This workshop gives participants a practical introduction to the principles of Social Role Valorization.

Ideas that Matter is a half-day workshop aimed at offering a very brief look into some of Keystone Human Services’ foundational principles. We begin by exploring the history of disability, including how people with disabilities have been treated and thought about throughout history. We will take time to consider the threads and consequences of historical mindsets on the treatment of people today.

Mapping out a vision of a big, full, inclusive life for vulnerable people can be full of road bumps. Sometimes we don’t know people very well, sometimes people are uncertain themselves about their identity, gifts, talents and what their future could hold; and sometimes we are so lost in “human service land” that we lose sight of the typical pathways of life and all they have to offer people. But when we are stuck while developing roles, designing services or even planning a house warming party for someone, using the culturally valued analogue (CVA) can provide us some tried and true guidance to get started, by reminding us to consider “What happens for people with a valued status?”

In recent years and in many places, euthanasia laws have become increasingly permissible, quite often as they relate to people who are marginalized. Laws include broader and broader definitions of who medical assistance in dying can be applied to and eradicate more and more safeguards, all posing a serious threat to people with disabilities when making the most profound and irreversible decision a person can make. Consider this alongside the countless studies that have consistently revealed that health care providers hold negative views of people with disabilities that too frequently translates to failures to equitably protect, serve, or support disabled people and the results are devastating.