Jos van Loon
Jos van Loon was until August 2015 a member of the management team of Arduin, a service provider in the Netherlands. Now he still works at Arduin as senior research staff. Besides that he is a visiting professor at the Ghent University (in Belgium), Department of Special Needs Education. He received his academic degree in 1979 and worked initially as an orthopedagogue for 15 years in an institution for people with intellectual disabilities. Here he, among other things, introduced Gentle Teaching in the Netherlands.
Since 1994 he has worked as both a manager and a researcher in Arduin. In those roles, he has participated in the process of complete deinstitutionalisation of the former institution Vijvervreugd, and reforming the organisation into a community-based organization based on the quality of life framework and within the supports paradigm. In this process he came in contact with prof. dr. Robert Schalock, and later with prof. dr. James Thompson, with whom he continues to do research and best practices application.
In 2005 Jos received his PhD in the Pedagogical Science at the University of Gent, at the Faculty of Psychology and Pedagogical Science. The title of his dissertation was: “Emancipation and Self-determination of People with Intellectual Disabilities. Dismantling Institutional Care”. He still is connected as a visiting professor to the Department of Special Needs Education. Among other things he works and publishes together with prof. dr. Robert Schalock, Prof. dr. Geert Van Hove, and prof. dr. Claudia Claes on supports (the Supports Intensity Scale) and on Quality of Life. In 2008 this group developed a measurement tool for assessing quality of life from the perspective of the individual and the view of others: the Personal Outcomes Scale (POS), in the Dutch and English language. Subsequently, the POS has been translated into Chinese (Taiwan), Italian, Spanish, Catalonian, Portuguese and German. In addition, the group has recently developed and published the POS for children. Meanwhile the POS is updated to the POS-A and there now also is a version for children and youth, the POS-C.
Jos has also been instrumental in the formation of the International Consortium on Evidence-Based Practices. This group has published widely in the area of evidence-based practices at the individual and organization level. They have developed and published a scale (The Organization Effectiveness and Efficiency Scale; OEES) that is used for strategic planning, program implementation, and organization evaluation. The OEES is based on evidence indicators and a balanced scorecard approach to performance management and quality improvement. That Scale has been translated into Complex Chinese, Dutch, Spanish, and English.
Jos has been invited on many occasions and in several countries to speak on deinstitutionalization and quality of life and (co-)organized several conferences in the Netherlands and Belgium. He also teaches and coaches young orthopedagogues, psychologists and support workers and provides them with opportunities to promote the enhancement of quality of life of people with intellectual disability. Throughout his 37 year career in the field, Jos has been devoted to enhancing the quality of life, emancipation, empowerment, inclusion, equity, and self-determination of people with intellectual disability.
In June 2013 he got the International Award from the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD).
A complete list of publications and contact information can be found here.