An Introduction to Active Support: A guide to supporting children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities is based on the Person-centred active support training materials by Jim Mansell, Julie Beadle-Brown, Bev Ashman and John Ockenden first published in 2004, as well as drawing on more recent publications and on the authors experiences of implementing active support in practice. This new publication explains what active support is and why it is important, and then goes on to explain what active and meaningful engagement is and gives examples of engagement and disengagement. Finally, the four key principles of active support are explained: Every moment has potential - viewing everything that happens at home and in the community as an opportunity Little and often - supporting participation in the small parts of each opportunity with slow, quiet and obvious support Graded assistance - providing just enough of the right type to help to enable the person to take part successfully in that activity at the time Maximising choice and control - seeking opportunities for people to make more choices and take more control in when and how they will be engaged.
