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Supporting Choice and Control
By Onika Bishop

As adults, we all make choices that govern how we live our lives and EPIC works to ensure that people with even the
most significant disabilities have ongoing support to choose to be engaged in meaningful life activities and opportuni-
ties. To do this, we have developed a participant person centered individualized calendar (PPCI calendar) which allows
each person we support to participate in activities that develop their own personal interests or to share common inter-
ests with their peers.

Sometimes, encouraging people with intellectual disabilities to make choices can be challenging. Some people may not
understand what choices are being offered or the words that their support staff are using. However, many of the partic-
ipants we serve at EPIC have their own unique ways of communicating and we have been working on creating and ex-
ploring various methods that they can use to communicate their desired activities to our team. We often use communi-
cation books, videos, and communication apps with non-verbal participants, and for those participants that require less
communications support, we identify and discuss activities that will help them achieve their life goals and objectives.

EPIC’s focus is to ensure participants are developing skills while gaining independence in the process. Some activities
that are commonly seen on the PPCI calendars include bowling, going to movies, learning arts and crafts, searching for
jobs, going to the mall, volunteering in the community, and eating out. Regardless of the activities that are chosen,
there are always opportunities for participants to develop life skills. The PPCI calendars are completed by each partici-
pant monthly with at least 30 days lead time so our teams can plan ahead.

After the PPCI calendar is created, common interest calendars (CI calendars) are then generated to aggregate partici-
pants that have the same interests. These CI calendars are sent home with each person so that their families can stay
informed of their activities. The CI calendars are also flexible, so if someone decides not to participate in an activity that
is on their calendar on a given day, they have the opportunity to participate in another activity of their choice.

With your support, EPIC will continue to develop more innovative ways of making Day Services more person centered
and choice driven, thereby helping people to be actively, consistently, and meaningfully engaged in their own lives re-
gardless of their support needs.

Onika Bishop is the Day Services Assistant Director for EPIC. A former teacher, Onika currently attends UMUC
where she majors in Health Services Management. With over 5 years of experience in the Human Services sec-
tor, Onika expertly oversees overall services of Day Services participants, supervises Day Services managers, and
facilitates EPIC’s person-centered approach to maximize the independence of the people we support.

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