Changing Places Victoria - A great success

I had the pleasure of attending the Changing Places Victoria launch on Monday. It was very exciting to see a great number of people attending the launch and passionate about getting Changing Places happening here.
It was great to check out the mobile Changing Places loo and see how popular this has been for councils. It was also great to hear about the upcoming bathrooms for Ringwood.

Let's hope that, like UK, in 5 years time we'll be able to announce the many hundreds of places where people with disabilities can go to because they now have access to an adult height adjustable change table, hoist and real space for assistance.

Intensive Interaction course at Deakin Uni

Cross posting for Mark

barber.mark.m@edumail.vic.gov.au


Dear colleague, the accredited Masters Level Unit of Study: Intensive Interaction: Theory to Practice is available again in 2013, at Deakin University Burwood Campus

Intensive Interaction is an approach to supporting the communication of learners with complex intellectual disabilities and often severe communication impairments which originated in UK and has been gaining increasing interest in Australia since its introduction in 2003.

The approach is recognised an evidence based practice by APS

WHERE :
Deakin University, Burwood Campus.
HOW:
Participants complete the required readings prepared for this unit. Tutorial support is provided by email.
The unit follows 3 phases of on-campus days at Burwood Site, through the trimester with face-to-face teaching by the unit lecturer

·      Phase 1.....3 consecutive days in January

·      Phase 2......a weekend in March

·      Phase 3.....3 days in April

NB To gain accreditation for learning, participants should attend all 8 days and complete 1x 3000 word assignment and 1x 3000 word reflective diary.

WHEN : Begins January 2013
WHO : anyone who works with people with complex or profound intellectual disabilities

Contact Anne Savige Manager of Educational Projects anne.savige@deakin.edu.au+61 3 924 46384


NB More detail is available in the attachment
regards

Mark
Mark Barber PhD
Intensive Interation Coordinator
Bayside SDS
Genoa Street
Moorabbin
Vic 3189

The Lost Generation

It was great to be reminded the other day of The Lost Generation project by DADAA, and even more exciting to be pointed to them on the Disseminate website.
In 2008 I first heard about the project. The project involved films of people with disabilities in WA, Storytellers. I remember as a room full of professionals discussed a film of a man sitting in the sand running his fingers and making patterns. Some proposed that it should be called sand sculpting. Some questioned the value of showing a man "in his own world". How should this man be presented to this world?
You can catch a brief glimsp of David in Episode 4 of the Findings documentary.
The whole project is worth a look!

Changing Places in Victoria EXCITING!

Shared post from Jack Mulholland

Hello on Monday November 26 at the Karralyka Centre in Ringwood we are launching a project that will have a huge significance in the social inclusion of people with a profound or severe disability as a result of an increase of public and private buildings that contain an accessible toilet that has been purposely designed for their requirements.  

The Changing Places project will pilot in Victoria with the aspiration to go Nationally in the future.   This project is based on world's best practice and that is a highly successful UK web based campaign (Changing Places) that commenced in 2006.   

Changing Places is a accessible toilet that contains a ceiling hoist and adjustable adult change table.  In regards to bathroom needs, these facilities are required for people with a profound or severe disability, without these facilities the person with a disability and their carer face the following options 

• to go home
• to sit in wet continence pads
• to change on the floor of an accessible toilet

Under under currents standards 1428.1 the minimum requirements for a disabled toilet facility does not require a ceiling hoist or adult change table and therefore we find very few accessible toilets with a ceiling hoist and change table available.  Since the UK commenced the Changing Places campaign in 2006, there are now over 400 Changing Place facilities available across the UK in public places such as shopping centres, train stations, airports, entertainment venues.

This invitation only event will run from 12.15pm to 3pm and will include lunch.   

If you were wanting us to invite a fellow colleague, please email me their contact details asap. 

A formal invitation will be sent to you in the near future outlining the details of the event.  


Regards

Jack 
Mulholland 
MetroAccess Officer

Maroondah City Council  |  Braeside Ave Ringwood
9294 5750  |  0418 381 154 
jack.mulholland@maroondah.vic.gov.au 
www.maroondah.vic.gov.au 
www.strokeachord.com 
www.maroondah.vic.gov.au/CBP.aspx

'Stuck at Home' report from Mencap

This was also in the latest edition of PMLD LINK.

Mencap report reveals that 1 in 4 adults with a learning disability are stuck at home due to cuts to day services

This report highlights the number of people in the UK who now don't access any day service. The blurb highlights funding cuts to be a reason for day services closing. But I can't help wondering if the systematic devaluing of the services and the agenda for individualisation has also resulted in people getting lost in the cracks?
I must read the whole report.

Palliative care

I just received the latest issue of PMLD LINK from the UK.
Some of you may be familiar with Victoria, who features in Jim Mansell's Raising Our Sights video. In the latest PMLD LINK edition there is a great article by her mum, Jean Willson. The article focuses on realizing the value of engaging with a palliative care plan for Victoria as she becomes more frail. The article is positive, focusing on how to make the best out of Victoria's every day. Thank you Jean and Victoria for sharing Victoria's journey.

Last week I had the pleasure to go to the International Society for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities World Congress in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I presented on my PhD work on affect attunement, on my current HOP study, and work exploring culture and practices supporting adults with PIMD in Japan. Here are my top ten favourite papers at the conference (in no particular order): Eric Weber - Living as an adult with PIMD – The right place to live: necessarily in a family?. Bea Maes & Carla Vlaskamp - Methodological challenges in building evidence based interventions for persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. Krysti deZonia – Public perceptions of profound disability. Bea Maes - Palliative care for persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. Pauline Heslop - Can a Confidential Inquiry into a person’s death make a difference? Miriam Roemer - Perception of persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. Nicola Grove – Patterns of co-narration in a personal story interaction. Kaisa Martikainen and Katja Burakoff – OIVA interaction model: Supporting staff to better interaction with people with PIMD. Genevieve Petitpierre – IEP goals and objectives of adults with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. Nan-chieh Chen – The telling body: Ethics, ethical skills and applications of caregivers faced with persons with PIMD. Sui Sone – Living situation of adults with severe motor and intellectual disabilities (SMID) in Japan. Hilary Johnson – Social communication and for adults who communicate at a symbolic but nonlinguistic level

It's been a while since I've been on. See below request from Andrew in England who is writing a book on young adults with PIMD and would like input from other countries... "Andrew Colley" wrote: Hello, I am currently doing some research into educational provision for young people with profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD) in the US, Canada and Australia. If there is anyone out there who can help with info about Australia and would be interested in filling in a short questionnaire, please get in touch. Many thanks Andrew Colley Edith Borthwick Special School, Bocking, Braintree, Essex, UK.