Love Letters from Wildwood: Informed Consent
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- Written by Rebecca Shurtleff
By Kate Napolitano, MA, LCSW, Social Relationships & Sexuality Educator at Wildwood
Welcome to another edition of Love Letters from Wildwood! In this column, we talk about all things love, sex and relationships, often with a special eye towards current events and/or the world of disability. This edition of Love Letters will be about Informed Consent: what it is, why it’s not just about medical stuff, and why I think it’s a good idea for all of us. If you already feel you’re an expert on informed consent as related to sex and social relationships, that’s wonderful! But know this article strives to describe it for those who may not have given much thought to it before.
If you’re interested in learning even more about Informed Consent after reading this, consider coming to our online Informed Consent educational workshop, happening Wednesday, October 28, at 10am. Registration is free, and more information can be found at the end of this article.
Some of you may know “informed consent” as a phrase hospitals and doctors use, based around the big clipboards of paperwork they get you to sign before surgeries or medical treatments. Broadly speaking, applied to almost anything, “informed consent” means:
Informed = Learning as much CORRECT information about something as you can, including the possible good things and possible risks about it, before you...
Consent = say yes to it. And when you say yes, you’ve taken some time to think about the risks and benefits, and whether you still want to move forward.
I love the concept of informed consent. I think it should apply to everything, especially sex, love and relationships. I mean, why say yes to anything without really thinking about what you might get?
Meet Wildwood's Newly-Appointed CEO, Lou Deepe
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- Written by Rebecca Shurtleff
Lou Deepe has been appointed as Wildwood’s next Executive Director, effective January 1, 2021.
Deepe sat down to talk about his career in disability and human services, his vision for the future, and the importance of maintaining Wildwood’s culture as the agency moves forward. Watch the full interview to learn more about his history, and to see his perspective on transitioning to the new role: https://youtu.be/SnNjDJ1uHlM
Deepe started his career in human services in 1993, when a friend suggested a job at an ARC group home. With no previous experience knowing or supporting an individual with disabilities, he says it was initially a bit “overwhelming.” Since then, however, his family experienced – as many have – the joys and challenges that come with having a family member diagnosed with autism.
After starting as a Residential Direct Support Professional (DSP), over the many years in the field Deepe worked in a variety of positions, including as a job coach and teacher’s assistant, and in Community Habilitation and Respite Services, giving him a unique perspective on working inside the family home to support an individual. Eventually, Lou made the transition into an administrative position. He began working with Wildwood in 2008, in a Day Services administrative role, before moving on to being the Chief Operating Officer (COO) four years ago.
“I loved having a direct, positive impact on peoples’ lives when I was in those direct support roles,” says Deepe. “As I moved into more of a leadership role, I realized that I could have a different kind of impact on peoples’ lives. It was maybe…more indirect, but it had even more profound implications for their overall quality of life.” Creating a positive impact on staff was another fulfilling aspect found within having an administrative role –Deepe champions the workforce, boards, and community partners for their roles at Wildwood.
Stepping into the new position will come with challenges, namely those presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Deepe says a primary short-term goal is to continue safely navigating the pandemic, and focus on the fiscal challenges that lie ahead. Long-term goals include fostering the culture of respect, integrity, creativity, and holism at Wildwood, investing in diversity, and a measurement of impact.
Wildwood has a longstanding reputation for having accessible, responsive Executive Directors. Like Mary Ann Allen and Ginny Rossuck before him, Deepe would like to continue the tradition of being available to staff, individuals, families and the community. Virtual “meet and greets” will be held in the future, and Deepe has plans to get out and meet people face-to-face as soon as the safety regulations allow. He believes that these conversations will help inform decision making, and provide valuable insight to the Executive Management team.
Longevity and the continuation of support are important factors in Deepe’s decision to stay in the human services field and at Wildwood. Building relationships with individuals and their families over the course of many years helps strengthen knowledge and understanding, creating those positive impacts he speaks of. “Whenever you can have a positive impact for someone, that keeps you coming back. That gets you through the hard times. That is what keeps people here [at Wildwood] for 20, 30, 40 years.”
As he looks forward to the future and his transition into the Executive Director/CEO position, Deepe would like people to know that, “in Wildwood, you have a committed, full partner. We will be there every step. We will be relentless in our advocacy for you, our support of you, and we will listen. We are not an organization that thinks we know everything – you know everything. You know what you need, you know what you want, your families know what you need and want. Tell us, and our job is to make that happen.”
Love Letters from Wildwood: Online Safety
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- Written by Rebecca Shurtleff
Love Letters from Wildwood: Online Safety
By Kate Napolitano, Social Relationships & Sexuality Educator at Wildwood
Welcome to another edition of Love Letters from Wildwood. In Love Letters, we talk about all things love, sex, and relationships – often with a focus on current events and/or the world of disability.
Today, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on online safety, and offer some tips. Online Safety is a BIG topic. It will be covered in more depth at an online workshop tomorrow, September 30; registration information has been included at the bottom of this article for those interested!
I think it might be an understatement to say that, here in 2020, our relationship to the internet has continually evolved all year. Some people are using the internet who have never used it much before; some are using it more than ever, for almost all their work and play; and some of us are in between, still figuring out what internet use may be temporary, and what may be permanent change.
To me, the Internet feels (virtually!) like New York City: it has some marvelous, fun, unique, bucket-list-able experiences not to miss! But it’s also possible to get into danger of some kind in about ten seconds, so to speak, if you do not pay attention to what you’re doing.
To help navigate the Internet more safely, there are two big things that you may be able to put into in place (if you haven’t already):