Your Values, My Values: Multicultural Services In Developmental Disabilities

Your Values, My Values: Multicultural Services in Developmental Disabilities

About the AuthorLilah Morton Pengra earned her doctorate in anthropology in 1975 from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, with special interest areas in sociolinguistics and American ethnic groups. She has taught anthropology for Kenyon College in Ohio and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Pengra has also taught transcultural nursing for South Dakota State University.Her practice of anthropology in the human services included four years providing direct services in a retirement center and five years directing an agency providing vocational and residential supports to adults with developmental disabilities. In her book, Pengra draws on her experiences working with Norwegian Americans and German Americans as well as Lakotas from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.Dr. Pengra currently works as a cultural specialist with Multicultural Consulting Services. Her activities include giving workshops to promote multicultural competence, consulting with teams to design assessments for specific cultural differences, and assisting agencies and businesses to develop cultural diversity policies and procedures. She can be contacted at lilah@rapidnet.com.The author combines her experiences working with adults with developmental disabilities and her background in anthropology to offer practical methods for discovering variations in values, and shows how to apply these strategies to support self-advocacy, facilitate community inclusion, and interpret challenging behavior. Topics covered include sensitive areas such as cleanliness, theft, relationships, and anger. Includes assessment questionnaires for use with clients. Pengra directs a consulting service. Her practice of anthropology in the human services included five years as the director of an agency serving adults with developmental disabilities. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)