ABCs at ABCD Presentation: Jeanne Ashmore welcomed Sara Sherman once again
ABCD’s Jeanne Ashmore welcomed Sara Sherman once again, this time to present Workplace Professionalism. Common Courtesies and Cringeworthy Challenges.
The 63 participants learned the true meaning of professionalism and the rewards of professionalism, how to express empathy without being taken advantage of, effective communication, and the 4 professional personality types.
Professionalism is defined as, “Skill, good judgement, polite behavior expected from a person who is trained to do a job well.” At the end of the day, the agency sets the standard for and must be clear about what constitutes professionalism in the workplace.
“Receiving services is tough work.” The individual is cared for by people who come in and out of their life, with whom they are intimate with their bodies, and fully dependent on. When staff do not act in a professional manner, they create additional stress and pose a potential risk for the individual.
One of the greatest rewards of professionalism is trust – from co-workers and colleagues, supervisors and bosses, families, and the individuals you serve- that they live and work in an environment where they feel safe and happy.
In March, Sara joined us once again to present What is the Meaning of Meaningful? Meaningful, integrated, and community-based services are driven by the 1999 Supreme Court ruling Olmstead v L.C., the most important civil rights decision for people with disabilities in our country’s history. Sara reviewed the definition CMS has of “meaningful,” and from there discussed the differences between maintenance and meaningful. Nursing homes services are for maintenance, “our calling is higher.” One of the first barriers is our language, helping people “go into” the community as if they are not “of” the community and we are not all in this together. A second barrier is the focus of our care system, which is often solely on the system rather than on the individual’s outcomes, their ability to explore and reflect on their life. Sara gave us all a lot to reflect on.
Sara Sherman is a sought-after problem solver in the IDD community. Sara helps providers, governments, and organizations solve their most challenging problems once and for all. With decades of experience in all aspects of the developmental disabilities system, Sara teaches practical, implementable, and repeatable steps that produce measurable and sustainable results to ensure problems stay gone for good.
When not presenting and teaching, Sara can be found working on her next bestseller, hanging out with her grandson, or running her non-profit foundation.
