisting residents with ID to exercise self-determination. Methods: A pretest-posttest comparison group design was adopted. Thirty-two participants in an experimental group attended a six-session staff training programme. A 34-item self-constructed scale was designed and used for measuring the effectiveness of the staff training. Results: The results showed that the experimental group achieved statistically significant positive changes in all domains, whereas no significant changes were found in the comparison group. Conclusions: The findings provided initial evidence of the effectiveness of staff training that uses an interactional attitude-knowledge-skills model for Chinese rehabilitation personnel. The factors that contributed to its effectiveness were discussed and recommendations for future research were made. © Journal Compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.postprin

Disability means, um dysfunctioning people: a qualitative analysis of the meaning and experience of disability among adults with intellectual disabilities

Background There has been little qualitative analysis of the experience of stigma, social comparisons and conception of identity among adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). This study aimed to develop an understanding of how adults with intellectual disabilities experience their own disability, and any implications relating to self-esteem, stigma and social interactions. Materials and Methods Fifteen adults with intellectual disabilities were interviewed using semi-structured, open-ended questions regarding disability, social interactions and self-esteem. Interviews were analysed independently by two researchers using interpretive phenomenological analysis. Results Three major themes emerged during analysis, exploring pressure on participants to behave in a socially normative way, tendency to produce personal definitions of disability and consistently limited knowledge of and discomfort around common disability terminology. Conclusions Participants' clearly experienced feelings of difference, despite a lack of articulation. Limited understanding of both terminology and conceptualization of disability status could negatively impact self-esteem, person-centred actions and political movement

2. How I came to formulate the Normalization principle

In this chapter I will talk about the personal, intellectual, educational, and professional experiences that led me to articulate the principle of Normalization. I have previously discussed this topic elsewhere: in the introduction to the book The Normalization Principle Papers (Nirje, 1992) and in the papers The Normalization Principle—25 Years Later (Nirje, 1993) and Basis and Logic of the Normalization Principle (Nirje, 1985). The written version of the Normalization principle consists onl..