Pathfinders
Making A Way From Segregation To Community Life
John O’Brien, Connie Lyle O’Brien, Beth Mount & Fredda Rosen
2001
Pathfinders has made a world of difference for my grand-daugh- ter, Shunelle, and for me, too. After the meetings, I feel so
much more informed and enlightened in terms of understand- ing that possibilities exist in our communities for people with disabilities.
I never thought that Shunelle would be able to do the things she’s doing right now. I didn’t know that I could trust myself to allow her to negotiate the world on her own. But in the last few months, Shunelle has begun traveling to work, to therapy, the beauty salon, a favorite Chinese restaurant and my office on her own. She seems happy about her accomplishments and newfound independence. (Jeffery, 1999)
Pathfinders helped us put the emphasis on who Josh is, what
he can do, not what he can’t do, and his own particular loves, interests, values, and strengths. We began seeing him differently and thus with more hope and less despair over what he can’t do… Person-centered planning helped us to focus on creating a community for Josh. I can’t emphasize that enough. As we think about Josh’s future, there’s nothing more important that we can do for him than to help build a community around him because one of our concerns and fears has been his isolation and lack of friends. (Wolf, 2000/2001)
