Valuable Lessons from Dr. Tom Pomeranz

Since his first visit to The Arc of Schuyler in February 2010, The Arc has been implementing lessons imparted by Dr. Tom Pomeranz. A firm believer that people with developmental disabilities should be enabled to make meaningful contributions to their communities, Pomeranz has had considerable influence on our organization culture and our plans for the future. Many of Pomeranz’ maxims have become tools of guidance that our staff communicate to each other daily.

“Don’t care for people; care about them.” - Instead of performing daily activities for people, we teach people how to take action for themselves, provide support at the level they need, encourage them as they develop their skills, and congratulate them when they’ve achieved their goal.

“Not no, but how?” - The Arc seeks all possible avenues to ensure that the people we support are able to participate in activities and events they desire, and help them to make choices about how they can make meaningful contributions to their community. If they come up against a roadblock on their path to success, we work with the people we support to break through or find an alternative way for them to achieve their goals.

“Is it good enough for me?” - We’ve become accustomed to asking ourselves this question about the services and supports we provide to people, because if what we are providing isn’t something we would want for ourselves or our family, we don’t want it for the people we support. We are looking forward to our training workshop with Dr. Pomeranz on January 26 when he will discuss another lesson with us, “An adult is determined by virtue of age not intellect.”

Certainly, Pomeranz’s influence is guiding The Arc to adopt new approaches to providing supports, and that involves change. And while change isn’t always easy, it’s exciting, and in our case will benefit our organization and the people we support. In addition to Dr. Pomeranz’s maxims, we also guide ourselves with this: “Be the change you would like to see in the world.” - Mahatma Gandhi.

Dr. Thomas Pomeranz is a nationally recognized authority, trainer, clinician and consultant in the field of services for people with disabilities. Learn more at www.universallifestiles.com.