The importance of independent living for people with intellectual disabilities will be highlighted during valuable training at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst and Wagga Wagga for disability support workers in rural and regional NSW next week.

 

Hosted by CSU, the workshops have attracted approximately 150 disability support workers from across regional NSW. The workers will be offered training in ‘person-centred active support’, a way of working with people with intellectual disabilities to foster independent living.

 

“We have managed to secure national experts on the person-centred active support program to do workshops in Bathurst on Monday 25 July and in Wagga Wagga on Tuesday 26 and Wednesday 27 July," said Dr Merrilyn Crichton a lecturer in sociology at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at CSU in Wagga Wagga. "It includes Dr Vivienne Riches and Mr Tony Harman from the Centre for Disability Studies in Sydney who have played an important role in the implementation of person-centred active support in Australia and overseas. 

 

“It is often the case that rural and regional areas miss out when it comes to getting ‘those in the know’ to provide training, but not this time,” said Dr Crichton.

 

“We had such huge interest in this training from the disability sector that we had to organise a second workshop in Wagga Wagga. More than 50 participants registered for the training in Bathurst and more than 90 in Wagga Wagga.”

 

Dr Crichton said this training is also an opportunity for people with intellectual disabilities in the regions. 

 

“Gone are the days when people with intellectual disabilities were thought unable to live independently. At the core of person-centred active support is that people with intellectual disabilities can do things for themselves and can live independently.

 

“It enables people to either do more for themselves, or at least be more involved in activities that effect their quality of life, such as cooking their own meals, doing their own shopping and taking responsibility for tasks at home and in the community.

 

“Importantly, person-centred active support aims to ensure that people get the support they need to maximise their chances of doing things as independently as possible, or at least being involved in things that had previously been done by staff on their behalf.

 

“The training will help disability support staff learn what they need to do to assist their clients to become more involved in everyday activities at home and in the community.”