Page 187 - kennis en praktijk in de gehandicaptenzorg

SUMMARY
Why do professionals in the care for people with disabilities experience inadequacy in providing support and a lack of knowledge, whereas more and more knowledge is be- ing developed about for instance the nature and causes of disabilities and about the behaviour and development of people who have these disabilities? To get more insight into this question, I have studied the meaning of knowledge for the coping with inad- equacy in providing professional support. In my research I have made a distinction between big K and little k knowledge. Big K Knowledge is based on research, captured in publications and transmitted through training and education. Little k knowledge is individually developed based on personal experiences and is the result of our own thinking. I have focused on the interplay between these kinds of knowledge. The cen- tral question in my study is how this interplay occurs with professionals in the care for people with disabilities and how insight into this interplay can contribute to the coping with inadequacy in providing professional support.
My research consisted of four studies. I started to analyse observations of interactions between professionals and clients, to whom the professionals said that they experi- ence inadequacy in coping with them. These observations revealed that this inade- quacy occurs when professionals do not succeed to achieve the goals they have in mind for a client. The feeling of being inadequate arises from the combination of the behav- iour of the client, the perception of the professional and environmental factors.
On the basis of the observations I have drawn a distinction between three ways in how professionals cope with this feeling. Sometimes they try to control the situation by setting rules or giving instructions to the client. The second way is to shift their re- sponsibility to someone else, like an expert or the family of a client. And finally, pro- fessionals sometimes try to make a connection with a client when they experience inadequacy to provide support. Professionals who try to control the situation or shift their responsibilities, emphasize the disabilities of a client and get snarled up in find- ing possibilities to cope with their inadequacy. Professionals who try to make a con- nection with a client, are also paying attention to other characteristics of him or her and often succeed to find alternative ways to cope with their inadequacy.
The second part of my research consists of interviews with professionals who are working in complex situations and who distinguish themselves because they get along well with these situations. For this study I interviewed professionals in three settings:
o thecareforpeoplewithprofoundintellectualandmultipledisabilities o thesupportofpeoplewithchallengingbehaviour
o thesupportofparentswithanintellectualdisability.
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