Developmental Disabilities Network, Inc.
Affiliates/trainers
Ethics and Boundaries
Peter Leidy has been learning from people with disabilities since 1983. Peter is a consultant, facilitator, listener, learner, improviser, and speaker who focuses on personalized supports and community membership for people with disabilities. He also writes and sings songs about human service and and those who find themselves connected to it.
Peter conducts workshops, develops training materials, writes songs, speaks and sings at conferences, and works with organizations, government agencies, families, and paid supporters to promote positive support, inclusion, building healthy relationships, and thinking differently about people who are called “challenging.” (Peter himself is known to be non-compliant at times, and can often be found exhibiting attention-seeking behavior.)
For almost 20 years he worked for Options in Community Living, a supported living agency in Madison, Wisconsin. His roles included direct support, service coordination, recruiting and supporting direct service staff, community building, and administrative responsibilities.
Based in Wisconsin, Peter works throughout the United States and Canada. www.peterleidy.com
Peter conducts workshops, develops training materials, writes songs, speaks and sings at conferences, and works with organizations, government agencies, families, and paid supporters to promote positive support, inclusion, building healthy relationships, and thinking differently about people who are called “challenging.” (Peter himself is known to be non-compliant at times, and can often be found exhibiting attention-seeking behavior.)
For almost 20 years he worked for Options in Community Living, a supported living agency in Madison, Wisconsin. His roles included direct support, service coordination, recruiting and supporting direct service staff, community building, and administrative responsibilities.
Based in Wisconsin, Peter works throughout the United States and Canada. www.peterleidy.com
Mark Sweet, Ph.D. is Trainer & Consultant with Disability Rights Wisconsin (DRW). In this role, Mark works with birth to 3 and school programs, supported work and supported living organizations, consumer and parent groups, long term care programs, MCOs and others. He also works on a federally funded anti-violence grant related to individuals with disabilities. The emphasis of his work is to better understand the POV (point of view) of those of any age who receive support, and how that understanding can result in more meaningful support.
Imaginative Journey
Beth Mount Founder and Director of Graphic Futures providing consultation, training, planning, organizational development, and policy analysis for a variety of local, state, and national agencies and projects seeking to strengthen the values, implementation practices, and innovative policy initiatives related to Person-centered planning and service design.
Founder and Director of Capacity Works: Books and Posters to Inspire Person-centered work; a publishing company designed to produce written materials and art work that is inspired by the courage and determination of people with disabilities and their allies.
Founder and Director of Capacity Works: Books and Posters to Inspire Person-centered work; a publishing company designed to produce written materials and art work that is inspired by the courage and determination of people with disabilities and their allies.
John O'Brien and his wife and partner Connie Lyle O'Brien have been in the forefront of thinking and creating precedent setting innovations that helped to created full lives for people with disability labels the world over. In addition to developing many of the planning systems used internationally, training thousands of facilitators and human service workers, they have also been writers with enormous insight and sensitivity.
building compassion, continuity and competency
Karen Green McGowan, Michael D. Shoultz and David Pitonyak
Karen Green McGowan, RN, CDDN, developed the Health Risk Screening Tool in 1992. She is a clinical nurse
consultant who specializes in technical assistance to agencies serving persons with complex health needs.
She has provided training, technical assistance and curriculum development to clinicians,
administrators and direct care staff in identifying and removing or reducing health barriers
to development for over 32 of her 44 years in the field. She has developed systems approaches
to identifying health risk potential and assisted several states in the design and implementation
of strategies to manage individuals in dispersed community systems.
Ms. McGowan conducts courses for nurses, physicians and therapists (such as occupational, physical and speech therapists) in screening, assessment and intervention strategies for persons with complex physical and medical disabilities. She is the author of a variety of manuals and independent study courses for health clinicians, such as Assessing Health Risks in Developmental Disabilities, Drugs and Disabilities, The Health Risk Screening Tool-Rater's Guide, and Functional Life Planning. She has contracted with various state and local organizations to conduct training or design curriculum. For further information on training and services provided by Karen Green-McGowan please visit www.mcgowanconsultants.com
Ms. McGowan conducts courses for nurses, physicians and therapists (such as occupational, physical and speech therapists) in screening, assessment and intervention strategies for persons with complex physical and medical disabilities. She is the author of a variety of manuals and independent study courses for health clinicians, such as Assessing Health Risks in Developmental Disabilities, Drugs and Disabilities, The Health Risk Screening Tool-Rater's Guide, and Functional Life Planning. She has contracted with various state and local organizations to conduct training or design curriculum. For further information on training and services provided by Karen Green-McGowan please visit www.mcgowanconsultants.com
For over 35 years, Michael D. Shoultz, PhD has worked in educational, residential, community, and
vocational settings as a classroom teacher, group home supervisor, consultant, university lecturer, program administrator, and staff trainer. He has been recognized by local, state, and national organizations for his service to those with autism and their families. Michael’s work is grounded in the beliefs that: everyone has gifts to offer; meaningful and respectful relationships allow us to become our best selves, working together we can find competencies, and positive change is always possible. He strives to maximize individual, family, system, and community resources to support people with autism in leading full and meaningful lives, as determined by their talents, interests and dreams. ...
For further information please visit: http://www.autismresourcesnetwork.com/
vocational settings as a classroom teacher, group home supervisor, consultant, university lecturer, program administrator, and staff trainer. He has been recognized by local, state, and national organizations for his service to those with autism and their families. Michael’s work is grounded in the beliefs that: everyone has gifts to offer; meaningful and respectful relationships allow us to become our best selves, working together we can find competencies, and positive change is always possible. He strives to maximize individual, family, system, and community resources to support people with autism in leading full and meaningful lives, as determined by their talents, interests and dreams. ...
For further information please visit: http://www.autismresourcesnetwork.com/
David Pitonyak believes that difficult behaviors are "messages" which can tell us important things about a person and his or her surroundings. Understanding the "meaning" of an individual's difficult behaviors is the first step in supporting the person (and the person's supporters) to change. David emphasizes the critical importance of relationships in our lives and the power of being connected to the ‘pack.’
For further information please visit: http://www.dimagine.com/index.html
For further information please visit: http://www.dimagine.com/index.html
INterdependence and partnerships++
Mark Whitcomb & Deanna Yost
Video, Film and Music Producer Mark Whitcomb has been in media production for more than 25 years. He has a B.A. Communication Arts degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is co-owner of Madison's award winning DNA Music Labs (www.dnamusiclabs.com). He creates various types of multi-media productions for a diverse range of individuals and corporations, several of which are documentary films about persons living with disability, including the acclaimed Stories of Resilience series, Families and Transition series, and many more. His passion for bringing technical expertise and creative strategies together has resulted in a diverse library of engaging films that showcase how quality support contributes to individuals with disability living richer, more connected, and fuller lives.
Deanna Yost, Next Step Consulting, lives in rural Bayfield County. She offers a variety of assistance to people with disabilities and their families to design supports to enable real lives to and create pathways for gifts and contributions to be recognized as integral to every community. With her son and his allies she formed a Microboard, based on the pattern she learned from David and Faye Wetherow of CommunityWorks. She has authored several publications on living in the community and self-determined living.
Dawn Wians has managed creative projects for 30 years. Her formal training in design, over 20 years of experience advocating for people with disabilities, and extensive work with non-profits inform her work and bring creative vision to mission-driven organizations. A tenacious quest for truth drives her to make sense of the present and imagine a future of possibility. She believes creative processes have practical use in all areas of life; they are the foundation to innovation!