I Want to Start a Movement: Suspend

This month, there will be one word that will be the theme of the week. I hope you will use the word often and explore what it means to you at work and home. This word will inspire your achievements and help you find what you need to have joy, a sense of accomplishment, and an appreciation for the gifts we exchange.

When the pandemic started, many of us learned that we needed to suspend our thinking in providing support to individuals in our care. The Connecticut KenCrest team knew they also had to stop their thoughts on whom they offered support.

The Executive Director of Connecticut, Steven Wolfe, says,”Large day programs suspended services which impacted many individuals in CT. In CT, we coordinated with a couple of families to provide support to individuals in their families’ homes instead. We let go of the assumption that there was only one way to serve.

There is always something that someone still needs to do. Something that seems too complicated to do or too complex. If we suspend that assumption, we can discover how “can’t” can turn into “can.” CT has also thrown our hat into providing support for the hearing-impaired community. We started admitting deaf individuals as a different way to provide support. This opens up significant opportunities. We know that staff proficient in sign language are hard to find, and interpreters are hard to find. Technology is helping to fill the gap. We can use online tools and remote tablet support to facilitate conversation when communication seems impossible.”

Suspending assumptions about how and who needed support ended up providing the opportunity to serve even more people. The word for this week is “suspend.” How has this word inspired your achievements?