Submitted By: Doug Auge, Advocates, Inc.
Bradley Bargelski works for Advocates, Inc. as a dedicated Direct Support Professional. Advocates, Inc. is a person-centered not-for-profit organization based in Liverpool, New York, that empowers individuals with developmental disabilities to direct their own lives and create a vision for their future, where they can fully participate in their home, schools, and communities in a meaningful way.
One person who Bradley supports has a personal goal of graduating college, and desires assistance in certain aspects involving his courses. Bradley was able to use the Personal Outcome Measures® as a starting point to learn more about this goal, which involved talking to the person and spending time with them to fully understand needs, goals, and dreams involving college. The person receiving supports desired additional assistance to help him in maintaining focus and strengthening organization skills involving his course work and class involvement.
Through the Personal Outcome Measures®, Bradley was able to explore in greater detail what the person wanted to accomplish involving classroom focus and course work organization. Bradley helped empower the person in the classroom to maintain focus, organize his notes, navigate the tutoring system, communicate with professors, and set up a planner to create his schedule. The person’s college experience and overall quality of life have improved significantly. His anxiety has decreased and he is taking the lead in determining the direction that he would like his life to go. In college, he has also become more confident as he continues to pass his courses and raise his GPA.
Bradley is continually seeking new opportunities to increase his training to become a more effective Direct Support Professional. He is consistent, compassionate, professional, and a great ambassador for the people he supports.
2018 Direct Support Professional Recognition Week
This article is part of a campaign during the 2018 Direct Support Professional Recognition Week, to acknowledge Direct Support Professionals who are helping people achieve their individually-defined outcomes, through the use of Personal Outcome Measures®. This campaign was developed through a partnership between CQL | The Council on Quality and Leadership and The National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP).
Bradley Bargelski: An Education Advocate