11/01/2025
For many people with intellectual disabilities, goals are less about growth and more about funding. The system demands measurable progress, so year after year, professionals dutifully write down the same old objectives. “Teeth Brushing.” “Shoe Tying.” “Money Management.”
And year after year, those same goals are reviewed, repeated, and reapproved. Progress notes are written. Boxes are ticked. Lives stand still.
What’s worse is how quietly cruel this can become. Being told, for decades, that the big work of your life is brushing your teeth, as if being human begins and ends with basic hygiene.
It’s not that professionals don’t care, they do. Deeply. But they’re caught in the same loop. Funders want measurable goals, and measurable goals rarely measure what matters.
Real goals are about becoming, not repeating. They’re about joy, connection, contribution, risk, and choice. Those don’t fit neatly into data sheets, but they fit beautifully into a life.
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ID: Image shows man smiling saying: You want to keep my goals the same for another year - oh yay
