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Circles of Support

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Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology

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Synonyms

Circle of friends

Definition

A circle of support is a group of people that forms a community around a specific individual (focus person) with significant disabilities to assist him or her to achieve personal goals. It is one of many tools addressing life planning from a functional or strategic assessment approach known as person-centered planning. Person-centered planning replaces more traditional assessment approaches associated with the medical model of services. Circles of support originated in Canada and have experienced widespread use in North America. Circles view people as individuals and assist them to attain self-determination focusing upon empowerment and not dependence of the individual. It is capacity oriented and identifies strengths, preferences, likes, and dislikes of the individual. The circle will also identify support needs in order to achieve a particular goal.

The focus person leads the process and decides who will participate in the circle and the...

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References and Readings

  • Falvey, M. A., Forest, M., Pearpoint, J., & Rosenberg, R. (1994). All my life’s a circle. Using the tools: Circles, MAP’s and PATH. Toronto, Canada: Inclusion Press.

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  • O’Brien, C. L., & O’Brien, J. (2000). The origins of person-centered planning: A community of practice perspective. Retrieved from http://thechp.syr.edu/PCP_History.pdf

  • J., & O’Brien, C., (Eds.). Lyle O’Brien, (1998). A little book about person centered planning. Toronto: Inclusion Press.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rehabilitation Counseling, Virginia Commonwealth University, 980330, 23298, Richmond, VA, USA

    Amy J. Armstrong

Authors
  1. Amy J. Armstrong
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Professor of Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry Virginia Commonwealth University – Medical Center Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, VCU, 980542, Richmond, Virginia, 23298-0542, USA

    Jeffrey S. Kreutzer

  2. Kessler Foundation Research Center, 1199 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ, 07052, USA

    John DeLuca

  3. Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Neurology and Neuroscience, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey – New Jersey Medical School, New Jersey, USA

    John DeLuca

  4. Independent Practice, 564 M.O.B. East, 100 E. Lancaster Ave., Wynnewood, PA, 19096, USA

    Bruce Caplan

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© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Armstrong, A.J. (2011). Circles of Support. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79948-3_390

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79948-3_390

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-79947-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-79948-3

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science

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