Michelle Murphy left the corporate world 19 years ago and became a direct support professional (DSP) when her sister strongly suggested she come to work with her at her workshop job. Michelle is now a DSP Certified-1 at Arc Mid-Hudson in Kingston, New York.

In this episode of A Closer Look, Michelle talks about her article in Frontline Initiative and how she uses the NADSP Code of Ethics Tenet 5: Justice, Fairness, and Equity to improve the quality of life for the people she supports. She dives deeper into how she gets to know them as people and how that and the COE help her navigate sensitive topics that might affect their quality of life.

Read Michelle Murphy's story: Ethical Practice is About Learning Side-By-Side with the Person Supported

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Frontline Initiative

NADSP Code of Ethics

Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota

National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP)

- Hi, my name is Chet Cheddar

and I'll be your host for a closer look

where we'll explore the most current

and relevant topics covered

in Frontline Initiative,

which is a magazine produced

by the National Alliance

for Direct Support

Professionals in partnership

with the University of

Minnesota's Institute on

Community Integration.

If you're wondering what

Frontline Initiative is all about,

it's about the work that direct

support professionals do on

a day-to-Day basis as they

support people with intellectual

and developmental disabilities.

I'll be talking to authors

and taking a closer look

at current practices,

tools, and resources.

So buckle up and let's hear

what the authors have to say.

Today I get the opportunity

to talk with Michelle Murphy.

My co-editor, Julie

Raey, had the opportunity

to interview Michelle a few months ago.

From that interview, came an

article in the last edition

of Frontline Initiative,

which was focused on DSPs

using the code of ethics.

The article was called Ethical

Practice is About Learning

Side by Side with the Person Supported.

Let's get started talking with

Michelle about that article.

Welcome, Michelle. We're so

happy to have you here today.

On a closer look, please tell

us a little bit about yourself

and one fun fact.

- Hello, Chet. Thanks so much

for having me here today.

My name is Michelle Murphy.

I'm with the ARC Mid Hudson

in the lovely Hudson Valley

in New York State.

I am A DSP certified first.

I've been A DSP for about 19 years,

and it's a job I've always loved.

I left it and came back to it

because I liked it so much.

- That's so brilliant.

- Right? That's kind of nice.

My sister is a person

who receives supports at

a provider organization

and she's the person who

referred me to the job.

Initially, she told me, I

know you don't like your job,

and I was like, wearing a

suit to work, pushing paper.

She said, I know you don't like

working with all that paper.

Why don't you come work where I work?

She worked in the workshop at the time

and I don't know, she, I guess

she just saw something in me

and it, it turned out

to be MCC claim to fame.

I ended up working here

at this organization

because the person who trained me said,

get outta what you're doing.

Come back. So I did like,

all right, I'm easy.

Sounds good. I just

wanted to find the work

that really meant something

to me that fed my soul

and made me feel like I was

making a difference somewhere.

Rather than just kind

of running the rat race

and pushing around paper

and helping people manage their wealth.

I wanted to find my wealth,

whether that was a whole pile

of money or something else.

Sometimes we find one,

sometimes we find the other.

You know, you never know.

I'm also the local administrator

for the EBA Academy here

at our organization.

It's, I don't know that it's a

highly sought after position.

It's one that I truly

value and I really enjoy.

I'm also a certified ESP

and I'm in the program now.

I'm in the Micro-credentialing program.

I went back to college

after 20 something years,

which was daunting,

and I bit off a little

more than I can chew.

So it's been a little

stressful, to say the least.

But I made it through

this first semester back.

I'm gonna end up with nine credits

and a DS P two certification,

so that's exciting.

I still work as a DSP on

- Call.

That's fantastic. Yeah.

What a career and good for

you for making a career change

and trying something else that would,

would really feel fill your soul. Right,

- Right.

Yeah. You know, there

was a little piece of it

that was like, desperation.

You gotta make money.

We have to be out there making

money one way or another.

So I wanted to do it in a way

that meant something to me

and to my family,

and that I thought I

could see myself doing

for the long haul.

There were a lot of

people that told me, nah,

you are never gonna make

the money in that field.

You should go do something else

so you can actually make good money.

And I thought, well, if

money is the only thing I'm

after, I could do anything

there is, you know, so I might

as well make it meaningful.

And so there's always

overtime to be had. Right,

- Right.

And I love that you

come with a perspective

of a family member

and that must just really go

a long way in, in how you,

how you do your work,

but also how you interact with other DSPs.

'cause I believe you do some

training with new DSPs that's,

and their role to help

them understand really from

that human perspective,

how important the work is that they do.

- Yeah, and I'll tell you,

Chet, the majority of people

that I meet that come in as

new hires or that are here

and working with us, that

I'm training in Strategies

for Crisis Intervention

and Prevention or CPR

or even in the EBA Academy,

they're people with a lot

of personal experience as well.

You are hard pressed to go

out into your own community

and not find a person that

has a different ability.

- Right. Yeah. Whether

- It's on paper or not.

And I think that the people

that we find, the people

that are drawn to this

field are like-minded

and like-hearted,

and they have some similar experience,

if not a little more

individualistic and different,

- Yeah.

Yeah. So let's talk a

little bit about the article

that you wrote for Frontline Initiative.

And it was in the last

edition, which was called

Direct Support Professionals

using the N-A-D-S-P.

So that's the National Alliance

for Direct Support

Professionals Code of Ethics,

which is a document that's

been around for several years

and it has nine different tenants in it.

And when you look at that issue

of the Frontline initiative,

you'll see that we've

got different examples,

different stories and articles

and some videos connected to

each one of those tenants.

The tenant that you wrote

about really had to do

with social justice and

those sorts of things.

So why don't you tell us

a little bit about the

article you wrote.

I know that there was

questions about language

and how someone was using

it, that person supported,

and how you kind of worked

with that situation.

- I'll tell you what, it was a challenge

to write the article and

find the correct words.

It was a challenge to

find the right words,

even when I was having the

conversation with the person,

and it happened over time.

I'll start, and I'll probably

end with that piece that it,

it occurred over time.

So I worked in a group

home environment as a DSP,

and the person I supported

was a woman of color,

and she often identified herself

and other people of color as

quote unquote colored people.

And she was, you know, born

in the end of the fifties

and raised in the sixties.

And, you know, grew up around

that timeframe that I did not,

I'm a a bit younger.

I was born at the end of the seventies

and, you know, grew up in the eighties.

So I, I was shocked the

first time I heard it

and I thought, oh, oh,

that's interesting, huh.

And I, it made me just

start to think about this

person's perspective.

Maybe I started to kind

of ask questions here

and there about when the person grew up

and you know, things like, what kind

of music did the person listen to?

What kind of clothing did they

wear? Where did they live?

Where did they go to school?

What did they do for fun?

Like, all the things that you

wanna learn about the people

that you're supporting, to find

out who they are as a human.

But also dialogue like

that is hard to come

by in a time when

wokeness is not the most accepted thing.

And if you're not quite

saying things correctly

or appropriately, or

understanding things correctly

or appropriately, you may be

caught off guard in social

situations or you could offend somebody.

And so I wanted to help this person

to understand while I learned as well.

- Yeah. I was gonna ask,

when you say wokeness,

could you explain what that means? Yes.

- Oh, to me, wokeness means

that you are of, of the mindset

that appreciates

and understands different

people who they are

and how they identify

themselves outside of

oppressive language,

outside of social stigma

or social oppression or discrimination.

And so applying terminology

that's, you know,

not outdated is to me a more woke concept.

Sure, thank you. You know,

considering who the person is

and how they prefer to be

identified, who would, how they,

I, you know, how they identify

themselves culturally,

personally, sexually,

physically, however it is,

and finding that out

before you apply

generalized terms to people.

I think it's similar in the

way that our organizations

identify themselves as well.

So I work for a provider

organization called the arc.

It was not always called the arc.

This organization was termed

the acronym A RC, which stands

for the R word.

It right smack in the middle

of it, identifying a population

of people that have been oppressed

and could be offended by that word.

So when we knew better, we did better.

And you know, the a US

said, we've gotta rebrand.

If we're gonna represent people,

we should use updated terminology

that does not oppress them.

And I think that's a

first step in respect.

So if I was gonna respect

this woman who I supported

and who I cared for very much,

I got along with her very well.

We had a lot of fun. It was

also extremely challenging at

times, you know, as it is with humans.

But when she identified herself

in that way, I thought, Hmm,

there's a way we can do this better.

I wonder how I'm gonna do that.

Is it my job to change her mind?

And who am I to say, you

shouldn't say those words.

You could offend somebody else.

- Right, right. And just,

it made you uncomfortable,

but it didn't make her uncomfortable.

So no, kind of figuring

out what to do with that.

- Right. So I just started

talking 'cause that's what I do.

I talk, but there was also another

woman that was at the table with us,

another person offering support,

who was a woman of color.

And I thought, all right, I'm

gonna leave this with you.

You know, like, what have we got?

And she kind of looked

at me and we both kind

of approached it together,

but I just, I had the

conversation and I started it

and I said, what, how

does that make you feel?

What do you think about those words?

Is there anybody that

you think might ever be

upset to hear that?

Or, you know, did anybody

ever call you that?

And you were upset about it?

And, you know, the conversation

kind of went from there

and it wasn't so bad.

You know, she didn't

necessarily shut me down.

I had to gauge understanding as well.

And so it wasn't just

that one conversation.

It kind of happened a couple

of times, like over time.

And I had to like, try the words out first

before they came out of my mouth, just

so I didn't say things wrong.

And I came from the right perspective.

I wanted to, I wanted it to

be a teaching moment rather

than, and a learning moment for,

- For me, a learning moment.

Yeah, absolutely.

Learning where she's coming from and,

and being sensitive as

a white person who are, who are you to ask

that question, right?

There had to be some

humbling with, with that.

And how do I, for sure. How

do I approach this in the most

sensitive and supportive way?

- Absolutely. When you

think about, you know,

I talk about social stigma sometimes

and how it's applied to

people that we support people

with intellectual and developmental

disability in classes.

And I, I ask the people

like, well, well, what kind

of stigma's attached to

this, this, these labels

that people are carrying around with them?

You need the label to get

certain kinds of healthcare.

You need a diagnosis or a

label to get social services.

But is it, you know, where does that stop?

Where, what else does a label do for you?

What else does a label do

to you when you, you kind

of section yourself out from other people,

and how do you get back to the

commonalities that you have

with other people in your own community?

And the stigma basically

says that, well, these people

that are receiving services

are just kind of leaching off

of the social system and

not contributing to society.

And I find that to be a gross

misrepresentation. Absolutely.

Because the people I support

certainly are contributing

to their society and their communities.

They just need the opportunity

to have visibility the way

that they wanna have it,

and be part of conversations

that they have not been

historically part of.

- Right. Yeah.

So when you started having

that conversation with her

and the other person, how,

how was that received?

And I guess one thing before

I even ask that question is,

I would imagine you really had to, and,

and you wanted to build some

real relationship with her

before you even had that conversation.

It also sounds like you

did a little research.

- Yeah, I took to the interwebs.

I made sure that I was, you know,

getting the information I

needed to say things correctly.

I talked to people that I knew

and said, what do you think

about this conversation?

And I came to the conclusion

that I needed to have the, the,

I needed to talk about it.

And it was okay for me to

talk about it in my role.

And part of my obligation was

to help to equip this person

and prepare them to be in their community

and be safe and healthy.

And if that meant educating them on

more contemporary language

or better ways to communicate

with people in their

community than that worked.

So if they're just seen as people

that are not really talking

to anyone behind counters

or walking on the street

or in social groups, they're

just being spoken for

by their direct support professionals

or whoever their representatives are,

then the person doesn't have any autonomy.

Right. And that tells me that

the person's self-image is

just based on somebody else's expectation

or somebody else's view of

them, rather than figuring out

what the person's view is of herself.

And I thought, all right, do

you see yourself this way?

And what does that look like for you?

You know, how do you

feel about these words?

If someone called you that, would it,

would you feel any way about?

And she wasn't sure.

And I said, all right,

well think about it.

You know, I want you to

consider, there's another way

that you can state this.

You could call yourself, here's

my name, my name is Annie.

Or you could say, I'm a woman of color.

Or you could say, you know, X, Y, Z,

whatever else felt comfortable.

I said, but let's look at it together.

Let's talk about it together for a minute.

And she was like, okay.

She was sweet like that.

Okay. And I was like, alright.

- And ultimately, I'm sorry, go ahead.

- That's all right. I, I

never heard her call herself

a colored woman again.

Well, I didn't hear her say

the words again, personally.

Maybe she said it outside of

my presence. I'm not sure.

I didn't dive super deep into it.

I just wanted to be sure

to have the conversation.

Something else I did was also

let the other team members

know this is what I said,

this is how we said it.

You know, think about it.

Like these kind, it's not

just that conversation.

There are other conversations to be had.

What if the person

doesn't feel comfortable

with the gender they were assigned?

What if the person

doesn't feel comfortable

with the sexuality that you

assume they should have?

Right. So these are conversations

to be had for people.

We're supporting people that are adults.

They're not children.

- Right. And, and

- They're not our children.

- It's so important to have

the conversations, especially

to really get to know someone

and who, who they are as a person.

Yeah. Right. That's why,

that's why you got into

this field as a DSP.

'cause you wanted to get to know people

and support them to, to

live their best life.

- Truly. I really wanted somebody

to be out there other than me

to do that for my sister too.

- No doubt. No doubt.

Michelle, another thing that

you wrote about in your article

that I found really interesting,

and I would bet it happens

a lot, unfortunately,

you wrote about an example of

some folks going out for

ice cream on Friday night

and some people supported with their,

with their staff members.

And what you learned

during your conversation

with someone was that

they didn't really like the

mint chocolate chip ice cream

that was ordered for them

each time they went out.

But they didn't wanna say anything

'cause they didn't wanna make waves.

Talk more about this

and what suggestions do you have for DSPs

who are supporting people

to make their own decisions?

- Well, my suggestion, my number

one suggestion for DSPs is

to get to know each individual person

and ask the questions,

what's your favorite flavor of ice cream?

What kind of music do

you like to listen to?

What are your favorite movies?

And if they don't have

answers, then it might be time

to just start diving in

and saying, well let's

try a couple, right?

Like, do you like horror

films? Do you like comedy?

Do you like action? Let's

go out to the movies.

Let's rent some movies from the red box

outside the grocery store,

if they still have those.

I don't even know.

- I think they do. My friend

- Told me

that she took her young

children to the the mall

to go watch a movie and

they said, what's a mall?

And I was like, no, what's

happening in our society?

- Times are changing.

- Oh no, what's 'em all?

Just ask the question. So

I became an an interviewer

for an organization called Council on

Quality and Leadership.

And they're an organization

that you invite in

and they kind of help

you pull apart everything

that you're doing as an organization

to see where you can do better.

You know, help us, you know,

dot our i's and cross our T's.

And as that interviewer, I had to go out

and kind of invite myself

to people's dining tables

for a cup of tea or something

and say, I've got 47 questions

to ask you on this list,

but I'm gonna make it into

a conversation to assure

that you're receiving all the

services that you require,

that you prefer to have.

You're getting where you're going.

And one of the questions was,

do you have the favorite

flavor ice cream you

want in the freezer?

And do you go get it yourself?

Or does somebody know about it?

Also to ensure that people were

free from abuse and neglect

and understood what that meant.

So there were a whole bunch of questions,

and this is the question that came up

and the person said, yeah,

we go out every Friday,

everybody goes in the big

van, there's a bunch of staff

and everybody gets all the same

ice cream and we go together

and it's great fun

and who doesn't like to

go out for ice cream?

But she said, I said, well,

what flavor of ice cream do you get?

She said, me chocolate

chip. And I was like,

that sounds disgusting.

- I know you love it or you hate it.

- My least favorite flavor ever.

And I was like, well, haven't

you ever tried anything else?

Baskin Robins? And she just said,

nah, I just don't, I

don't wanna make waves.

I don't say anything.

Just wanna enjoy the time

and not have to make

anyone do any extra work.

I think there's an element

of when you're the person

receiving services,

accommodations assistance

day in and day out,

and being told you have a disability

and this means you

can't do certain things,

then you're less likely to put a lot

of pressure on the people

that are helping you.

A, you don't want anybody

to get an attitude with you,

you don't want anybody to not help you.

You just kind of wanna be

sweet and kind to them,

even though it might

be phony sometimes just

to keep things moving.

And while the staff are genuine

and well trained and skilled

and you know, compassionate,

- Well-intentioned many times.

- Absolutely. You kind

of miss some things if the

person's not telling you

accurately, this is what's

happening inside my body

and my heart, in my mind.

How are you to know we don't

all have a crystal ball

and it always doesn't tell

us the the right information.

Right. I'm still waiting for

the winning lottery numbers,

you know, I'm still waiting

- Just taking the time to ask

questions, but to also listen.

Yeah. Like really listen

and really loved how you talked

about people may not have,

you know, the experience

of having seen a bunch

of different types of movies

or taste of different sorts of

ice creams, whatever that is.

So let's give them that

experience so they know what it is

and they can make a decision

and they don't have to have the same ice

cream every time they go.

Right, right. I don't, I

get something different.

Everybody wants to have those experiences

- Sure.

And know where to find them.

I think that's a key as well.

It's part of, you know,

our core competencies,

but also that code of

ethics that says equity.

So just because things are out there

and available to everyone

doesn't mean everyone has access

to them or knows how to access them.

So I'm working with team members

that are not very well

versed on technology.

So the technology's available,

but they need some education.

Same with the people with I'M

that I might be supporting.

Yes, there are tons of

opportunities and options out there,

but if they don't know how

to attain those choices,

then it's good as not being available.

I just think it's

important for us to ensure

that everyone knows how

to get to the things

that they want inde as

independently as they can.

- And as DSPs, we are

sometimes that vehicle for

opening up those doors, if you will,

or those windows so that people know

that there are other choices out there.

And sure. Feel confident

to try something different

or ask questions.

Yeah. That's, that's part of our role

as DSPs to do that. Yeah.

- Right. And I think it's respect,

it's respecting the

other person as a human,

as an autonomous being

and giving people the tools

that they need to just ask.

You said confidence,

confidence is built over time.

I'm not confidently balancing a checkbook

until I've had some education on it.

I've practiced it a bunch of times

and I've done it well

consistently, then I'm confident.

So the people we're supporting,

even though they're well

into their adulthood

and they have a whole world of experience

beyond my age range, even if

you just think about the lapse

of time, but they're experience

poor in a lot of areas.

Yeah. So I think I talked about

decision making in different

areas in that article as well.

And when we talk about, you know, consent,

we talk about this, so is

a person able to consent

for medical services,

consent in sexual na sexual nature, and,

and how do we decide whether

a person can consent in one

area or another?

Maybe there are assessments,

we have educational sessions

with them, maybe it's just conversations

or we're watching YouTube videos

or you know, we're using

different kinds of platforms

to ensure the person understands

the thing we're trying

to communicate with them

and then give them a chance

to take a risk, you know,

that's sheltered enough, but

gives 'em some independence

and autonomy as well to make a mistake

and to maybe fall flat on their face.

- And that's part of the

human experience, right?

Absolutely.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

I support a, a man who just turned 50

and he wanted to learn how to play guitar.

And so his family was able to set up

guitar lessons with a, a person who

has some music therapy

in their background.

And after playing guitar

for a while, they realized

that he also really likes

to sing and he's never sang

before in front of other people.

Yeah. And so to have that

experience at almost 50 years old,

to be able to say, I really enjoy singing

and doing it is really like,

wow, I wish he would've had

that confidence and support to

do that years and years ago,

but I'm so glad he has it now.

Yeah, what a great way to express himself.

- Oh, for sure. And how happy,

how joyful must that make him?

- He feels really proud about that. Yeah.

- That's so nice. It just

made me think about, you know,

who I thought I was when

I was a young person

and I had certain skills or talents

and then maybe, you know,

abandon those talents.

Like I used to be a musician,

I used to be a singer, I used

to be like a competitive swimmer.

And then for years I just

didn't do those things

and I didn't ident identify

myself as a musician

or an athlete anymore.

Like, who am I now?

And people we're supporting get to go

through those like seasons of life too.

- Absolutely. I mean, we all do.

That's part of, again,

the human experience

and how we, we wanna live our lives is

by having different experiences and Yeah.

And trying different things.

And how do you know what

you like if you never

get to try it, right?

Yeah. Yeah.

So Michelle, any final words

as we kinda wrap up here

that you have for DSPs

and even frontline supervisors

when they're thinking about,

you know, using the code

of ethics to, to kind

of guide their work,

not only in this particular

tenet on justice, fairness

and equity, but in any of them?

That was a really big question.

- It was a big question. I think I have a

decent sized answer.

- Right? I bet you do.

- I found my career in this field

and I value my

position as a direct support person.

I value my position as an, as a, a leader

and a trainer in the field as well.

But I continue to grow

and learn as best I can

because I know that people

change, circumstances change,

our systems change,

and I kind of wanna be

part of that change.

I wanna be part of that growth.

And I know that the best

way to do the work that I do

or to provide the services

that we provide is to continue

to grow with the people

that we're supporting.

So if you start first

with that individual,

you follow this code.

I mean, you could even

follow it so loosely.

I even if you follow

this code at baseline,

just assignments every day just to get

by a person has a decent quality of life.

But I found that it was so

rewarding when I really pushed

myself a bit, when I

really pushed the card.

I tried to make a little

change here and there

and just baby steps the same

way that we do, you know,

life plans

or, you know, reaching any goal,

really break it down into

like bite-sized pieces

that are manageable.

You can be really successful

and feel like you made a

difference in a person's life.

I also would want to warn people

to not attach their success

to another person's success in

that the plans that are made

with people receiving support

do not indicate whether you're

doing a great job or not.

You know, if the person you

supported Chet did not discover

that they were a singer or you

know, gave up on the guitar

after the first lesson, it

doesn't mean that you failed.

It means that the person

decided, eh, I tried it.

Thanks for the chance. Let's

try something different.

You know, I want, I wanna encourage people

to not be discouraged

when they don't see leaps

and bounds of progress immediately

because we live in a culture

of bigger, better, faster.

I need it now. I needed it yesterday.

You know, that instant

gratification of things like Netflix

and YouTube, like, I don't

know, go find the mall, walk

around for a bit,

Really take the time

to discover who you are

as a professional and how

you can lend to the services

and improve that quality of

life of the person supported.

And I think that can be done

in a, in a million ways.

It just starts with the human.

- Absolutely. Yep.

We're all here about the people we support

and how to help them live

the life they wanna live,

try things they wanna try

and that helps us be better humans.

- Absolutely. Yeah.

I think at the end of the day

when you've given a person

respect and attention, you've listened

and they know that you're genuine

and that they can count on you,

I think that's, that's enough

that that can help you.

It can help guide you through some

of the most difficult choices

and decisions that people make.

Like, let's say one doctor says

that this surgery on your, your,

your C spine can save your life.

Another doctor says you

won't survive the recovery.

And so then you look at this

individual getting these,

these diagnoses or these prognosis

and saying, what do you wanna do?

And then you have to listen

to the person whether

you agree with it or not.

You know, that's a big decision.

If you're just, if you're just

leading by, you know, looking

for a textbook desk, a textbook definition

or a code that says, here's

our rule book right here.

It's not gonna be good for

every individual person. Right.

It just doesn't work that way. Right.

- Yeah. The code of ethics are a guide

and they're not going to

answer every question.

They're just gonna help

guide you along. Yeah.

I also really love, you know,

collaborating with other DSPs

and, and you know,

getting some other input

and another point of

view that can be really,

really helpful when supporting people.

- Absolutely. - Alright Michelle,

this has been fantastic.

I can't wait to have

you back again sometime,

so you're gonna have to

write another article.

Oh,

oh no,

- I can't wait.

- Oh. But we are so thankful

for you, Michelle, for the work

that you do, for the joy that you are

and for the joy that

you bring those people

that you are supporting

and also, you know, supporting

as coworkers and, and DSPs

and getting trained on

how to do their job.

So thank you for all of that.

- Oh, thank you so much.

That's so lovely to hear.

I appreciate those kind words, Chad.

And it's a pleasure to talk

with you and to work with you

and Julie and the team at

the University of Minnesota.

Thank you for the work that you are doing.

We have to do it together.

That's what makes a

movement, right? Absolutely.

People getting together

with the same idea.

I'm happy to write more articles.

Listen, we all have so

many stories to tell

and important stories

that we can learn from.

- Yeah. I can't wait. Alright.

Thank you so much, Michelle.

- Thank you.