Our Mission
NEW! LiveWorkPlay Guiding Statements
Adopted by Members at the LiveWorkPlay Annual General Meeting 2011
September 23, 2011 - Ottawa, Canada
VISION: A COMMUNITY WHERE EVERYONE BELONGS
MISSION: HELPING OUR COMMUNITY WELCOME PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES TO LIVE, WORK, AND PLAY AS VALUED CITIZENS.
VALUES
CORE: PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES ARE VALUABLE CONTRIBUTORS TO THE DIVERSITY OF OUR COMMUNITY AND TO THE HUMAN FAMILY.
LIVE: WITH RESPECT TO HOMES, HEALTH CARE, EDUCATION, PERSONAL DIGNITY, AND PERSONAL PRIVACY, PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES HAVE THE RIGHT TO THE REMOVAL OF BARRIERS PREVENTING THEM FROM EXPERIENCING THE COMMUNITY ON AN EQUAL BAISIS WITH OTHER CITIZENS.
WORK: WITH RESPECT TO PAID WORK AT MINIMUM WAGE OR BETTER, SHORT-TERM UNPAID WORK, AND VOLUNTEER POSITIONS, PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES HAVE THE RIGHT TO THE REMOVAL OF BARRIERS PREVENTING THEM FROM EXPERIENCING THE COMMUNITY ON AN EQUAL BASIS WITH OTHER CITIZENS.
PLAY: WITH RESPECT TO CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL LIFE, SPORTS AND RECREATION, POLITICAL LIFE, AND THE FULL RANGE OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS, PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES HAVE THE RIGHT TO THE REMOVAL OF BARRIERS PREVENTING THEM FROM EXPERIENCING THE COMMUNITY ON AN EQUAL BASIS WITH OTHER CITIZENS.
(The mission statement below has been replaced, but the information remains as a part of our history)
People with intellectual disabilities will progress as self-advocates and contributing citizens while the organization ensures a high level of financial and moral accountability, transparency, and efficiency. (LiveWorkPlay Mission, Adopted 2005)
The mission statement above was developed by the Board of Directors and Executive Staff of LiveWorkPlay as part of a Policy Governance process conducted in 2004-2005. It was formally approved by the LiveWorkPlay membership via confidential ballot at the Annual General Meeting in September 2005. Members voted 95% in favour of approving the proposed mission statement.
The mission was created in consideration of the principles of the John Carver Policy Governance model, adopted by the LiveWorkPlay membership at the Annual General Meeting in September 2004. In developing the mission statement, the Board and Executive Staff considered mission statements from other organizations, discussed the past, present, and future of the LiveWorkPlay organization, and reviewed feedback from various constituents of the LiveWorkPlay community, including program participants, parents of program participants, volunteers, and community partners.
As is consistent with the Carver model, the LiveWorkPlay mission speaks to the organization's intended outcomes (ends) rather than the method (means) used to achieve those outcomes. The means employed to achieve the ends may change frequently, whereas the ends will always be the key measuring stick by which the organization's progress may be evaluated.
The LiveWorkPlay Mission
People with intellectual disabilities will progress as self-advocates and contributing citizens while the organization ensures a high level of financial and moral accountability, transparency, and efficiency.
DEFINITIONS
Individuals who are 13 years of age and older, and reside in the Ottawa area community.
People with intellectual disabilities have unique needs with regard to information processing. The disability may affect learning, memory, problem solving, planning and other cognitive tasks. The four main cognitive areas that pose the greatest challenge to people with intellectual disabilities are abstraction, sequencing, reading social contexts, and reading the emotional states of others.
Individuals with intellectual disabilities vary widely in their abilities, and definitions of intellectual disability also differ. Most definitions are in general agreement that a person has an intellectual disability if there are limitations affecting several areas of cognitive function to a degree that interferes with the demands of daily life.
Intellectual disability can be further categorized into mild, moderate, severe and profound. LiveWorkPlay supports people with mild intellectual disabilities. A person is considered to have a mild intellectual disability if intellectual functioning is 2 to 3 standard deviations below the norm on an individually administered psycho-educational assessment of intellectual functioning. The mild intellectual disability label correlates to an IQ range of about 55 up to about 70-75.
Approximately 1% to 2% of Canadians have been given a diagnosis of intellectual disability. Of these, about 90% have mild disabilities. The disability may be congenital (the individual is born with it) or it may be acquired, through accident or disease. Some people associate intellectual disability with specific causation (such as Down Syndrome, Prader-Willi, or Fragile X) but more commonly (in 50% or more of all cases) the cause is unknown (often described as a "generalized intellectual disability").
Intellectual disabilities cut across the lines of racial, ethnic, educational, social, and economic backgrounds, but many adults with intellectual disabilities live in poverty as a result of limited incomes.
Several terms have been commonly used to refer to intellectual disability, including cognitive impairment, developmental disability, mental challenge, mental handicap, mental retardation, and more. In the United Kingdom, the term learning disability typically refers to intellectual disability, but in North America, the term is used differently, and refers to populations with very distinct needs. As defined by the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada, learning disabilities occur only in individuals who otherwise demonstrate at least average abilities essential for thinking and/or reasoning. As such, learning disabilities (as the term is used in Canada) is totally distinct from intellectual disability.
The term developmental disability is sometimes used interchangeably with intellectual disability. The term is being replaced in most jurisdictions by intellectual disability, because the word developmental can lead to confusion about the nature of the disability and its lifelong effects.
People with intellectual disabilities may have other disabilities, and this is not uncommon. For example, epilepsy and cerebral palsy occur approximately 8 times as frequently among people with severe intellectual disabilities as they do in the general population. Impaired vision and hearing are also more common among people with intellectual disabilities. Mental health issues are also common, and this is known as a "dual diagnosis" scenario.
Although severe intellectual disabilities can result in patterns of behaviour and communication that are noticeably atypical to the general public, mild intellectual disabilities often go unnoticed in most situations, causing confusion and even conflict. Unlike many other types of disability populations, there is no well-developed intellectual disability pride movement, and most people with intellectual disabilities are not well equipped for explaining their disability to others and advocating for their own needs.
An individualized goals-oriented process measures success through observable changes in skills and abilities.
Self-Advocate:
People who communicate and direct resources on their own behalf.
A person who: participates in the electoral process, engages in meaningful occupation, helps other people, and advocates for themselves and others.
Above-average.
Accountability:
Acting responsively, responsibly, and respectfully.
Transparency:
Being open and clear about what we do, why we do it, and how we do it.
Pursuing appropriate results while minimizing waste of time, effort, resources, and skill.