Mission Creep

The common use of the term “Mission Creep” is “the tendency for a task, especially a military operation, to become unintentionally wider in scope than its initial objectives.”

But today I am using the term in a different way. I mentioned awhile back that I was undertaking a mission to update Imagine!’s mission and values. As part of this process, I have been informally interviewing employees at Imagine! to get their sense of why we are here and what is important about what we do. Armed with that knowledge, I have been doing a great deal of contemplation on the subject, and I think I am slowly creeping toward a new mission for Imagine!.

Here’s my journey so far. Looking back historically at Imagine!, those of us providing direct support to individuals with developmental disabilities looked at ourselves as teachers – trying to teach the people we serve skills and techniques that would allow them to navigate, and engage in, their communities. So, we might try to “teach” somebody we serve to do something using a variety of reinforcement techniques. We would judge our success on whether or not we could get the individual to achieve success at whatever task we were trying to teach. Success or failure depended on the individual.

That approach has some merit, but by itself is inadequate. I have seen over the years an evolution of our approach to a system that, instead of measuring the individual’s ability to complete or not complete a task, measures the level of intervention required to complete a task. The client isn’t judged as being “right” or “wrong” depending on whether or not they can master the task we request of them, instead, we are measuring how much assistance needs to be provided by the care worker in order to make the task successful.

This approach means that rather than just focusing on the individual receiving services and what that person can or can’t do, we are also focusing on environmental issues – what needs to be changed in the individual’s environment in order to allow the individuals being served to be successful.

This may seem like a simple distinction, but I happen to believe there is a profound difference between the two. At Imagine!, and I think in the field of intellectual disabilities overall, a dramatic shift has taken place, to where providers are focusing on creating a world that is navigable for people with disabilities.

You’ll notice I didn’t use the word “adapt.” I don’t think that word is quite appropriate. Instead, I think that the provider community is most successful when they are able to facilitate successful community interaction among those we serve.

I have a great example of this philosophy in action. If you haven’t seen it, check out this story that ran in last Sunday’s Daily Camera. The story is about Gerald, an individual we serve who lives in one of Imagine!’s SmartHomes.

A quick synopsis: Gerald began receiving services from Imagine! about 10 years ago. Gerald is unable to communicate verbally and has some severe physical disabilities which means he has to use a wheelchair for mobility.

When he first came to Imagine!, we were told not to expect much from Gerald, as his disabilities were such that he really couldn’t participate in the community.

Gerald quickly proved those reports wrong. Given the opportunity, Gerald has demonstrated time and again that he was willing to accept challenges and go beyond what others expected of him. Over the past few years Gerald has used an assistive communication device called a DynaVox to improve his ability to communicate his needs and desires. He has also used the device to begin to learn how to read, write, and do arithmetic – all while in his 40s!

The good folks at Twisted Pine Brewery in Boulder demonstrated their commitment to providing employment to those with significant needs by carving out a special position for Gerald.

Twisted Pine has been collaborating with Gerald, Imagine!, and the staff members at the SmartHome to create some tasks that Gerald can perform at Twisted Pine using his DynaVox, including assisting with inventory.

Think about that – someone who couldn’t count to ten a few short years ago is now doing inventory work for his employer!

Now, the majority of credit for Gerald’s success goes to Gerald himself. He has worked unbelievably hard over the past few years to get to where he is. At Imagine!, our contribution to his success lies in the fact that instead of just trying to teach him, we have also made significant changes to his environment that have put him in a position to be successful.

Just two examples of environmental accommodations that facilitated Gerald’s success: his DynaVox helping him do the inventory work, and the adaptations Twisted Pine made to provide wheelchair access to their coolers and work spaces meant that Gerald could be placed (literally) in a position to achieve.

So as I move closer to a new mission for Imagine!, I am looking at Gerald’s success as an example of our true mission in action, and I am really trying to focus on the community facilitation aspect of what we do. I hope to create a mission that provides a more accurate purpose statement for Imagine! that can act as the foundation for all of our work.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Then again, what do I know?