Rethinking Conservators and Guardians

Saturday, December 1, 2012
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Tips for raising funds to participate in this workshop

Overview

This exciting “train the trainer” opportunity will provide the background and tools to cause others to see guardianship or conservatorship as other than usual and necessary. It will provide participants with a long-term view of the consequences of establishing guardianship or conserving someone. It will cover alternative and empowering ways to address the barriers and circumstances which will inevitably face persons with a cognitive or intellectual disability as well as those with communication difficulties. This session will afford attendees the reason and methodology to embrace TASH’s position statement on this subject.

Objectives

Participants will:

• Build skills to recognize and understand past reasons that parents and others sought guardianship

• Develop understanding of how guardianship negatively affects people with disabilities and their ability to live self determined lives

• Learn why and how to support, assist and accommodate persons in decision making and honoring their preferences, as well as specific tools which can be utilized when supporting and empowering persons with disabilities

• Access the skills and tools necessary to train others in the history of guardianship and viable alternatives to guardianship

Agenda

9 a.m. – 12 p.m. – Rethinking guardianship and discovering alternatives to replace it that serve people with disabilities more equitably
1 p.m. – 5 p.m. – “Train the Trainer” training

Presenters

Dohn Hoyle
Executive Director, The Arc Michigan

For more than 40 years, Dohn Hoyle has advocated for the rights of people with developmental disabilities. He is currently executive director of the Arc Michigan, former president and chief executive officer of the Association for Community Advocacy, and chairs the TASH subcommittee on Preventing Guardianship.

Mary Bryant
Faculty, Nevada Center for Excellence in Disabilities

Mary Bryant has been administrative faculty at the Nevada Center for Excellence in Disabilities since 2001. In 2002, she assisted Nevada self-advocates to establish a statewide People First organization by writing a grant in which people with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD) became VISTA members. This grew into a ten year Youth Transition Project, which had 13 VISTA members (6 with IDD) who established and operated eight People First of Nevada self-advocacy chapters throughout the state, as well as other statewide youth transition projects.

Bryant is the mother of two teenage girls, one of whom has Down syndrome. Kailin, who has Down syndrome, owns a microenterprise, Kelderman Klassy Glass. Bryant serves on the TASH Guardianship subcommittee. She is the former chairperson of the Nevada Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities and currently serves on the Nevada Commission on Services for People with Disabilities and Nevada’s Special Education Advisory Committee.

Jayne Chase
Florence, Alabama

Jayne Chase is the mother of 3 children: Christina, Todd, and J. Paul. She became involved in disability issues when J. Paul received the label of autism and has worked tirelessly for children with disabilities and adults with disabilities in creating welcoming communities where everybody belongs. She has been the director of Partners in Policymaking of Alabama, worked as a mentor in Washington DC with youth from across the country, created a distance learning course for teachers who work with students with disabilities at Auburn University, and developed What Parents Wish You Knew for National Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU). Chase is also an Adult Ally for the Reap What You Sow Project, a national project funded by The Administration on Developmental Disabilities and a member of the National TASH Human Rights Committee. She has been the recipient of many awards including Mentor of the Year by the Alabama Early Intervention and Preschool Agency as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Alabama Disabilities Protection and Advocacy Program (ADAP).