Normalization - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages It involves an awareness of the normal rhythm of life - including the normal rhythm of a day, a week, a year, and the life-cycle itself. It involves the normal conditions of life - housing, schooling, exercise, recreation and freedom of choice. This includes "the dignity of risk", rather than an emphasis on "protection". (Bank-Mikkelsen, 1976, Misconceptions on the principle of normalisation, Address to IASSMD Conference, Washington, D.c.)
changed over the years. There has been an evolution from early notions that emphasized otherness, through theoretical and social administrative frameworks that legitimized segregation and under-resourcing through an emphasis on pathology and deficiency, to the present situation where there is widespread legitimation (if not consistent support) for notions of shared humanity, inclusion, civil rights and need for additional support
The principle of normalization was developed in Scandinavia during the sixties and was first developed and articulated by Bengt Nirjie (The normalisation principle and its human management implications, in R. Kugel & W. Wolfensberger (Eds.) Changing patterns in residential services for the mentally retarded, Washing, D.C. President's Committee on Mental Retardation.)
The principle was developed during the seventies, especially by Wolfensberger in Canada through the National Institute on Mental Retardation (NIMR) (Normalization. The principle of normalisation in human services, Toronto, NIMR, 1972).
Normalization has had a significant effect on the way services for people with disabilities have been structured throughout the UK, Europe, North America, Australasia and increasingly other parts of the world. It has led to a new conceptualisation of disability as not simply being a medical issue (the medical model which saw the person as indistinguishable from the disorder), but as a social situation. Government reports began from the 1970s to reflect this, e.g. the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board report of 1981 made recommendations on "the rights of people with intellectual handicaps to receive appropriate services, to assert their rights to independent living so far as this is possible, and to pursue the principle of normalization."
Traditional conceptions of perception
Traditional conceptions of perception acknowledge the five senses: taste, touch, smell, vision and hearing. Thus perceptual theory suggests that there are additional aspects to normalization beyond appearance. In particular, acoustics can have a strong impact on the character of a place. What acoustic issues in group homes affect normalization, health and well being of the residents There are a range of concerns, from the physical comfort of the residents, the safety and stability of the staff's working conditions, as well as questions about the relationship, if any, between acoustic problems and behavioral incidents among residents with autism and other disabilities
Ordinary living, rights, needs-based, normalisation / role valorisation - based
perspectives.
Definitive statements about the normalisation principle include Nirje (1969, 1980, 1985), O'Brien and Tyne (1985), Wolfensberger (1972, 1980, 1983, 1992), Wolfensberger and Glenn (1975), Wolfensberger and Thomas (1983). A variety of guides and manuals for practice and service ...Download file to see next pagesRead More