The Able Australia community, Auslan students and their teacher from Kangan Batman Tafe, disability service providers and staff from SARU (Self Advocacy Resource Unit), were lucky enough to have Canadian deafblind woman Coco present an informative an inspirational presentation to them on Wednesday 3 February.

 

It was an exercise in highlighting the importance of interpreters, amongst other things. As Coco’s first language is American Sign Language (ASL), she did her best to present in Australian Sign language (AUSLAN) with the help of a Deaf relay interpreter (DRI) who is fluent in ASL.  Coco presented in Auslan, which was then spoken aloud for the sight impaired guests, whilst the deafblind guests then had the Auslan translation communicated to them in tactile sign language. Eight interpreters in total worked the room!

 

The presentation focused on deafblind advocacy, as Coco spoke of her global travels in spreading the word about deafblindness and the issues that people with dual sensory loss face.

 

Coco’s experiences in Nigeria and other African countries were both chilling and inspiring. She spoke of a woman who had approached her in Africa telling a story of how she had given birth to a baby who was born deafblind. After looking for services and support and finding nothing, the village community decided to kill the baby rather than have the burden of taking care of it.

 

Such shocking occurrences are a somber reminder of the lack of understanding of issues relating to deafblindness. Fortunately, we live in a society where people with disabilities are supported, and the presentation also spoke of the need to continually improve this support to provide a better quality of life with access to education and employment.

 

Coco taught the teachers how to include deafblind people and how culturally the Deaf community had an obligation to support people who are Deafblind.

 

Coco’s personal story spoke of the disappointment at being shunned by the Deaf community when she was diagnosed with Usher’s syndrome at an early age, and the shock at waking up with no sight in her left eye after an operation to remove a cataract failed.

 

The presentation was enthusiastically delivered and received.

 

Players from the Hawthorn Football club and AFL umpire Stefan Grun met on neutral territory on Wednesday 3 February when they visited one of Able Australia’s residential units in Brighton, Tasmania.

 

Players Brent Guerra, Gary Moss and Shane Savage joined umpire Stefan Grun, who grew up in Hobart and is also Able Australia’s Marketing & PR Manager, in assembling a trampoline for the residents with disabilities and preparing a BBQ.

 

The group also took part in a working bee, helping fix some things in the garden.

 

Able Australia has been providing disability support in Tasmania since 2006. Able current provides 24-hour supported accommodation for over 50 people with disabilities in Tasmania and is actively seeking to expand their services to include art and music therapy programs.

 

Able Australia’s vision is to create a community where people with deafblindness are seen, heard, respected, valued and connected.

 

Thank you to the Hawthorn players and the Hawthorn Football Club.

 

 

                 

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Over 30 children with disabilities will have some time at the beach over this Christmas period thanks to a brand new respite disability service for young people aged 12-18, which will be in operation in Bonbeach from December 18.

Able Australia, which has been providing specialised disability support for over 40 years, was awarded the tender by the DHS, to establish a five-bed Intensive Facility Based Respite Service to be run on weekends and school holidays, supporting young people with intellectual disabilities, autism and behaviours of concern.

Able Australia will establish an interim Intensive Respite Service at Bon Beach to enable families and young people to receive much needed respite over the Christmas school holiday period, and will work with the DHS to establish the new respite facility in the Dandenong area in the new year.

Able Australia CEO, Celestine Hare said that “The primary strength of this service is that it recognises the value of a young person with a disability living at home with their family in a safe, stable environment. These young people have high support needs and we look forward to the challenge of providing meaningful, fun and regular support to them and their families in a great location.”

The Intensive Respite Service will work with existing service providers and the Southern Respite Network in providing services in 10 local government areas in Melbourne’s south-east. This area covers 1.126 million people which represents approximately one quarter of the state's population.

Able Australia’s Respite Manager, Paul Wawryluk, said “The organisation’s ethos is built around maximising the life opportunities for people with disabilities and helping build stronger communities through participation and understanding.”

''They normally last about 10 to 15 years, so when they run out, you're done for,'' he said. ''They make an enormous difference to people's lives. It can be the difference between being able to leave home or not.''

Manager of deafblind services for Able Australia, Carla Anderson, also called for more funding for interpreting services yesterday to help people attend medical appointments, counselling and other activities as research showed 94 per cent of deaf and blind people experienced depression and anxiety attacks.

''An interpreter costs about $200 an hour … It's an enormous expense for people,'' she said.

Ms Stevens said she had a government-funded interpreter for about two hours a week, which did not go far enough.

But most of all, she is scared of what will happen when her implant breaks down. She said her blind housemate and best friend of 20 years told her that it might become too hard for them to communicate and continue living together.

''I don't want to think about it,'' she said. ''I might have to sell my house.''

A spokesman for Cochlear Limited said the Federal Government funded replacement implants only for people under 21.

The Senate inquiry continues in Perth next week.

The Debbie Prior Award was developed in 1994 as a tribute to former employee Debbie, who worked across many areas of the Deafblind Association (now Able Australia). Debbie’s passion for the lives of the people we support was an inspiration to the organisation and a wonderful example of a person who gave so willingly and completely of her skills.

Staff from Bunnings helped build a sensory garden on Tuesday 13 October at one of Able Australia’s supported accommodation units in Tasmania.

 

On behalf of the residents who currently live at Alice Place and those who will live there in the future, Able Australia would like to sincerely thank Bunnings, their staff and suppliers for their generosity and support in facilitating the implementation of the sensory garden. 

Suppliers:

Therese Rein, successful Australian businesswoman and wife of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, took some time out on Tuesday 13 October to attend Arts Project Australia, where Heidelberg residents Cathy Staughton and Alvaro Alvarez work.

Therese heard about Arts Project Australia following a visit to a similar studio in Washington DC called Arts Enables and she personally requested to visit Arts Project Australia.

 

Therese took the time to meet the Able Australia clients and Cathy was lucky enough to get a photo with her.

 

Cathy recently exhibited four pieces of artwork in the ableart exhibition held at the Atrium, at Federation Square in Melbourne. The talented artist’s paintings have previously been exhibited at MADmusee Liege in Belgium and in many private collections.

 

To ensure that programs like ableart can continue to thrive and add value to the lives of the people we support click here!

 

 

 

The exhibition was launched on Monday September 14, with over 80 guests enjoying presentations from CEO Celestine Hare, art therapist Ellen Michel, ableart manager Paul Wawryluk and deafblind artist Allan Lawson.

 

Allan spoke about how he gradually lost his sight in his teens after being born profoundly deaf. He has been accessing the ableart program for three years and spoke of the program as being a wonderful creative outlet, an opportunity to express himself and a place to meet new friends.

 

You can learn more about the ableart program and how Allan creates his art by clicking here.

 

70 per cent of the artworks during the exhibition were sold with all of the profits going back to the artists.

 

The public exhibition at the Atrium followed a private showing of a selection of the artworks at the Freehills’ board room, in recognition of the support of the Freehills Foundation who fund the program.

 

We would like to extend our thanks to the artists for sharing their talents, to the staff who made the program and exhibition a success, and to the Freehills Foundation for their financial support and their friendship and encouragement.

 

To learn more about the ableart program contact Paul Wawryluk on 1300 225 369.

 

We would forward to bringing you details about the 2010 exhibition!