They have real problems focusing on one person at a time. For lifestyle planning to be really effective, we need more and better trained staff. On the other hand, we can nurture solutions from the community itself. One young man with rubella syndrome was introduced to the local Ramblers Association and developed a real relationship with one of the members. Now they go out walking twice a month.
Disabled people can thrive out there in the community, given the right circumstances.
It doesn't have to be paid support. Barbara acknowledges that some members of our community need help to welcome disabled people. It's really important for disability organisations to work on community attitudes through campaigns and direct support. For instance, we found the staff in a particular leisure centre felt uncomfortable with a group of multi-sensory impaired people until they were given basic communication skills such as finger spelling. Making the community more accessible to disabled people means helping ordinary people to feel less inhibited about relating to them.