LiveWorkPlay Building Productive Lives Making A Buzz In The Ottawa Community Serving People With Intellectual Disabilities Since 1995 ON OUR OWN TOGETHER II Interdependence - Independence - Self-Advocacy The Innovative LiveWorkPlay Approach To Long-Term Housing For People With Intellectual Disabilities May 18: Day 11 A lot of neat things happened today. Rachel and Caroline were volunteering with the AIDS Committee of Ottawa. They finished their volunteer committment for this particular opportunity, and they got a very nice card thanking them for their efforts. Then Rachel and Caroline needed to go to two different places. Rachel was nervous to take the bus from a different location to get back to Carleton, but she decided to try it. She knew the right bus, so she got on it. She got off one stop late from her usual stop, but figured out where she was and got back to Leeds without a problem. Today the staff admitted to the participants that they made a serious mistake by naming the concept of Group Management to describe the process of how a group of peers moves around in a social situation. The name is all wrong. Peers don't manage each other. Yesterday Keenan was talking about the difference between ordering and asking, which relates to the difference between a manager or a peer. But this was confusing for participants when they are being told how important Group Management is! The staff talked it over last night and figured out that it's not Group Management at all. The whole idea is about Group Inclusion! This means that when a group of peers has an agreement to move from one place to another, they do it together because it is a matter of honouring that agreement, ensuring basic safety, and promoting social interaction. Julie whizzed around helping out with tracking while Keenan helped sort out problems with three telephones. 100% of the telephones and answering services are working now, thanks to the prompt response from Carleton support services. The soft tacos at dinner were a big hit with most people. It was Moira's birthday on Sunday, and this was the first chance to celebrate. Remembering a tradition that dates back to the end of the Bizzy Tizzy work experience program, Moira stood on a chair for Happy Birthday. Much to her surprise, a large group of nearby diners joined in and added a standing ovation! May is not exactly health month at LWP...with all the birthdays, the bakers have a hard time pumping out enough cakes. After dinner Cooper shared that he was a bit concerned about finding time to do his laundry on Saturday. Keenan mumbled something about "why not do some tonight" and with that Cooper was off. He borrowed some soap from Lucas, and had a full load completed and folded before the hockey game on TV was over! There was a lot going on tonight, in addition to laundry and hockey and cake. Ian and Warren went to South Keys and met up with their worker. The JR2 suite (- Robin) hosted a movie night and were joined by Ryan. Robin was out working - at a movie theatre. Paul, Lucas, and John were the core hockey watchers as Tampa Bay took the lead in the series over Philadelphia. There's a lot more interest in the Calgary game tomorrow night. PICTURES! All done! Volunteering feels good Happy Birthday Anticipation Movie night Hockey night at Carleton