Disability personnel: roles, training & professional issues

In this chapter, we discuss the wide range of people whose work involves supporting people with developmental disabilities referred to as disability personnel (see Box 1). The work of all disability personnel is essential for people with disabilities to enable them to live in communities in ways that promote their quality of life. As noted in Box 1, many such personnel work in community settings; others work directly within a wide variety of structures, systems, and processes that are usually referred to, collectively, as service organizations. Service organizations typically employ disability personnel in the form of managers and supervisors, policy makers, frontline practitioners of various types, and support staff. Some frontline practitioners are family members or friends of the individual being supported.