Our plan
As a director for a social-service agency serving teens with severe autism, I was very frustrated that behavioral data, presented what I term, "an inaccurate snap-shot" of my teen "clients". The cold "data" neglects the humanity of the kids I work with. In the years Ive spent working with these kids I've realized the most important thing I could do for them was to help them write their own stories. I wanted to have them formatted in the first-person style to help new staff or new acquaintances understand the true personal meanings and functions of their "behaviors". These teens needed a voice to communicate their personal intentions of their behavior to the outside world. I knew I needed to help them bridge the gap their disorder's imposed on communicating with others. I wanted to create a universal and self contained system for each teen to present themselves with honesty and self acceptance to each and every person that would work with, and/or be a part of their lives. I wanted my teen's parents, teachers and therapists to have a clear system of presenting their child /student/client to new doctors, consultants and specialists, so that on days when the parents were just too drained to talk, they could just say, "could you please take five minutes and review this? This is my child." It was also very important to develop this model for the entire team: parents, staff and the many professionals serving the child. I wanted to develop unifying biography to empower a cohesive and progressive treatment team.
What we did
I created the 'If I could tell you' story concept to explain, through the voice and language of the teen, their history, personality, likes, dislikes, what they need from others to work with them, and the unique value they add to the world. The 'If I could tell you' was first presented to the teen's parents for review. After minor editing, and approval, the treatment plan was presented to the service staff, teachers and the teen's extended family and intermittent care-givers as holistic picture of the teen. It also served as powerful orientation and training tool for new direct care staff, so that from the first day, staff could read the teen's story to fully understand, and therefore better serve the teen, foregoing the "trial and error" phase that is too often experienced in social services.
Our results
Most apparent was the visibly relaxed and authentic interchanges between teen and staff. By creating "the story", the teen's needs, wants and dreams were understood by those around them. The teen was brought to the center, and the true purpose of our "work" was revealed. The entire team was united in the understanding of what matters most.. the dreams. The dreams of each person's spirit and how to help them move toward those dreams and away from historical "data" and labels. My dream is to do this for others that have been locked within and assigned labels.
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