Authors Archive

Alfred Fitzpatrick

Dr. James Morrison O.C.

Tim Vogt

Micah Fialka-Feldman

Lynn Albee

Gillian Grable

Lucinda Hage

Jan Burke-Gaffney

Kathryn Kehrer

Laura DeThorne

Naty Tremblay

Judith McGill

Yeiter

Yeiter spent 50 years learning from ‘magnificent human beings’ — especially those who challenged systems of care with ‘behaviour type labels’. They were his instructors — and his friends. “To find out, you gotta look in.” Yeiter invites us to look inward in our search for ways to help people who engage in “difficult” behaviors. […]

Jack Yates

Jack Yates has been teaching and advocating for person centered planning approaches since before the term was invented. he created Individual Design Sessions – one of the parents of person centered work. He is a teacher and consultant in and for a wide variety of human service agencies and projects. He is also an associate of […]

Jason Hardy

Arthur Lyons

David Moreau

David Moreau lives in Wayne, Maine with his wife, son and daughter. He works in Lewiston with adults who are developmentally disabled. For years now he has considered sex, death, and baseball to be the three greatest subjects worthy of poetry. David’s second chapbook, You Can Still Go To Hell…and Other Truths About Being A […]

Nick Marsh

Nick is an International Facilitator in Strategic Foresight, Strategic Planning, Entrepreneurship and Organisation Innovation. His focus is on exploring the effects of disruptive technology on business models He specialises in facilitating Strategic planing Workshops for Boards of Directors and Executive Teams. He has published three books on Business Success and is a sought after conference […]

Stephen Coulson

Steve Coulson, Thistle Coach and co-creator of the Thistle Approach to working with people. Steve’s 40 year career is testament to his passion for inclusion and citizenship, challenging social injustice and inequality and recognising the potential of all. He has worked with looked-after young people in residential settings, as well as disabled people and their […]

Michael Tam

I was born in 1988. I had a severe traumatic head injury when I was 13 months, and was in hospital for months and rehab for years. My injury affects my motor skills, vision, learning, understanding and memory. Learning wasn’t easy, in particular reading, writing and comprehension. I was in special ed throughout my school […]

Barbara J. McKenzie

Clarita Berg

David Wetherow

David and Faye have long been involved in innovative service development, training, management consultation and facilitation in the field of community living.As independent facilitators and consultants, we conduct planning, training and design sessions for government and community agencies, schools, parent associations and self-advocacy groups. Dave is the creator and facilitator for the Star Rafts Project […]

Nicole Schabus

Peter McFarlane

Emma Van der Klift

Norman Kunc

Although Norman Kunc and Emma Van der Klift are well known speakers and advocates within the disability rights community, they prefer to think of themselves as modern day storytellers, continuing the long held tradition of using humour and narrative to initiate self-reflection and social change. Norman and Emma travel extensively throughout North America and abroad […]

Gill Goodwin

Jo Kennedy

Martin Routledge

Jackie Kilbane

Helen Sanderson

We believe in a future where everyone is valued and appreciated as an individual. A world where we all get the support we need to thrive, in our communities, our workplaces and our personal lives. We’re an experienced international team, working collaboratively to embed person-centred practices in the heart of teams and organisations. As a […]

Pete Richie

Director of Nourish Scotland, and organic farmer Pete Ritchie runs a small organic upland farm at Whitmuir in the Scottish Borders and is also director of Nourish Scotland, a non-profit organisation working for a fairer and more sustainable food system in Scotland. Before entering the world of food, he was an advocate for equality and […]

Tony McGilvary

Stan Woronko

George Ducharme

George Ducharme Ducharme Receives Distinguished Alumnae/i Award At Saint Joseph College West Hartford, Conn. – George G. Ducharme, Ph.D., has been selected to receive the Sister Fay O’Brien Award from Saint Joseph College, where he earned a master’s degree in Special Education in 1969. The award is given to outstanding graduates of the School of […]

Pat Beeman

Joel Hollands

Marijo McBride

Terri Vandercook

Micheline Mason

Regina Louise DeMarasse

Fr. Patrick Mackan

Caroline Fei-Yeng Kwok

With years of both positive and negative care experiences in the mental health system, author Caroline Fei-Yeng Kwok writes honestly and provocatively about what recovery-oriented care truly looks like. Often touted as a living example of recovery, Caroline Fei-Yeng Kwok has come a long way in the more than three decades since she was diagnosed […]

Nicola Schaefer

Mary Birdsell

Vera Lynne Stroup-Rentier

Jo Meserve Mach

Michael Clarke

Michael Clarke details his life experience and struggles with moral trauma, PTSD and his experience with youth Ministry. He looks at the words from Psalm 25 and examines his journey during his life to find answers. Michael was born in Windsor Ontario and raised in Brampton from age 10. He graduated from the California Centre […]

Gail Jacobs

Carol Blessing

Carol Blessing, MSW is a Senior Extension Associate with the K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Institute on Employment and Disability. Since joining the faculty in 2000, Carol has been responsible for leading system’s impact projects aimed at supporting the full inclusion of people with disabilities in typical community life. Throughout her career she […]

George Braddock

Carmen Maria Priante Breton

Richard Rosenberg

Marsha Forest was a relentless life long advocate for Inclusion. Originally from NYC, she was trained as a teacher of the deaf – including sitting on their hands to prevent using sign language. True to form, Marsha rejected that approach and spent her life teaching and supporting families to explore any and all forms of communication. […]

Sandy Van Eck

Micah Fialka Feldman

Through the Same Door – the video Micah Fialka Feldman – 1995 – Thesbian

Henry Moore, co-author of ABCD publications City-Sponsored Community Building: Savannah’s Grants for Blocks Story and Leading by Stepping Back: A Guide For City Officials on Building Neighborhood Capacity, developed and implemented nationally recognized ABCD neighborhood initiatives as assistant city manager of Savannah, Georgia. Henry Moore passed away on February 2nd and was buried in his […]

Karin is a prairie author and a brilliant writer. Two books are well worth your investment: Flourish – the story pretty much of living and thriving with her brother, and a brand new Novel: Small Reckonings – a sensitive and profound exploration of a family story (based on a real story) who struggle with life, […]

Hanns Meissner has emerged from years of ‘formation’ at The Arc of Rensselaer County in Eastern New York State with lessons learned from a journey of individualizing supports. His agency’s story is one of relentless commitment of creating enough blue space for innovative ways to support and partner with individuals with developmental disabilities to form […]

Heather is a brilliant written, presenter and a crisp clear thinker. She is co-author of the Bog Plan – a book that describes a process of doing ‘planning’ with groups – over time. It builds on the work of Connie Lyle O’Brien and Beth Mount – but with a Scottish lilt. Heather also consolidated/created a […]

Cormac is a social explorer, an author and a much sought after speaker. He is Managing Director of Nurture Development and a faculty member of the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute, at DePaul University, Chicago. Over the last 25 years, Cormac’s work has demonstrated an enduring impact in 35 countries around the world. He has […]

John McKnight was emeritus professor of education and social policy and co-director of the Asset-Based Community Development Institute (ABCD) at DePaul University. He is the coauthor of Building Communities from the Inside Out and the author of The Careless Society. He was a community organizer and served on the boards of several national organizations that […]

Al Etmanski is a community organizer, social entrepreneur and author. He is a founding partner of Social Innovation Generation (SiG) and BC Partners for Social Impact. As co-founder of Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network (PLAN) he proposed and led the campaign to establish the world’s only disability savings plan – the RDSP. Al is an Ashoka […]

Janice Fialka is a brilliant writer. Micah Fialka-Feldman is her son. He is a teaching assistant at Syracuse University and one of the most charming people you will ever encounter. This remarkable story, draws on the reflections from family and friends – and walks us through the journey to this remarkable current reality. But the […]

Peter Marks, Founder and director of A Centre for Conscious Care Class trainer for more than 2000 graduates of CCS; University of Toronto, School of Social Work Con.Ed. Faculty member; Over 35 years of Human & Health Services’ organization & leadership development to facilitate effective, conscious and compassionate care and support; Co-founder and former chair […]

Patti Scott,C.E.O. Patti has worked for people with disabilities for more than 30 years. In 1995, she co-founded Neighbours, Inc., an innovative non-profit organization created specifically to support people with disabilities and their families in choosing and designing a life for themselves within their local towns and neighborhoods.Patti is internationally recognized for her cutting edge leadership […]

David Hasbury is an organizational and community development consultant, educator, and facilitator. For more than 30 years he has been committed to engaging the power of CoCreation — people gathering together to creatively shape the world around them. He has worked throughout Canada, the United States, UK, and Asia. Among his methods of education and […]

Mike Green offers ABCD training and consultation to organizations to engage their local communities as partners for collective action. He teaches and consults throughout North America and in New Zealand and Australia. Mike’s focus is the practical implementation of ABCD principles. He was the training director of the ABCD Institute’s Neighborhood Circle for four years. […]

Beth Gallagher

Mountain native Justin Page unlocks the power of voice recognition with newest U-CAN Dictionary NEWS Jul 06, 2016 by Mike Pearson Easton, left, and Griffin Corner met U-CAN Dictionary author Justin Page at the June 25 book lanch at Indigo Stoney Creek. – Photo by Mike Pearson He’s written books to help non-readers overcome illiteracy. […]

Connie Lyle O’Brien and her husband and partner, John O’Brien have been in the forefront of thinking and creating precedent setting innovations that helped to created full lives for people with disability labels the world over. In addition to developing many of the planning systems used internationally, training thousands of facilitators and human service workers, […]

Great Questions: Writings of Judith Snow.cover

JUDITH SNOW October 29, 1949 – May 31, 2015 The colours of Judith Snow were vibrant, flagrant, unabashedly in the forefront of the forefront: a social inventor, a trailblazer, a relentless advocate for inclusion. She championed communities that welcome diversity, including all persons with disabilities, especially people who do not speak in voice, as full […]

Lynda Kahn served as the state of Rhode Island’s Executive Director of the Division of Developmental Disabilities from 1996 to 2005, serving in the public sector for 24 years. Her work included assisting in the closure of the state’s institution, The Ladd Center in 1993, collaborating on an individualized funding and budgeting approach for persons served by Rhode Island’s […]

A selection of writing by Dr. Gerv Leyden Gerv Leyden – writing and videos