Page 20 - Community Living Magazine 32-3

research: personal assistants
A balancing act: interactions between

personal assistants and employers

The personal assistant role can be complex and conflicting.
Joseph Webb was part of a team that observed relationships
between supporters and those who employ them

“ hoice and control” have been

highlighted as important in learning
cdisability services where people’s Key messages
lives have traditionally been dominated l Interaction and communication are at the heart of the relationship between
by protection (Stainton and Boyce, 2004). personal assistant (PA) and employer
Choice, control and independence in l Supporters must balance the supporting, guiding and empowering aspects of their
ordinary aspects of life such as deciding role, which can be difficult
which way to walk home, what to have for l PAs must judge when to use opportunities for learning for their employer and do
dinner and when to go to bed were the this respectfully
focus of our study. l A relationship takes two to make it work properly; successful support is in the
It is precisely these kinds of decisions hands of both the PA and the employer with learning disabilities
that give people a feeling of control over
their lives. For some people with learning
disabilities, daily choices and decisions can the supporter to help make it happen. We included teaching or instructing the
become shared and must be navigated found that this could involve anything employer to manage everyday activities.
through everyday conversations with help from helping their employer to buy We frequently heard PAs asking a question
and support from a personal assistant (PA). groceries to cooking with them or they already knew the answer to. This
This study explored how people returning unwanted goods to a shop. could risk undermining the employer and
communicate to gain an understanding of The PA also must balance these choices casting them as perpetual learners.
whether and how choice and control play with other considerations such as: are the Nonetheless, these are potential learning
out in real life. groceries within the person’s budget experiences, which can be important in
range? Will there be time to make the building the employer’s competence.
Findings meal the person wants to make? Will the Navigating these situations, moment by
PAs have to wear many hats as well as shop accept the returned goods? How moment, can be tricky; the PA has to
supporter (friend, employee, teacher and should these be packaged up for return? balance respecting their employer’s choices
adviser), which can make balancing the This could pose dilemmas for PAs who and decisions with weaving in opportunities
competing roles difficult. may be unsure of how or whether to bring to help them learn about things they may
Although the person with learning these things up with their employer. not yet be fully able to do. Supporters have
disabilities may decide something (with or In interviews, participants often to both judge when to use opportunities
without the PA’s support), it can be up to discussed the extent to which the PA role for learning and do this respectfully.
PAs can find themselves in situations
where it is difficult to satisfy all demands of
Playing with words: people with learning disabilities and their the job. For example, an employer may ask
personal assistants their PA to use their time on a functional
task, such as dismantling a chair. However,
Aims: This was part of a research programme led by Professor Val Williams at the if time constraints are combined with a
University of Bristol, which seeks to identify and shift disabling practices and difficult task, a PA can find themselves in
recognise and learn from those that support people with disabilities. The study an awkward position, unable to interact in
looked at how people with learning disabilities and their personal assistants conversations not related to the task.
interacted, and worked with co-researchers with learning disabilities to produce Equally, other pressures inherent to the
training materials. role (such as getting activities done by a
certain time and completing tasks before
Methods Interactions between nine people with learning disabilities and eight a shift ends) can infringe on interactions
personal assistants (PAs) or supporters in everyday situations were videotaped. in the moment. This can have the
A method called “conversation analysis” was used to look closely at these unintended consequence of the employer
interactions. The authors also recorded initial interviews and discussed these with not being attended to or feeling ignored
participants to help see what could be changed despite the PA’s best efforts.
The supporters in our project were all
Read the report Dowling S, Williams V, Webb J, Gall M (2018) Playing with Words: highly skilled, and the employers were
People with Learning Disabilities and their Personal Assistants. www.bristol.ac.uk/ active in seeking out opportunities to talk
sps/gettingthingschanged/about-the-project/playing/ about decisions. This meant we were able
to learn from good practice. For instance,

20 Vol 32 No 3 | Spring 2019 Community Living www.cl-initiatives.co.uk