To what extent do my beliefs, prejudices or biases influence my thinking in terms of providing service in my profession or work? Include examples and reference areas for growth from the Provider's Guide to Quality and Culture quiz

My beliefs influence my thinking when I provide service the most. I believe Prejudices and biases may impact who I think while providing services as well, although I try to learn about each person. My beliefs influence my thinking when I am working in several different ways. I believe in always being honest and trying my best. I believe you should treat everyone equally and exactly the same. I also have a big belief and standard to treat everyone the way I would want to be treated. I feel this is often a major factor that helps me not judge anyone. At work I try not to be biased. I work with adults with disabilities in a reacreational program. I am probably a little biased toward my own group I work with. I feel close and know the particpants better in my group so I do pay closer attention to them. Although I treat everyone equally and I am nice to everyone, I do feel closer to the participants in my group. In the quality and culture quiz my score wasn't as great as I had expected. I am very open to other cultures and I always beleive in being ethical every time. One of the questions saked about some symbols such as a nod or thumbs up are universal and help bridge the gap. We have a partipant who does not give a thumbs up but holds a finger up when he is doing well. He will hold the finger up when he is happy or thinks something is funny. This is how he communicates. Usually we expect a thumbs up or a smile. He will just do his finger. The thumbs up may not always mean the same thing in other cultures or for a specific individual.

There are some participants in my program are non verbal and in a wheel chair. They are unable to move or do anything with thier hands except maybe move their hands a bit. Many times I have a prejudice about those particular participants. I often times think they want someone to come and sit with them and talk to them. I also think they consistantly need to be talked to or I feel I should say there name every 5 minutes so they feel involved. I think this may influence my thinking in my job because I feel they need something or I know whats best for them, when really I couldn't truly know because they cannot speak. I do follow my managers lead in how I behave and interact with each participant. Some participants will make it very clear when they are tired and don't feel like talking or being talked to. They are able to communicate this. The nonverbal particpants, if they are having a tired day or a bad day they cannot let me know they don't feel like having me talk to them often througout this day. So my opinion of thinking I know what is best for them can potentially be incorrect.