LiveWorkPlay For People With Intellectual Disabilities Making A Buzz In The Ottawa Community We've Been Growing Together Since 1995 ON OUR OWN TOGETHER II Interdependence - Independence - Self-Advocacy The Innovative LiveWorkPlay Approach To Long-Term Housing For People With Intellectual Disabilities June 14: Day 38 Not surprsingly, a lot of people were really tired late Sunday and it made for a difficult night, but discussions about that on Monday were really positive. A few different sets of individuals who were having communication problems sat down with each other and worked it out. The whole group met at 3:00 and admitted that it's really hard to figure out when to try and help someone and when to support the person to call staff because it's not a problem that a peer can help with. Talking it through, the group decided to simplify things and take the pressure off. For the last two weeks the problem-solving steps are really simple. You try to solve it yourself, and if that doesn't work, you call a staff member. The staff can then help you figure out if it is something that a peer can help with, and figure out a plan. Everyone seemed to react as though they were relieved. They are all just trying really hard to be successful, and it seems that some people have just taken on too much responsibility for others when they need to put more focus on their own needs. It's all part of the learning process, and the exciting thing is that the group was able to identify the problem and work out a plan. Whether this was the reason or not, Monday turned into a fantastic day. After dinner Ryan asked if anyone wanted to go shopping at South Keys and Robin, Jen, and Ian went with him and they had a great time. Robin picked up the new Shrek CD which is definitely going to be a popular addition to the OOOT2 music library! Two different groups went for walks down by the Rideau at two different times. It was a beautiful night for watching the rapids and talking. Julie went along with the walking groups and Fran was in the lounge working on survey data for OC Transpo getting information from participants as they trickled in and out. Caroline and Moira got set up in the lounge to work on some puzzles, and Laura, Paul, John and others were popping in and out all night to watch TV or just to hang out. But maybe another reason everyone was feeling so positive is that Caroline spent the night in her room in her suite with Moira and Laura. Caroline has not been feeling well so hasn't been staying overnight for a while, but she had a good weekend and decided to stay Monday night. The group was so excited about this Caroline must have felt like a million bucks! PICTURES! Just picture a big happy face!