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| Current Issues | No.65 October 2013 |

L’Arche, a Community of People with Disabilities and the University Graduate in the Allied Health Fields: A Potential Collaboration
Christine C. Milner

Abstract

Sport Science Departments on university campuses are well positioned to prepare students for careers in allied health fields and play a key role in advising future graduates on post-graduation career strategies. Many students, upon completion of an undergraduate degree, seek transitional experiences between university and post-graduate education. L’Arche communities, for people with intellectual disabilities, provide a unique opportunity for these students to learn life-changing skills and redefine their attitudes about disability. While much has been written about L’Arche communities in general, this paper seeks to examine the potential benefits to be gained from this immersion experience for the college graduate. Eight adults who perform the role of “assistant” at L’Arche Portland were interviewed over a two week period. Their comments support the literature regarding the potential for deeply transforming experiences that can occur in this environment. Thus, a case can be made for encouraging graduates to seek such an experience as a complement to their academic preparation for careers in the allied health fields.

Keywords:L’Arche, disabilities, allied health fields, sport science

L’Arche, a Community of People with Disabilities and the University Graduate in the Allied Health Fields: A Potential Collaboration

Graduates going into the allied health fields of physical and occupational therapies, medicine, adapted physical education, special education and therapeutic recreation will carry with them important perceptions and attitudes regarding disability. These perceptions are shaped by courses in their respective curriculums and the experiences that supplement cognitive learning. During their undergraduate experience, fieldwork, internships and service-learning experiences can all contribute to sharpened perspectives that will serve them well in future allied health careers. As a next step, many graduates choose to take time off between university studies and graduate school. Immersion experiences such as living and working in a L’Arche community can be a valuable transitional step in pursuit of a career in the allied health fields.

This paper will include a general description of the L’Arche movement, the potential for personal transformation through participation in such a community and an analysis of potential benefits for university graduates who might seek a future career in the allied health fields.

L’Arche: An Overview

L’Arche is a worldwide community of homes that exists to meet the needs of people with disabilities. The movement was founded by Jean Vanier in a small French town when he invited two people with intellectual disabilities to live with him in his home (Vanier, 1989). Vanier is a prolific writer and speaker and his writings continue to form the groundwork for the L’Arche movement.

L’Arche communities are homes where people with and without disabilities share all aspects of daily life together. “Core members” (individuals with intellectual disabilities) and “assistants” (individuals who provide care) share the necessary tasks of daily life such as cooking, cleaning, shopping and personal care. More importantly, they share in the struggles and joys of life, with special emphasis on jointly discovering the richness experienced by living in community together.

But L’Arche is much more than a physical community of people sharing life together.

Reflecting on L’Arche, Hryniuk (2010) clearly articulates the uniqueness of this community by focusing on the demonstration of love that emerges between the caregiver and the one who is receiving care in a spirit of mutuality and reciprocity. To the casual observer, L’Arche appears to exist to meet the physical and social needs of the core members. The mystery of L’Arche emerges when these needs are provided in an atmosphere of love that transcends chores and meals (Hryniuk, 2010). “One cannot separate the tenderness of a glance of recognition between an assistant and a person with a learning disability over the dinner table or in the bathroom from the sheer physicality of washing dishes or cleaning floors together” (Hryniuk, 2010, p. 92). The dinner hour is one of the most visible representations of this community. The conversation surrounding the nightly meal is savoured and enjoyed, representing spiritual and social renewal (Vanier, 1989; Webb-Mitchell, 2003).

Current Inquiry

The invitation to spend two weeks at Neahkahnie House in Portland, Oregon provided the opportunity to study this unique immersion experience first-hand. Eight assistants were interviewed for approximately one hour each. Each assistant was given the following four questions prior to the interview: What is your educational background/other work experience? What led you to pursue a place in the L’Arche community? How have you grown through this experience? What does L’Arche mean to you? Permission was granted to use the transcript of their interviews anonymously. Names have been changed to further protect the identity of the core members. The interviewees were between the ages of 23-42 with varying years of service (ranging from 2 weeks to 12 years).

Transformative Experiences

It was found through these interviews that this shared experience had tremendous growth potential for assistants. Assistants, often young college graduates, come to L’Arche to serve those who are considered weak by the world’s standards. But, as they confront their own brokenness and vulnerability, they discover a shared humanity with those they serve (Reynolds, 2008). According to Hryniuk (2010), as they drop barriers and defenses while working with those who need their care, a “deep transformation of their own personality” (p. 5) occurs. They “discover in this relationship a radical acceptance by the other that frees them to be more fully who they are” (Hryniuk, 2010, p. 141). The mutuality and growth that is embedded in these interactions between core members and assistants through self-discovery leads to greater maturity.

In interviews with assistants, they described how the vulnerability and mutuality they experience with the core members changed them forever. One assistant described his transformation in these words: “But ultimately, somehow mysteriously and in new and profound ways, I have discovered my own acceptance. That is, I am fully loved and fully accepted and fully worthy” (Anonymous, personal communication, September 16, 2011). Another described it this way: “I have a place of belonging. I am accepted no matter what.” (Anonymous, personal communication, September 14, 2011).

Cultivating Patience and Gentleness

Patience and gentleness are emphasised and practiced in L’Arche communities. Swinton, in his introduction to Living gently in a violent world: The prophetic witness of weakness by Hauerwas and Vanier (2008), reminds us that gentleness is a skill learned over time. Patience is required and demonstrated as core members are slowly prepared for the day’s activities.

One assistant described his experience in this way:

“So another way I have grown is being patient with myself and being patient with others. And I’m still growing in this, but I definitely am aware that I am growing. But they [core residents] really call me to slow down. And Brent literally says “sit down” or Robert says that too, sometimes, “sit down” and “why don’t you have some lunch?” I grew up in a culture of do, do do do do. You will be recognised for your work. But what they call me to and what I have learned (and some times/days better than others) is that there is so much richness in just sitting down or taking time to play a little game with Brent for awhile or go outside and rake the yard with Rachel a little bit.” (Anonymous, personal communication, September 11, 2011).

Developing Deep Mutual Relationships.

These kinds of transforming relationships can result in reciprocal relationships and, in fact, rare and deep friendships with core members (Kearney, 2000; Reinders, 2008). This is one of the mysteries of L’Arche that only can be understood by listening to accounts of profound personal connections made between assistants and core members.

In the words of one assistant:

I love doing morning routines where I am spending time with them and it’s just me and them and the rest of the world could be gone. I grow in relationship with them. Robert is like my dad [speaking of a core resident who is 81 yrs. old]. I am really close to him. (Anonymous, personal communication, September 11, 2011).

Clearly, these relationships benefit both assistants and core members. “Despite the success they have found in strengthening their status in the public sphere, people with disabilities - particularly intellectual disabilities - experience loneliness and isolation in the sphere of their personal lives” (Reinders, 2008, p. 6). The constant interaction between assistants and core members in L’Arche homes provides a vibrant environment that can help to mitigate these tendencies.

Learning Unconditional Acceptance.

Learning to accept another who is radically different is a lesson reinforced time and again through the everyday life at L’Arche. This is perhaps the greatest lesson learned in L’Arche communities. In the words of Young (2007) “welcoming difference is never easy, but it is wonderfully enriching” (p. 94). According to Reynolds (2008), attitudes regarding difference can lead to stigma, or an undesirable difference that characterises an individual. “First, the stigmatised person is reduced to his or her stigma. The stigma becomes the defining feature of that person’s being, thus enabling society to manage and marginalise the undesirable difference it represents” (Reynolds, p. 64). This acceptance of difference, thereby reducing stigma, was reinforced by interviews with assistants: “I guess not letting the fears of ‘Oh that person looks different from me or acting differently’ stop me from engaging with them”. (Anonymous, personal communication, September 19, 2011). Clearly, experiences at L’Arche help assistants move from a position of seeing people with disabilities as “the other” to a perspective of shared humanity. Creamer (2009) reinforces this idea by pointing out that differences are between the “disabled and temporarily able-bodied” and reminds us that we all are likely to experience disability at some point in our lives (p. 3).

Potential Benefits for University Graduates

How disability is perceived matters greatly. Communities like L’Arche have the potential to impact how graduates in the allied health fields view disability. Medical environments such as physical therapy appropriately place emphasis on rehabilitation and restorative function. According to Creamer (2009), this medical model of disability views the body as a machine that exhibits the presence or absence of function, putting focus on diagnosis and treatment. Little or no attention is given to the attitudinal or physical barriers that help to define disability. In contrast, the socio-political model assumes societal responsibility for disability (Creamer, 2009; Reynolds, 2008). “This model highlights the fact that individuals are often more handicapped by the physical and attitudinal barriers in society (e.g., lack of access to employment, education and health care) than by their own abilities” (Creamer, 2009, p. 25). Training in the therapies and other allied health fields most likely focuses on the medical model. This can serve individuals well if there is the potential for cure. When cure is not an option, individuals with disabilities need help in discovering how to live a full and meaningful life. The socio-political model places the responsibility for change on all of us.

Perhaps the greatest lesson learned by assistants at L’Arche communities is how to reduce these physical and attitudinal barriers. We can all play a role in helping people with disabilities enjoy life. This can be accomplished by removing physical barriers such as steps, curbs and narrow doorways that create daily obstacles. More importantly, though, we need to be mindful of attitudinal barriers that bring great pain to people with disabilities. How we speak and generally relate to people with disabilities reflects our attitudes about their value and worth. Disability scholars reflect in the literature the need to use “person first” language when referring to people with disabilities (Eiesland, 1994; Reynolds, 2008). When referring to “that blind person” or “that intellectually disabled” person, the focus is on the disability and not their personhood. People with disabilities deserve to have their identity rooted in their individuality, not in generalisations. “This [distinction on] usage underscored the conviction that an individual’s disability is just one of many personal characteristics, rather than being synonymous or coextensive with that person’s self” (Eiesland, 1994, p. 27). Assistants learn the valuable lesson of not only using “person-first” language, but seeing beyond the disability and discovering the true person. Professionals in the allied health fields can play a pivotal role in advocating for and modeling the responsibilities we all have to create a better world for those with disabilities.

Conclusion

Assistants report a deep sense of appreciation for the L’Arche community. The vulnerability and mutuality experienced in relationships with core members is life changing. They learn how to live patiently in their everyday interactions with core members who encourage them to slow down and listen carefully to the needs of others, as well as their own needs. Deep friendships are formed and appreciated by assistants and core members. The unique ability to approach people who are different from them with confidence is developed. Most importantly, they learn to accept others who might not measure up to the world’s standards and in the process, gain their own acceptance. These are highly transferable skills for the allied health fields.

Contact

Christine Milner
Department of Kinesiology, Westmont College
955 La Paz Rd.
Santa Barbara, CA 93108
USA
Email:milner@westmont.edu

http://www.icsspe.org/