I attended the first (hopefully annual) Self-Direction Conference in MA in October. The Department of Developmental Services sponsored this conference. It provided a full day of workshops, resources, and a chance to meet fellow parents, guardians, and participants utilizing self-direction in Massachusetts.
How I felt going into the conference:
Going into the conference, my main goal was to network with other families utilizing self-directed services. In the town that I live in, there are 3 of us who are presently utilizing self-direction, but in different ways, which is great because that is the hallmark of self-direction….it should be individualized to the participant! I was hoping to meet other families ahead of us in this journey to gain insights into what we should (or should not) be doing to make this program as successful as possible for L. I was also looking forward to the sessions.
The day of:
The day started with a light breakfast (thank you, coffee!) and a keynote presentation by Patti Scott from New Jersey. Her presentation focused on the organization she created, Neighbours Inc, described in the session handout as “an innovative agency that affords people with disabilities the opportunity to take control of, and direct, their own lives and the resources that support them.” It was interesting to hear about how she came to work in the adult services field and how she has continued to grow and promote independence and purpose for her clients. Her primary message was the organization’s guiding principle that life is about discovering your people, place, and purpose. If one is missing or lacking, it will significantly impact your life. She gave some real-life client examples of how, using these principles, her clients went on to lead meaningful lives.
After the keynote, there were morning and afternoon workshop sessions. They offered five sessions in the morning and five sessions in the afternoon, and you had to pre-register for them. I had signed up for “Self-Direction Stories” and “Aging Caregivers and Future Planning.” Overall, they were engaging sessions, and in upcoming posts, I will break down those sessions in detail.
Lunch between the two sessions allowed you an hour and a half to talk to other participants and explore the resource tables. It was open seating, and I was at a table with people at various levels of SD in terms of number of years (one couple had an adult child, and they had been in SD for 10 years) to another parent whose child was aging out next year and wanted to learn more about SD). It was nice to have some time to talk about each of our journeys, and again, each one was so different that it was good to hear how SD was working for their individual to give them their best life.
The resource fair was OK because most agencies were geographically far from us, so they did not service my area. It was still informative to hear about different agencies and what they are doing and to put a plug-in if they are ever thinking of expanding to our county 😉
After the conference/suggestions:
The conference cap was 250 people, and there was a waitlist of those who wanted to attend. I was disappointed when walking by the table during lunch to see about 50 name tags not picked up. I understand that stuff happens the morning of, and your entire day can go awry, but I felt bad for people who wanted to attend but did not get the opportunity because there was no space.
While the sessions were pre-registered, it wasn’t easy if you wanted to see more than 1. Because the conference was free to participants, I assume the budget was tight regarding recording those sessions and having them available to participants to view afterward. In the past, The Arc of MA and The Federation for Children with Special Needs have offered virtual access to conferences, allowing me to watch the sessions on demand for a set number of days afterward. There is a cost to attend these sessions, but based on past attendance to these paid conferences, there is a subset of people who are willing to pay to attend and have access to all of the sessions.
Another suggestion is that during the lunch break, it would be beneficial to have some time set aside so that you could meet people from your geographic area in breakout areas (maybe during dessert time). We all had name tags, but they only said your name, not your town, so finding people in your county was hard. It would have been nice to meet others close by so that if we wanted to continue conversations or even set up outings with our individuals if there was a match, that option would have been there.
Overall, I enjoyed the conference. I am glad I attended, and I look forward to it being made an annual event.
-Cheryl
#Life Without a Filter 