- Insurance Resource Center for Autism & Behavioral Health
- Child and Adolescent NeuroDevelopment Initiative (CANDI)
- Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders (CANDO)
- Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) Program
- Center for Developmental Disabilities Evaluation and Research (CDDER)
- Health Surveillance for Adults with Intellectual Disability
- Oral Health Disparities
- MA DDS Prevention Conference
- Preventive Health Screenings for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities
- Mortality Review
- Quality Assurance Reports
- Webinars
- Pica
- Constipation and Bowel Obstructions
- Substance Abuse in the Workplace
- Dysphagia, Aspiration, and Choking
- Oral Health Practices
- DDS Safe Transportation of People in Wheelchairs
- Falls Prevention and Intervention Strategies
- Human Rights Training for Self-Advocates
- Human Rights: What Families Need to Know
- Identifying, Healing, and Preventing Pressure Ulcers
- MAP Training Resources
- Adjunct RIA Training Materials
- Clozapine Therapy Training
- DDS MAP Training Resources
- DMH/DCF MAP Training Resources
- Instructions for Virtual Certification Testing
- MAP Curriculum and Adjunct Training Materials
- MedSoft© Version 7.0
- Responsibilities in Action Curriculum and Training Materials
- Semiannual MAP Trainer Webinar Fall 2017
- Semiannual MAP Trainer Webinar Fall 2019
- Semiannual MAP Trainer Webinar Spring 2018
- Spring 2020 MAP Trainer Webinar
- TestMaster Universe
- Warfarin Sodium Therapy Training
- Mandated Reporting of Abuse and Mistreatment
- Recognizing and Reporting Financial Abuse
- Widening the Circle: Expanding Opportunities for Friendship
- Risk Management in Developmental Disabilities
- Understanding and recognizing dementia in IDD
- Aging with Intellectual and Developmental Disability Trainings
- Adapting to Age-Related Changes in the Home, Day Program, and Community
- Aging and Disability Resource Consortia
- General Aging
- Dementia and IDD
- Launching a Memory Café
- Life Sustaining Treatment Policy
- Guardianship and Aging in Intellectual Disabilities Part I
- Guardianship and Aging in Intellectual Disabilities Case Studies Part II
- Massachusetts Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (MOLST)
- End of Life Definitions
- Five Wishes
- Fostering Social Inclusion and Community Engagement
- Presentations & Publications
- Our Team
- Division of Neuroinformatics
- Healthy People/Healthy Communities
- INDEX
- Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND)
- Neurobehavioral Science and Neurogenetics
- Pathways to Inclusive Health Care Program
- Sibling Support
- Laboratory for Equity in Autism Dissemination (LEAD) Lab
Fostering Social Inclusion and Community Engagement
Overview
The Department of Developmental Services (DDS) has undertaken a series of efforts to encourage friendships and community inclusion among the people they support. Regulations, policies and practices may be obstacles to promoting social integration and the kind of relationships that DDS would hope to see as a part of people’s everyday lives. Better understanding of people’s experiences with making friends, having relationships, being involved in the community, identifying what is working well, and what may get in the way, is paramount to crafting a social inclusion policy.
Focus Groups
CDDER investigated, through a series of focus groups and interviews, the barriers to and successes of social inclusion policies and practices in the community. Focus groups and interviews held across the state included self advocates, families, direct support professionals, group home managers, participants in Creating our Common Wealth, DDS service coordinators, DDS Human Rights Staff, DDS Quality management staff, and DDS area directors. Results and recommendations for improving a person’s involvement with their friends and neighbors are included in the white paper.
Reports
White Paper overview of findings and recommendations (PDF)
White Paper Plain Language Executive Summary (PDF)
DDS Social Inclusion Position Paper (PDF)
DDS Social Inclusion Position Paper Plain Language Summary (PDF)
Bulletins to Address Perceived Barriers to Social Inclusion
In an effort to promote integration and inclusion in community activities, individuals with I/DD should be encouraged and supported to be involved in a variety of activities in the community. During the focus groups concern was raised on a series of barriers that may interfere with community outings and natural interactions. Some of these include: when, and for whom, is a background check needed, the necessity of administering medications at a certain time, how social inclusion will be measured in the licensure and certification process, and how to use the Individual Service Plan (ISP) to improve inclusion. The following bulletins were written to address these perceived barriers.
Criminal Background Checks – When and For whom are they Required? (PDF)
Administering Medications – Options for Facilitating Social Inclusion (PDF)
Licensure and Certification Process- How it Supports Social Inclusion Initiative (PDF)
How to use the ISP to Promote Social Inclusion and Friendships (PDF)
Webinars
In this informative webinar series, Tom Doody offers his expertise and experience from thirty years of involvement as a North Quabbin Citizen Advocacy match maker, helping facilitate friendships between people with disabilities and members of the community. The series also features people who are friends candidly describing the impact Citizen Advocacy has on them.
Strategies for Connecting People With & Without Disabilities
Being together at the same time and in the same place with others who share your interests is not a guarantee that friendships will blossom. But this connection is an essential ingredient! There are many possible ways for people to connect (or re-connect) with each other. This document outlines some of the ways you may be able to use in your professional (and personal) lives to help people with and without disabilities benefit from getting to know each other.
Four Stories
These vignettes present examples of social inclusion and community involvement for a person with an intellectual or developmental disability. These real-life stories offer a reflection on social inclusion, lessons learned, and unique ways of involving a person with a disability into the community.