The Way of The Support Worker
By Kevin Alexander
CHAPTER 1
“It’s unpredictable, always changing.” – Dreamhawk
Why do people choose to devote their careers to supporting people who have special needs?
There are no “rock stars” in support work. I have never heard of anyone getting rich from this type of work. It is rare that someone can climb the ladder to upper management. Most of the time a front line worker will remain a front line worker their entire career.
No wealth, no chance at upper management and no fame?
Seems to go against our social norm of what makes a career worthwhile.
Yet thousands of people every year choose to start a career in supporting people in the community, in their homes, in institutions or wherever it is needed.
Front line support work can be very challenging, sometimes exhausting. Our skills have to be sharp and diverse. We have to have a firm voice balanced with a soft demeanor. We have to be in control of your emotions yet compassionate for those who might not have any control of theirs.
There is a lot asked of a support worker. A person that chooses this career is obviously, in my perspective, interested in something other than financial wealth or personal fame.
I believe that one of the most valuable returns in such a career is the life lessons and teachings one receives from working so intimately with others.
I have learned such lessons as tolerance, patience, understanding and sense of community from my time as a support worker. I have a depth of understanding of such topics that I do not believe I could have gained from anyone else other than the people that I support everyday.
In fact, I believe that the people I support also supported me.
NAMES
In this book I am referring to people with labels such as: people with disabilities, handicapped, developmentally disabled, people with special needs, people with unique abilities, mentally retarded, developmentally delayed as well as brain injury, autism, elderly, essentially anyone who needs support from another person with their daily living skills.
In the 20 plus years I have been working in group homes, hospitals and community settings, I have heard so many terms for describing the population of people I have been tasked with supporting.
It is amazing to hear so many terms to describe a nation of people who are both brilliant and are in fact such great teachers. I do not think of the people I work with as less than me, so why use any term that describes them as less.
All the labels seem to come from a place of less. “Dis”, as in disabled, meaning less or little, is not how I would describe the people I have worked with. They are no more less than you or I.
Some of them might struggle with education or language or movement, but I assure you that every person I meet, with such a label, has as much to teach as the most educated minds in our culture.
Over the years, I found myself looking for a term that feels comfortable to describe this population as I have seen them. I started by looking at the history of the terms used to describe the people I have supported for many years. Where better to look than at the beginning.
One of the earliest and most known terms I learned about was “retarded”. Retarded was a kinder, clinical way of saying slow. It originates from the French term for slow or delayed. It was never meant to be an insult or slur; until, of course, someone took it and used it in a slanderous manner.
Eventually the language was changed to help support the dignity of the people who where labeled retarded. From retarded to handicapped, to special or disabled the language changes, and so do the insults.
The language used to describe people who need support has been changed many times since and will be changed many times still.
I thought about the dilemma of the every changing label and realized that no matter what term I use, it might, and probably will, be used as slanderous at some point.
The language we use to describe people does not change the underlying issues in our society. So why not find a term that best describes my connection with the people who teach me such profound life lessons?
Writing this book, I knew I had to choose a term to use to describe the people I am talking about.
Slow, handicapped, disabled whatever your label of choice, it seems to describe someone who is lower, less or not part of our normal social expectations. I did not want to use any of these terms for the rest of my book.
Social change can happen dramatically if we can mimetically change the language being used.
I understand the need for technical terms in the medical community. Cardialgia is the medical term for heartburn. However, when I am with my friends, out in the community I use the term heartburn. It describes what is happening and it is culturally understood.
The terms associated with people who need support are often rooted in the medical or clinical languages. “Disabled” literally means not as able to do something. This tem is misleading to me, as I know of no one I have ever met that can accomplish everything.
Everyone on this planet has strengths and weaknesses. We are all able to do something with ease that other people find challenging. Whether it is math, spelling, sports, social relationships, painting, fashion or whatever, we have skills and dis-abilities.
We all need help with plumbing, or taxes, or auto repairs or cooking, whatever the reason why we cannot do it, we are still limited.
While people involved in a clinical system have clear language to describe terms and diagnoses in order to assure clarity in treatment, I believe that we, in the community, have the right and duty to develop our own language that describes the people we work with.
A language that best describes the work we are doing and the people we are working with. A language that honors the people we work with. A language that is clear and easy to use yet deep and changes the system mimetically.
MASTER TEACHERS (M.T.s)
In this book, I want to share some tips that I wish I knew before I started in this field. I want to offer some support to the support workers. I also wish to help refocus what it is we ask from the people we support.
Thinking of the intention of this book I remembered the true reason why I work in this field. It is not for wealth or fame but for the time spent, the learning exchange, with those that I refer to as Master Teachers.
The people whom I have supported are not less and they are not more then anyone else. They are just who they are. I do not try to change them or feel pity for them. I learn from them, and they teach me things that no one else can.
Imagine, moving through your day learning something from every person you interact with. We are all great teachers. Some of us are recognized as being educationally trained or “teachers”, while others might not be aware that they are teaching others.
In a time when there is so much change happening in our world, we have to look at every resource we have to help us respond with those changes.
When greed and anger and force are rampant, those who can help us to practice slowing down, living in the moment and working together are our modern day Master Teachers.
Kindness and Compassion are the most valuable human resources I have ever come across. Being able to practice them with another person has taught me profound lessons about myself and the world around me.
Instead of approaching someone with the goal of teaching him or her what we assume they do not know, I choose to approach someone with an equally open heart.
I am open to teaching them what I know in exchange for teaching me what they know.
From this point on, I will refer to the people who need support as Master Teachers or M.T.’s.
This term is meant to honor the lessons that the people I have supported have taught me about my life and my work.
The term Master Teacher does not mean they are more of a teacher than others; they are however, often neglected teachers and repeatedly ignored by their communities. Feared by some, ridiculed by others and seen as somewhat less by a great number.
M.T.’s might not have a syllabus or a master plan of what to teach you. They might not even be teaching you intentional lessons. What they do is embody the lessons they teach.
I do not practice sympathy or pity towards the people I support. I find no value in feeling sorry for someone. I find that pity and sympathy is a barrier that diminishes both parties involved.
I choose to see each M.T. as a fellow human being.
Each of them are a person that has as much right to be here as anyone else. They are each a person who has as much to share with this world as everyone else.
MEMES
I would like to have a conversation in this book that might ignite conversations in your communities.
There is a term I like to use, that is well used these days, called “memes”. Memes are ideas or behaviors that spreads from person to person in a culture.
Think of what is in fashion or what is cool. Where did this fashion start? How did it get to your town, to your stores, to your wardrobe?
Memes can work for or against a culture.
Language is one of the most powerful tools of memetic change. If the language changes, the conversation changes, thus the idea or behavior will change.
I believe that for people with disabilities to have a greater relationship within their communities and to be fully accepted as part of their communities, we need to change the language.
For me, that language starts with the term Master Teacher (M.T.)
DIRECTION
It is my intention to share with the reader some tips, principles and experiences that I have gained over my career in working with M.T.’s.
This is a small portion of the lessons I will learn over my ever-deepening career. As I write this book, I am still learning and realizing more about patience, understanding, community and tolerance.
Stopping to write this book has been challenging. As I write these words I am working with M.T.’s on a daily basis. I want to change the book everyday, as the lessons I learn grow and change with every day and every M.T.
Every day I show up to work, I am humbled.
My career has spanned over three decades, from the east coast of Canada to the west. I have worked with all types of labels and diagnoses in all types of situations.
From progressive organizations to antique institutions, from the fringe to the mainstream, I have been there.
I remember how it all started.
PRETTY LUCKY
When I was in high school, I spent a lot of my time trying to fit in. I always had a unique style and was aware that it was not an easy fit for the cool crowd.
I gave a lot of thought and time to how I could fit in with the cool kids more. The problem was that I did not pick up on social cues very well. I just did not get the rules of dating, coolness or most of high school behavior.
I remember being in science class when a popular girl, Geena, turned to me and asked what I was doing on Friday night.
She was one of the good girls in the school. I never saw her at any parties. I could not picture her with a drink or cigarette in her hand. She was the most beautiful girl in the school and the smartest.
So when she asked about my plans for the upcoming weekend I was a little unsure about her intentions.
I was a smoker, a light partier and barely passing my classes. Why she was interested in my plans was a mystery, however, not one I was going to leave unanswered.
She told me about a group of teens and young adults and people who needed support. She told me that there are regular dances, camping, parties and more and that there is no cost. I just had to show up.
I agreed to join her and got the location and details for the event.
I showed up not knowing what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did I laugh till my stomach hurt that night, I also met some kind and fun people. I felt relaxed and part of something real and easy. I was free to be myself. No one judged me. I liked that feeling.
I grew from that experience to spend years volunteering, working and educating myself in the field of support services.
Working across the country in many unique communities, organizations and institutions, I have realized that it takes some practice in sustaining my work. It is not an easy calling but a worthwhile and fulfilling one.
COMING UP
I will touch upon 9 topics, in 9 chapters, in this book. Each topic is a practice that I have learned from the M.T.’s that I work with. The topics are not rules or “shoulds”, but practices. You might be aware of a lot of them and have more to share with the people you work with.
I encourage everyone who takes the time to read this book to look at it as a conversation piece.
If I can get people talking about what they have learned about being a front line worker and the skills they have learned from the Master Teachers, then I will feel accomplished.
My intention for this book is to ignite conversation.
These tips are not for you to accept at face value as your truth. If they work for you then great, if you do not agree with them then that is equally great. I am not writing to share a doctrine, I am writing to stimulate and explore start a conversation.
Ever-changing, these practices come from my experiences. Every co-worker I have spent a shift with has his or her own way of practicing support work. What I share with you are the practices that have worked well for me.
I touch on the history of support work, where the calling to work as a front line worker comes from. I also talk about the power of intention. It has become essential to my life to learn the purpose of my work.
In a few chapters I talk about the day-to-day practical side of the work; of working in communities, politics, and how I avoid burn out and keep focused and interested or inspired. I also touch on my commitments to my career and what I hope to see in the coming future for M.T.’s and people who support them.
FREEDOM
We are all on this learning curve together.
Front line support workers have an essential duty to learn how to work well together and how to communicate with all the different people who come through the workplace door.
As front line workers, we are asked to communicate with those who have trouble communicating, with their family, with management, doctors and the educated, as well as the communities we work with.
The M.T.’s we support do not benefit from us fighting or bickering with each other. They do not get anything from us keeping information to ourselves or not communicating it in a way that the doctor, therapist or parent can understand.
To build a healthy community and a healthy work place we can choose to learn how to effect change in a peaceful and efficient manner.
“Alone I travel far.”
There is no great pay off at the end of a career on the front line. There is no big retirement bonus or package.
This is not a solitary career.
Inner strength, patience, humor, joie de vie, love, breathing, self respect, clear boundaries, understanding and the ability to dance with change are needed in this work.
“Together we travel fast.” ~ African proverb
We have a long way to go.
From institutions to modern thought and practices, people have made changes not from shyness or anger but from determination and a constant desire to help the people we are supporting by learning and changing with the M.T.’s we surround our self with.
I have the privilege of going home after work. I have the right to make my own mistakes. I eat what I want when I want and learn how to regulate and enjoy that process. I go into the doctor’s office and they listen to me. I walk into stores and they help me find whatever it is that I am willing to spend some money on.
Most M.T.’s do not have those privileges. Some have people regulating their entire life.
My job is to help M.T.’s get to a point in their life that they can do the same things as I can, in their own way.
Imagine a place where M.T.’s are allowed to make mistakes and learn from them. Imagine a place where an M.T. can walk in our community and be a fully integrated part of our communities.
I know I am not the only one wishing these things for M.T.’s.
I know that a great deal of people are and have been working hard to get to this point. I also know that the silent majority in this work are the front line workers and they are just that, silent.
Front line workers need to understand that it is time to stand up and start talking.
It is time to be part of the conversations. It is time to learn how to advocate and how to change the systems we are working in. It is time to share what we already know.
Hopefully this book will be an initiator for more talk, deeper sharing and maybe a little more celebration of the front line workers. With any luck we might be able to invite the M.T.’s back to the normal social expectations and help them share their gifts with those in need.
If you have spent any time working one on one with a person who needs support, then I celebrate you. I know that some days are magical and some can challenge you deeply. From wiping bums, to cooking meals, cleaning clothes to pushing chairs, no matter what your skills and experiences, I celebrate you and your efforts.
The Way of The Support Worker is a celebration of the unique talents that are required to support others in their lives. This book is as much a sharing of skills as it is a celebration of the front line workers.
“A leader is best
When people barely know he exists
Of a good leader, who talks little,
When his work is done, his aim fulfilled,
They will say, “We did this ourselves.”
― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
By Kevin Alexander
CHAPTER 1
“It’s unpredictable, always changing.” – Dreamhawk
Why do people choose to devote their careers to supporting people who have special needs?
There are no “rock stars” in support work. I have never heard of anyone getting rich from this type of work. It is rare that someone can climb the ladder to upper management. Most of the time a front line worker will remain a front line worker their entire career.
No wealth, no chance at upper management and no fame?
Seems to go against our social norm of what makes a career worthwhile.
Yet thousands of people every year choose to start a career in supporting people in the community, in their homes, in institutions or wherever it is needed.
Front line support work can be very challenging, sometimes exhausting. Our skills have to be sharp and diverse. We have to have a firm voice balanced with a soft demeanor. We have to be in control of your emotions yet compassionate for those who might not have any control of theirs.
There is a lot asked of a support worker. A person that chooses this career is obviously, in my perspective, interested in something other than financial wealth or personal fame.
I believe that one of the most valuable returns in such a career is the life lessons and teachings one receives from working so intimately with others.
I have learned such lessons as tolerance, patience, understanding and sense of community from my time as a support worker. I have a depth of understanding of such topics that I do not believe I could have gained from anyone else other than the people that I support everyday.
In fact, I believe that the people I support also supported me.
NAMES
In this book I am referring to people with labels such as: people with disabilities, handicapped, developmentally disabled, people with special needs, people with unique abilities, mentally retarded, developmentally delayed as well as brain injury, autism, elderly, essentially anyone who needs support from another person with their daily living skills.
In the 20 plus years I have been working in group homes, hospitals and community settings, I have heard so many terms for describing the population of people I have been tasked with supporting.
It is amazing to hear so many terms to describe a nation of people who are both brilliant and are in fact such great teachers. I do not think of the people I work with as less than me, so why use any term that describes them as less.
All the labels seem to come from a place of less. “Dis”, as in disabled, meaning less or little, is not how I would describe the people I have worked with. They are no more less than you or I.
Some of them might struggle with education or language or movement, but I assure you that every person I meet, with such a label, has as much to teach as the most educated minds in our culture.
Over the years, I found myself looking for a term that feels comfortable to describe this population as I have seen them. I started by looking at the history of the terms used to describe the people I have supported for many years. Where better to look than at the beginning.
One of the earliest and most known terms I learned about was “retarded”. Retarded was a kinder, clinical way of saying slow. It originates from the French term for slow or delayed. It was never meant to be an insult or slur; until, of course, someone took it and used it in a slanderous manner.
Eventually the language was changed to help support the dignity of the people who where labeled retarded. From retarded to handicapped, to special or disabled the language changes, and so do the insults.
The language used to describe people who need support has been changed many times since and will be changed many times still.
I thought about the dilemma of the every changing label and realized that no matter what term I use, it might, and probably will, be used as slanderous at some point.
The language we use to describe people does not change the underlying issues in our society. So why not find a term that best describes my connection with the people who teach me such profound life lessons?
Writing this book, I knew I had to choose a term to use to describe the people I am talking about.
Slow, handicapped, disabled whatever your label of choice, it seems to describe someone who is lower, less or not part of our normal social expectations. I did not want to use any of these terms for the rest of my book.
Social change can happen dramatically if we can mimetically change the language being used.
I understand the need for technical terms in the medical community. Cardialgia is the medical term for heartburn. However, when I am with my friends, out in the community I use the term heartburn. It describes what is happening and it is culturally understood.
The terms associated with people who need support are often rooted in the medical or clinical languages. “Disabled” literally means not as able to do something. This tem is misleading to me, as I know of no one I have ever met that can accomplish everything.
Everyone on this planet has strengths and weaknesses. We are all able to do something with ease that other people find challenging. Whether it is math, spelling, sports, social relationships, painting, fashion or whatever, we have skills and dis-abilities.
We all need help with plumbing, or taxes, or auto repairs or cooking, whatever the reason why we cannot do it, we are still limited.
While people involved in a clinical system have clear language to describe terms and diagnoses in order to assure clarity in treatment, I believe that we, in the community, have the right and duty to develop our own language that describes the people we work with.
A language that best describes the work we are doing and the people we are working with. A language that honors the people we work with. A language that is clear and easy to use yet deep and changes the system mimetically.
MASTER TEACHERS (M.T.s)
In this book, I want to share some tips that I wish I knew before I started in this field. I want to offer some support to the support workers. I also wish to help refocus what it is we ask from the people we support.
Thinking of the intention of this book I remembered the true reason why I work in this field. It is not for wealth or fame but for the time spent, the learning exchange, with those that I refer to as Master Teachers.
The people whom I have supported are not less and they are not more then anyone else. They are just who they are. I do not try to change them or feel pity for them. I learn from them, and they teach me things that no one else can.
Imagine, moving through your day learning something from every person you interact with. We are all great teachers. Some of us are recognized as being educationally trained or “teachers”, while others might not be aware that they are teaching others.
In a time when there is so much change happening in our world, we have to look at every resource we have to help us respond with those changes.
When greed and anger and force are rampant, those who can help us to practice slowing down, living in the moment and working together are our modern day Master Teachers.
Kindness and Compassion are the most valuable human resources I have ever come across. Being able to practice them with another person has taught me profound lessons about myself and the world around me.
Instead of approaching someone with the goal of teaching him or her what we assume they do not know, I choose to approach someone with an equally open heart.
I am open to teaching them what I know in exchange for teaching me what they know.
From this point on, I will refer to the people who need support as Master Teachers or M.T.’s.
This term is meant to honor the lessons that the people I have supported have taught me about my life and my work.
The term Master Teacher does not mean they are more of a teacher than others; they are however, often neglected teachers and repeatedly ignored by their communities. Feared by some, ridiculed by others and seen as somewhat less by a great number.
M.T.’s might not have a syllabus or a master plan of what to teach you. They might not even be teaching you intentional lessons. What they do is embody the lessons they teach.
I do not practice sympathy or pity towards the people I support. I find no value in feeling sorry for someone. I find that pity and sympathy is a barrier that diminishes both parties involved.
I choose to see each M.T. as a fellow human being.
Each of them are a person that has as much right to be here as anyone else. They are each a person who has as much to share with this world as everyone else.
MEMES
I would like to have a conversation in this book that might ignite conversations in your communities.
There is a term I like to use, that is well used these days, called “memes”. Memes are ideas or behaviors that spreads from person to person in a culture.
Think of what is in fashion or what is cool. Where did this fashion start? How did it get to your town, to your stores, to your wardrobe?
Memes can work for or against a culture.
Language is one of the most powerful tools of memetic change. If the language changes, the conversation changes, thus the idea or behavior will change.
I believe that for people with disabilities to have a greater relationship within their communities and to be fully accepted as part of their communities, we need to change the language.
For me, that language starts with the term Master Teacher (M.T.)
DIRECTION
It is my intention to share with the reader some tips, principles and experiences that I have gained over my career in working with M.T.’s.
This is a small portion of the lessons I will learn over my ever-deepening career. As I write this book, I am still learning and realizing more about patience, understanding, community and tolerance.
Stopping to write this book has been challenging. As I write these words I am working with M.T.’s on a daily basis. I want to change the book everyday, as the lessons I learn grow and change with every day and every M.T.
Every day I show up to work, I am humbled.
My career has spanned over three decades, from the east coast of Canada to the west. I have worked with all types of labels and diagnoses in all types of situations.
From progressive organizations to antique institutions, from the fringe to the mainstream, I have been there.
I remember how it all started.
PRETTY LUCKY
When I was in high school, I spent a lot of my time trying to fit in. I always had a unique style and was aware that it was not an easy fit for the cool crowd.
I gave a lot of thought and time to how I could fit in with the cool kids more. The problem was that I did not pick up on social cues very well. I just did not get the rules of dating, coolness or most of high school behavior.
I remember being in science class when a popular girl, Geena, turned to me and asked what I was doing on Friday night.
She was one of the good girls in the school. I never saw her at any parties. I could not picture her with a drink or cigarette in her hand. She was the most beautiful girl in the school and the smartest.
So when she asked about my plans for the upcoming weekend I was a little unsure about her intentions.
I was a smoker, a light partier and barely passing my classes. Why she was interested in my plans was a mystery, however, not one I was going to leave unanswered.
She told me about a group of teens and young adults and people who needed support. She told me that there are regular dances, camping, parties and more and that there is no cost. I just had to show up.
I agreed to join her and got the location and details for the event.
I showed up not knowing what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did I laugh till my stomach hurt that night, I also met some kind and fun people. I felt relaxed and part of something real and easy. I was free to be myself. No one judged me. I liked that feeling.
I grew from that experience to spend years volunteering, working and educating myself in the field of support services.
Working across the country in many unique communities, organizations and institutions, I have realized that it takes some practice in sustaining my work. It is not an easy calling but a worthwhile and fulfilling one.
COMING UP
I will touch upon 9 topics, in 9 chapters, in this book. Each topic is a practice that I have learned from the M.T.’s that I work with. The topics are not rules or “shoulds”, but practices. You might be aware of a lot of them and have more to share with the people you work with.
I encourage everyone who takes the time to read this book to look at it as a conversation piece.
If I can get people talking about what they have learned about being a front line worker and the skills they have learned from the Master Teachers, then I will feel accomplished.
My intention for this book is to ignite conversation.
These tips are not for you to accept at face value as your truth. If they work for you then great, if you do not agree with them then that is equally great. I am not writing to share a doctrine, I am writing to stimulate and explore start a conversation.
Ever-changing, these practices come from my experiences. Every co-worker I have spent a shift with has his or her own way of practicing support work. What I share with you are the practices that have worked well for me.
I touch on the history of support work, where the calling to work as a front line worker comes from. I also talk about the power of intention. It has become essential to my life to learn the purpose of my work.
In a few chapters I talk about the day-to-day practical side of the work; of working in communities, politics, and how I avoid burn out and keep focused and interested or inspired. I also touch on my commitments to my career and what I hope to see in the coming future for M.T.’s and people who support them.
FREEDOM
We are all on this learning curve together.
Front line support workers have an essential duty to learn how to work well together and how to communicate with all the different people who come through the workplace door.
As front line workers, we are asked to communicate with those who have trouble communicating, with their family, with management, doctors and the educated, as well as the communities we work with.
The M.T.’s we support do not benefit from us fighting or bickering with each other. They do not get anything from us keeping information to ourselves or not communicating it in a way that the doctor, therapist or parent can understand.
To build a healthy community and a healthy work place we can choose to learn how to effect change in a peaceful and efficient manner.
“Alone I travel far.”
There is no great pay off at the end of a career on the front line. There is no big retirement bonus or package.
This is not a solitary career.
Inner strength, patience, humor, joie de vie, love, breathing, self respect, clear boundaries, understanding and the ability to dance with change are needed in this work.
“Together we travel fast.” ~ African proverb
We have a long way to go.
From institutions to modern thought and practices, people have made changes not from shyness or anger but from determination and a constant desire to help the people we are supporting by learning and changing with the M.T.’s we surround our self with.
I have the privilege of going home after work. I have the right to make my own mistakes. I eat what I want when I want and learn how to regulate and enjoy that process. I go into the doctor’s office and they listen to me. I walk into stores and they help me find whatever it is that I am willing to spend some money on.
Most M.T.’s do not have those privileges. Some have people regulating their entire life.
My job is to help M.T.’s get to a point in their life that they can do the same things as I can, in their own way.
Imagine a place where M.T.’s are allowed to make mistakes and learn from them. Imagine a place where an M.T. can walk in our community and be a fully integrated part of our communities.
I know I am not the only one wishing these things for M.T.’s.
I know that a great deal of people are and have been working hard to get to this point. I also know that the silent majority in this work are the front line workers and they are just that, silent.
Front line workers need to understand that it is time to stand up and start talking.
It is time to be part of the conversations. It is time to learn how to advocate and how to change the systems we are working in. It is time to share what we already know.
Hopefully this book will be an initiator for more talk, deeper sharing and maybe a little more celebration of the front line workers. With any luck we might be able to invite the M.T.’s back to the normal social expectations and help them share their gifts with those in need.
If you have spent any time working one on one with a person who needs support, then I celebrate you. I know that some days are magical and some can challenge you deeply. From wiping bums, to cooking meals, cleaning clothes to pushing chairs, no matter what your skills and experiences, I celebrate you and your efforts.
The Way of The Support Worker is a celebration of the unique talents that are required to support others in their lives. This book is as much a sharing of skills as it is a celebration of the front line workers.
“A leader is best
When people barely know he exists
Of a good leader, who talks little,
When his work is done, his aim fulfilled,
They will say, “We did this ourselves.”
― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching