Advisor Support for People First Members in Georgia

2004

This work examines the attitudes and actions of advisors to People First chapters in Georgia as well as the characteristics of the chapters that they advise in order to understand and advance the efforts of these individuals and to understand how to encourage others to become advisors. (People First is a organization of individuals with disabilities who advocate for themselves and shows support and concern for one another. There are currently 30 chapters and about 600 People First members in Georgia.) The advisors who participated in this project provided information about "their" chapter - the size of the group and age of the members and where and how often they meet. The advisors also gave us information about their interaction with the group members; how they became involved with People First; and their veiws about advisor's strengths, limitations, roles and responsibilities, and the need for advisor training. The advisors also responded to questions about their beliefs about people with disabilities and their potential for living and working in the community. Conclusions by the Authors point toward the need for flexibility for advisors to creatively meet the needs of People First members and the conflicts that arise when advisors are also disability services staff.

Reports and monographs

Audio (cassette, audio file, etc.), Electronic (disc, CD, 508 compliant web posting)

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