The primary goal of services at TLS is to assist the person to live and function as independently and interdependently as possible in the community. This is accomplished by assisting the individual to develop a comprehensive network of natural supports and program services selected by that individual
Every person has the right to expect services which have been designed according to his/her values, goals and needs.
All persons should be supported as they pursue their rights and attempt to meet their responsibilities in life, thus enhancing their understanding and appreciation of a fulfilling life in the community.
People will contribute the most of their own growth and to the community when they spend their time in activities which complement and enhance their skills, strengths, interests, goals and options.
TLS staff help to create situations where people can grow through a genuine experience of caring for others and being cared about as unique individuals. These relationships are most life-enhancing when they are natural - that is, unpaid, long-term and selected by the person.
People experience the most personal growth when they feel listened to, understood and supported by those around them.
An important way to ensure the likelihood of a person's growth is to support relationships the individual has identified as valuable. TLS staff will base their support on respect and cooperation between the person and his/her supportive networks which may include family and friends.
Each person served is assumed to be an able person, capable of making decisions and taking risks. Through the risk-taking process, persons discover their own capabilities, values, needs and roles in the community. Supports provided should help persons to both broaden their range of options and also to evaluate the risks and consequences of various choices.
Service supports are best provided in an atmosphere of mutual trust. Persons served value themselves fully when they view themselves as able to provide for, as well as receive from, chosen others. Service supports should be directed to the goal of integration of the person in a community of other chosen by the person.
1. Normalization (a.k.a. "Social Role Valorization")
TLS accepts the principle of normalization as a basic service guideline. We would understand normalization as "making available to our program participants patterns and conditions of everyday life which are as closely as possible to the ethical and cultural norms of the mainstream of society." This would imply that the means as well as the goals would be "culturally valued" as possible.
In applying the normalization principle, we do not assume that all persons with disabilities can become "normal." Rather, "normalization" leads us to strive "to make their life conditions as normal as possible, respecting the degrees and complications of their handicap, the training received and needed, and the social competence and maturity acquired and attainable."
2. Integration: Physical and Social
Integration means to "combine into a whole," "make complete." Integration, that is "to combine into" society, is probably the most important guideline for service development which relates directly to the principle of normalization. Integration means:
- being a part of things
- not being excluded
- living where other people live
- living as other people live
- not being labeled unnecessarily
Integration is the opposite of segregation and isolation. It is the opposite of depersonalization and rejection.
Through careful planning it is possible to integrate persons with disabilities into society both physically and socially by providing opportunities:
- to have the same wide variety of life experiences as the majority of people
- to have easy and frequent to highly valued peer models
- to have continuous exposure to normal expectations and demands
- to experience a sense of autonomy, and the joy and pain of personal choice
- to meet many people and to form friendships
- to appear normal and to feel normal among other people
- to avoid segregation and isolation
- to make a contribution to society
These are some of the benefits which tend to flow naturally to persons with disabilities when they are integrated into society and are able to participate in the life of a community.
3. Growth Orientation
TLS believes that each program is best designed when it maximizes the opportunity for the program participants' personal growth and development.
While a given individual may not move rapidly or at all to a higher level/degree of independent living, each program functions best when it assumes the potential of such movement.
Personal growth is best achieved by encouraging the fullest possible involvement of participants in the design and operation of a proactive program which stresses staff modeling as well as teaching.
4. Individualization
TLS believes that growth is incremental and effective programming must be designed to fit a person at a particular stage of development/motivation. Thus, any program approach must be flexible enough to adapt to the patterns of growth found in that individual.
5. Respect for Rights
The basic right of confidentiality, personal privacy, and humane treatment should be the accepted norm. Program participants should be made aware of their rights according to that individual's capacity at a given point in time.
6. Consumer/Family Involvement
TLS believes that there is an essential connection between consumer/family involvement and program quality. Consumers and their families should, therefore, play a significant role in TLS policy development and program design.
