1.
Paul Leduc, George Kranitis, Anthony Stratton, Daniel Harris, Jen Bosworth, Caitlin Fortier
Keenan Wellar, Alex Darling, Ellyce Andrée Wright, Julie Kingstone, Allison Moores, Grace Hudson
May 7-8, 2014

2.
They’ve never quite achieved the true status of “annual” but nearly-yearly staff retreats
are important to LiveWorkPlay not only to build hope and resiliency in the staff team
through education and team-building, but for identifying opportunities and concerns, and
making plans for addressing them.
Over the years the team has helped establish priorities and strategies that have ensured
LiveWorkPlay remains on the leading-edge, not only with respect to our direct supports to
individuals, but also our ability to help the community welcome people with intellectual
disabilities to live, work, and play as valued citizens.
One of the key activities for this year's two-day retreat was a formal presentation and
discussion of what we are calling the LiveWorkPlay Theory of Social Change. LiveWorkPlay
has been engaged in a Theory of Change (TOC) process since October of 2013 with coach
Linda Graupner from Innoweave. Innoweave is an initiative of The J.W. McConnell Family
Foundation, in collaboration with Social Innovation Generation (SiG), thought leaders,
academics, and partners from the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors.
The "Impact and Strategic Clarity Module" completed by LiveWorkPlay was supported by a
partial grant. Granting partners for the Impact Module include the Ontario Trillium
Foundation, United Way Centraide Canada, PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada Foundation,
United Way York Region, The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, and CISCO Canada.

3.
http://liveworkplay.ca/socialchange

4.
As the co-leaders of the organization Keenan Wellar and Julie Kingstone were joined on the TOC
leadership team by Allison Moores (Supports Coordinator) and Alexis Dusonchet, a current
member of the Board of Directors who also has extensive volunteer experience with
LiveWorkPlay, and the many applicable skills associated with his work as a Compliance Officer
with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
In brief, the TOC process required collection of internal and external data, research, analysis, and
discussion via email, conference calls, and in-person meetings. There was also a day-long
workshop with two other organizations working on their own theory of change.
Organizations engage in this TOC process to clarify what they aim to achieve, how they will
achieve it, and how they will measure their success. Accordingly, the TOC leadership team
conducted an in-depth analysis of our own supports and services data, and examined external
evidence to clarify where to focus our efforts and how to measure success.
If you are thinking that LiveWorkPlay already has a lot of clarity about our aims, methods, and
measurement, our coach did not disagree with you, and the point was to move us towards
excellence, not only in what we do, but in how we report on our work.
Particularly as regards measurement, the ability to report on our impact (with respect to
individuals as well as families, partners, and the community) is really at an early stage and in
need of refinement.
Next: the team was given 30 minutes to construct Lego models to help express the
LiveWorkPlay Theory of Social Change. Here is what they came up with!

5.
Reporting on impact means going way beyond typical data collection such as how many
people we serve, for how many hours, and in support of what type of activities.
If that is all we report, then it is impossible to understand how our work differs from other
organizations. This is a sector-wide problem that we reported to the Select Committee on
Developmental Services, and we want to lead by example. We know we are leaders in our
field and that we change the lives of individuals and families and also make our community
stronger, but now we can help explain it better!
The entire two days of the staff retreat was not devoted to the TOC, so for those who are
interested, you are invited to visit our LiveWorkPlay Theory of Social Change page! There
you can see a flow chart, a bullet list, and an incredible array of references that is still in
development. The theory of change process is never over, and so we invite your feedback
about what you see!

6.
LiveWorkPlay has made a commitment to support education and training for staff, and they are expected
to give back by sharing their experiences with their peers. On this occasion, Daniel Harris and Caitlin Fortier
each made a one hour presentation on the topics of Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) and Post-
Traumatic Stress Disorder. These presentations were based on their attendance at professional seminars on
these topics, adapted for application to supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Based on Daniel's presentation, much discussion was generated about the important role LiveWorkPlay staff
play in helping our members learning to prevent and also to manage the experience of emotional
dysregulation. In other words, how to cope with high levels of emotional distress - to identify when it is
happening to try to achieve a state of greater calm, and strategies to return to a less stressful state when
emotional dysregulation is occurring. The ability to self-regulate one's emotions is critical to success in
almost any environment, and so the ability of LiveWorkPlay staff to help our members learn and practice
these skills will impact on success with their home, work, and social situations.
There was an equally active discussion following Caitlin's presentation. Because people with intellectual
disabilities are much more likely to experience abuse than the general population, they have a resulting
higher incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder. In addition, the reporting of abuse is more difficult for
people with intellectual disabilities, not only due to communications differences, but because they often lack
power and control in their lives and there are many disincentives to speaking out.
Due to these and other factors, people with intellectual disabilities may get labelled and treated for
"behaviours" that are actually a response to trauma, and this serves to reinforce their silence. How some
of this information impacts uniquely on agencies and staff at an organization like LiveWorkPlay is that the
onset of PTSD symptoms may occur as a result of "feeling safe for the first time." This is important
information because LiveWorkPlay staff often support individuals in new life situations and PTSD may be
revealed at this time.

7.
In addition to direct presentations by staff,
Julie Kingstone assembled a learning agenda that
also included a number of TED talk videos to spark
discussion. One of the most memorable and
relevant to our daily work was a presentation about
"The power of vulnerability.“
Shame is really easily understood as the fear of
disconnection: is there something about me that,
if other people know it or see it, that I won't be
worthy of connection? The things I can tell you about it: it's universal; we all have it. The only people
who don't experience shame have no capacity for human empathy or connection. No one wants to talk
about it, and the less you talk about it the more you have it. What underpinned this shame, this "I'm
not good enough...thin enough, rich enough, beautiful enough, smart enough, promoted enough." The
thing that underpinned this was excruciating vulnerability...in order for connection to happen, we have
to allow ourselves to be seen, really seen.
The implications for people with intellectual disabilities and those who support them are obvious.
For example, there are expectations that people quickly understand their social environments and the
many unspoken rules that are found in workplaces or community venues, and there are consequences
to trying and failing. At LiveWorkPlay we support the removal of barriers that keep people with
intellectual disabilities from participating and contributing in all aspects of community life. We can
never forget that as challenging as this may be for LiveWorkPlay staff, family members, and other
supporters, the individual who walks through that door for the first time is assuming tremendous
risk - what at times will indeed be an experience of excruciating vulnerability.

8.
This underscores a part of what is included in the
LiveWorkPlay Theory of Social Change, which is
that an important part of our work is to
investigate the social norms of community venues,
and develop relationships with potential social
gatekeepers who can support a welcoming and
inclusive environment. See the video (right)
"Understanding Community" with Al Condeluci,
who first exposed us to this concept and continues
to champion it worldwide!
It is easy enough to help an individual register for a course, club, or class and point them
towards the door. What makes LiveWorkPlay different is our understanding that our work
goes much beyond joining a team or getting of a job. We need to understand those
environments and the people who have ownership of them so that we can help prepare
our members to experience them with success, and also offer support to those who want
to be welcoming and inclusive, but need to overcome their own fears and anxieties about
people with disabilities. We cultivate social inclusion champions!

9.
One of the more practical and data-based activities of the retreat involved an analysis of
person-centred reviews obtained by Allison Moores. These are essentially a collection of
"what is working“ and "what is not working" in the lives of our members (we use templates
from Helen Sanderson and Associations for this work). The task is to consider this
information in light of strategic changes that might be required at the operational level of
LiveWorkPlay (the Board of Directors also uses this data for long-term visioning).
After some discussion with flow charts and sticky papers covering the walls, the entire staff
team agreed that helping to support the development of intimate (partner) relationships
for our members topped the list of "what is not working" according to the person-centred
review feedback. This of course has many implications in the lives of our members. While
many reported with great joy such important life transitions as moving to their first
apartment, getting and keeping a job that they like, and getting out and about in the
community with friends, having achieved those types
of milestones (to put it quite simply) they now want
a boyfriend or girlfriend! They want to love and be
loved at the most intimate level of human connection.
We have no easy answers in this regard. We have taken
the step of acknowledging that this is a current high
priority for many of our members, and that we need to
talk with them about it and learn what we can from the
experience of other people and organizations about
how we can help.

10.
The retreat also offered a few moments for quiet contemplation. And one of the topics we
quietly contemplated was consideration within the staff team but also with respect to our
members and families about communication styles, and the need to ensure that one does
not need to be a "gregarious communicator" in order to be heard.
There is a growing tendency in society to emphasize the input from extroverts or
extroverted behaviour and for introverts or introverted behaviour to take a back seat. We
invite you to view the TED video and to consider that message.

11.
We believe that people with intellectual disabilities
are not broken. We believe that members that make
up our community have not had the chance to welcome
and build meaningful reciprocal relationships with
People with intellectual disabilities, and as a result
Everyone is missing out.
We believe the answers to including people who have
been excluded lies in the abundance of opportunities
that lie in the community rather than creating special
Places and programs for excluded people to go.
LiveWorkPlay helps people with and without disabilities to connect, build relationships and
enjoy what the community has to offer. We help people with intellectual disabilities to find
opportunities to be valued neighbours, employees, teammates, community contributors,
friends, husbands, wives, and more!
Often people without disabilities living in the community are looking for opportunities and help
with how to welcome and include a person with an intellectual disability in a neighbourhood,
apartment building, workplace, sports league, gym, or club – LiveWorkPlay can help!
Often people with disabilities are looking for help with how to find an affordable place to live,
organizing support to live there, to find and keep a paid job, to contribute as a volunteer to non-
profit organizations, to participate in ordinary recreation, sports and leisure activities, and meet
new people and develop friendships - LiveWorkPlay can help!

12.
The staff retreat 2014 was highly successful. There were moments of joy as well as
moments of concern, which is appropriate to our work. While our members continue to
move forward in their lives, generating daily cause for celebration, the world remains a
complicated place, with choices, rewards, and risks that have not been a part of the lives
of those with intellectual disabilities, their family, or other supporters who came before.
We seek to offer guidance, but we must also recognize with all due humility that we are
also along for the ride. In the end, an inclusive society is not rooted in the mandate or
activities of any one agency or collection of agencies. It is about the hearts and minds of
all individuals and organizations in any given community, city, province, or country
believing in the value of all citizens, and taking the steps required to welcome and
include them as full citizens.