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Course: The Role of Personal Assistants in Disability Support
Signposting to extra material
While we have found these websites helpful in preparing this course, we cannot take responsibility for accuracy of information on external websites, and advise individuals to check their legal rights …
Conclusion
Personal assistance is empowering and flexible and different from other forms of care. But we hope we have shown that it still involves human relationships, emotions, values and all the …
How do you resolve conflict?
Here are some approaches: i) Clear communication and willingness to listen. ‘Non-violent communication’ ii) Forum for safe conflict – regular meetings in which problems may be discussed without these issues …
Know the difference between assertiveness, passivity and aggression
Being assertive means standing up for your rights, and expressing your thoughts and feelings in a calm and honest way – while respecting other people’s thoughts and feelings. Assertive people …
Conflict strategies: What are you like?
Different people use different strategies for managing conflicts. These strategies are learned. Usually in childhood, and seem to function automatically. Usually we are not aware at the time of how …
What to do when conflict erupts
Despite our best efforts, conflict can develop in any relationship, particularly where communication has not been attended to. The significance of conflict varies. Low-level dissatisfaction over practical issues Wounded relationships …
Recommendations for avoiding ‘practical’ sources of conflict
Healthy conflict is not bad. People will always have different perspectives and disagree about things. Aggression is the negative behaviour which needs to be avoided. Also avoid manipulative behaviour, when …
Concluding Thoughts
It is important to remember that the PA relationship is time-limited: if people are too close, it will inevitably be painful when it ends. Retaining some distance and formality helps …
PA perspectives
A PA’s work may include intimate tasks or tasks which, over time, may come to feel repetitious and mundane. They may feel micro-managed. One PA respondent said: ‘I was spending …
Disabled people’s perspectives
One disabled respondent in our study said that when he was younger, he had wanted to work with just one person, and found it easier, but that when he got …
Avoiding ‘proximal’ sources of conflict (closeness)
In this video Tom Shakespeare introduces this session on conflict arising from close relationships.
Empathy Conclusions
Just as in any working relationship, we can’t expect personal assistance relationships to run smoothly all of the time. We’ll talk later about reconciling differences and mediation, when it’s needed. …
Empathy Exercise 2
You want to support your friend who has recently come out as gay. The annual celebration of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride is happening, and he wants to go, …
Empathy Exercise 1
The PA suggests to his disabled employer that they go to the cinema together. Both of them enjoy these outings. But when they get to the cinema, they have a …
These articles are from the online course:
The Role of Personal Assistants in Disability Support
