Methods of Care
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Gentle Teaching
A Higher Standard of Care
Disability Supports of the Great Plains, in McPherson and Hutchinson, Kansas, began with parents who believed there was a better way to care for those with disabilities. We’re committed to redefining the manner in which care is delivered — within exceptional surroundings, by people with a calling to care, and through limitless creativity. Welcome to a higher standard of care.
Gentle Teaching
Helping clients feel safe and nurtured is at the core of the quality care we provide at Disability Supports. Introduced decades ago, Gentle Teaching is a well-accepted, proven method for building relationships within groups and between individuals. It is particularly effective in communicating with people who have limited cognitive abilities.
Individuals with cognitive limitations or challenging behaviors often lack effective ways to experience companionship and trust. Overcoming those limitations and modifying behavior in positive ways are crucial steps in providing a better life.
At Disability Supports, staff members are taught to interact with clients in ways that teach them to feel safe and valued — not on the basis of compliance or obedience. This technique is called Gentle Teaching.
Gentle teaching is a positive behavioral support program that promotes interdependence between caregivers and clients. This practice affirms the inherent worth of all people, creating a sense of companionship, feelings of safety and security, and mutual transformation.
Creating companionship and trust is the first step in gentle teaching. Only when a client feels safe will they be able to be open to learning. True friendships are encouraged in which both client and staff enjoy mutual support, empathy and opportunities to share. Tasks and activities are used as vehicles for engagement.
Caregivers communicate acceptance in all ways. Gentle Teaching “tools” for caregivers include the use of hands, eyes, words and presence to help communicate cooperation. Appropriate but warm, loving physical touch fills a universal spiritual need in each soul, and is quite the opposite of other agencies’ clinical, hands-off approach.
"We don’t believe that our clients are broken and need to be fixed. We’re simply here to give them the extra support they need."
Virginia Thornton, Senior Case Manager, Hutchinson
Gentle Teaching helps prevent and minimize conflict and disharmony. This style of care uses unconditional love rooted in kindness, instead of punishment strategies, to resolve conflict. In time, relationships grow stronger and tensions weaker. Much like a successful family unit, this gentle way of living makes Disability Supports an interdependent, confidence-inspiring community.
Gentle teaching is simple. We encourage people to be in tune with themselves and the people they are around. It is a way of being with others. It’s just being nice.
Family-Centered Care
We treat each person as a valuable member of our family, encouraging and enabling them to achieve and experience life to the fullest — to create a story of their own. But clients aren’t the only ones who join our family. Parents and other relatives are invited to become and remain involved. Ours is a family that never stops growing.
Disability Supports provides full-time and part-time care for hundreds of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Here, each person is encouraged and enabled to achieve and experience life to the fullest, to create a story of their own, and to be part of a community that feels like family.
A family atmosphere, and our commitment to serve families, creates real change in the lives of clients. People who may have once been bitter and angry become happy and fulfilled. We receive hugs of gratitude from loving, involved parents and caregivers. A great sense of healing — within families and within souls — is allowed to grow. We’re humbled by the trust placed in us.
“We’re committed to providing the best in individualized services and supports to children and adults with developmental disabilities. Just as importantly, we’re here to support the entire family.”
Rick Staab, President & CEO
Client Care
Clients receive social enrichment, meaningful employment, continuing education, modern housing, case management and healthcare support, all from staff who are experts in communicating and caring for adults with disabilities.
If you have a child, a family member or a friend with developmental disabilities, you’ve probably heard the phrase “it can’t be done” much too often. We know, because Disability Supports was founded after hearing too many tell us, “It can’t be done.” Our goal then — and now — is to say, “Yes, it can be done.” It’s simply our job and our mission to find a better way.
- We deliver the highest level of experience and expertise. The most common question we are asked is, “How can you deliver this level of care?” The answer is simple. Our administrative staff is small, and our caregivers are mighty. The majority of our budget is invested in experienced, professional staff who are committed to going above and beyond in the level of care of those they serve, and in well-designed, modern facilities that contribute to the quality of our services.
- We care for people with intellectual or trauma-based disabilities. Disability Supports offers services to people outside the traditional MR/DD group, including individuals with brain trauma and those who experience life-altering events and cognitive injuries as adults.
- We think fun is an important part of every day. Games, dances and celebrations help combat feelings of depression that can accompany limited abilities. Engaging clients on a social level fosters a deeper level of friendship and cooperation, benefiting both the client and the staff member.
“We hire many caregivers with nursing backgrounds. Our staff is trained, comfortable and confident with complex medical needs, which helps promote our ‘can do’ approach.”
Sheila Goscha, Vice-President/COO
Our Stories of Care
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