What is Self-Direction?
Choosing how you live your life is empowering. It means you make decisions about things that are important to you, like where you live and who you live with, what goals you want to work towards, and how you spend your days. This is called self-direction, and it’s what the Wisconsin IRIS program is all about.
IRIS is unique because it is a fully self-directed program. In IRIS, full self-direction means that people have choice and control over all of the care and support they receive to meet their program goals. This includes decisions about who provides services and how services are provided. Participants are assigned a budget based on their needs and have the freedom to choose how to purchase services and supports within that budget.
Below are six central themes to living a self-directed life. Think about or write down your choices and preferences in each of these themes. Your TMG IRIS Consultant will work to understand your priorities about these topics when you spend time together and build your IRIS plan.
Important Relationships
- Who are the important people in your life?
- Who do you enjoy being with?
- What is your number one goal for your important relationships?
- Would you like to spend more time visiting with friends and family?
- Would you like to find new people to visit with?
Working and Volunteering
- How do you spend your day?
- Do you want to find a job, start your own business or start volunteering?
- If you are working or volunteering now, are you happy with your current job?
- What kinds of things are you interested in doing?
Being Part of Your Community
- What kinds of things do you enjoy doing in your community?
- How often do you get together with people or groups?
- In what other ways do you contribute to your community?
- How do you want to be involved in your community?
- Is there anything you wish you had more time to do in your community or an activity that you’d like to try?
A Place of Your Own
- What is your most important goal regarding living in your own place?
- Did you pick your housemates?
- Who decides when and what you eat?
- Do you want to live somewhere else?
- If you could change something about where you live, what would it be?
- What are things about where you live that you want to stay the same?
Transportation
- How do you get around when you need to go places?
- Can you go out when you want to?
- Can you go places at night or on the weekends?
- Do you schedule your transportation?
Health and Safety
- What is most important to you when it comes to your health and safety?
- Do you have a primary care doctor you like or need help to find one?
- Do you need help getting to the doctor or help with medication?
- Are you worried about your safety in your home or community?
- Do you have people you can contact if you need help?
- Are you concerned about money issues?
