A newsletter of the statewide ACE DisAbility Network			                 March 2012

Website:
www.acedisability.org.au

Your help line
(03) 9916 5821

Contents

Happy New Year		1
Olives for Christmas		2
Working with Support Workers	3
Tips for Working with Support Workers			4

Happy New Year             			  
By now everyone will have settled down into the New Year and look, it’s almost Easter!

Inclusion, we have found is not just a one off task, it is something that has to be reviewed and maintained as staff and participants change. Have you thought about how you are going to make sure your organisation is as inclusive as it can be?

The ACE DisAbility Network provides low cost assistance to all ACE providers, neighbourhood houses and community groups by providing:

Affordable Video Production & Duplication Services   
                         
Challenge Multimedia provides low cost professional
·video production and editing
·duplication and associated services

Give your application, website or function the edge by showing film or digital pictures to tell a story.

Challenge Multimedia gives customers great deals on the     production of short films, training videos, and photography & duplication services at very affordable rates, guaranteed. ph: 9916 5834 or email to michael.christofas@yooralla.com.au  

Challenge Multimedia is a Yooralla enterprise that supports people with disabilities…   

Training and professional development to ACE providers on a wide range of disability issues including:

•	Inclusion and disability awareness
•	Equipment and facility needs
•	Teaching techniques to meet the needs of specific disabilities
•	Duty of care regarding disability
•	A-frame for people with disability
•	Disability action planning
•	Legal requirements
•	Managing volunteers with disability
•	Induction for new staff including working with person-centred planning
•	Working with volunteers
•	Working with disability support staff.

Training can be conducted on provider premises.

				Are you a member?
				ACE DisAbility Network members get special deals on training as
				well as other benefits. Membership is only $50 a year, so contact us 
				now for details.

				9916 5821 Olympia  or 9916 5845 or 29 Judy Buckingham.

Wilf andmanda presenting to Louisa Philp

Olives for Christmas

Adult Education students from Yooralla participate in a weekly gardening program at the Murrumbeena Community Garden.

As part of this last year they picked and bottled olives from trees in the garden, culminating in an Olive Festival in November.

The festival celebrated many aspects of the garden and featured music, stalls and a talk by olive expert Mark Dymiotis.

Students are keen to extend their skills this year and are looking for more olive trees to be picked.

Working with Disability support workers

Support workers (paid or unpaid) can help to increase any individual’s ability to participate in the activity of their choice.  Support workers may be employed by the referring organisation and accompany an individual to an activity, or they may be employed (in a volunteer or paid capacity) by the education provider. Occasionally they may be employed by a Disability support agency, in which case the employer is which ever organisation is paying the wages of the support worker. 

Support worker roles
It is important to understand the different support worker roles and this should be clarified with the support worker and/or their employing organisation before they commence.

1.	Attendant carer/personal care attendant: the job of an attendant carer is to provide a range of assistance related to activities of daily living e.g. assist with using the toilet, meals or drinks, or communication to name some. They may also be employed to assist with the socialisation and education but this will need to be ascertained beforehand. e.g note taking

2.	Education support: the role of an education support is to assist with the learning processes. They should not be asked to help with toilet or meals unless they have been trained to do so or it is part of their job. Some education support workers have teacher training of some sort.  They can also be asked to help with other students’ learning which will go some way to prevent isolating the supported student. Education support can include participation assistant, teacher’s aide, note takers, library and research support, interpreters and technical/IT support.

3.	Social support:  the role of the social support worker is primarily to effect connection between the student and the rest of the community. They may take on aspects of attendant care and/or education support but this need to be clarified before the start of the activity.

Some of the tasks that may be undertaken by education and socialisation supports are:
a)	Assistance with learning and socialisation
b)	Encouraging independence in the individual
c)	Acting as an advocate
d)	Anticipating and assisting with problems
e)	Working closely with the tutor/coach and negotiating their own withdrawal if it is to take place
f)	Communicating regularly with management
g)	Ensuring issues are identified and properly addressed
h)	Identifying barriers and communicating these to the tutor/coach and management
i)	Reassuring other participants
j)	Defining and communicating the relationship between themselves and the person they are assisting
k)	Giving the person they are supporting accurate and constructive feedback.

Tips for working with Disability support workers

The best support workers are those who become part of the team, working closely with the teacher for the benefit of the whole class. The following are some strategies to encourage teamwork:

1.	Support workers respond best if they are treated as valued members of the centre community, for instance, by giving them shelf or locker room (if there is space), inviting them to staff meetings, AGMs and social events.

2.	Support workers should be given a tour of the centre and its facilities, introduced to all staff and given a run down of equipment and emergency procedures as a minimum.

3.	Support workers should be given a copy of the centre support worker policy (if available) as well as other pertinent policies such as Complaints and Privacy policies.

4.	The teacher/tutor should negotiate with the support worker as to what their role is at the start of the course. If they are employed by the centre then a job description is essential; if they are employed by the referring organisation then a check list of agreed tasks is helpful.

5.	It is also recommended that the teacher, the student and the support worker discuss any planned changes or withdrawals of support. 

6.	If the teacher has a class code of conduct then the support worker should be given a copy as well as the student.

7.	Where the support worker takes on a learning support role it is recommended that the tutor liaise with them as to what will be covered in each session and how they can best help. The support worker may also be asked to assist other participants. This can sometimes assist in preventing a person with a disability being singled out as different.

8.	Include support workers in training and professional development opportunities.

Unsatisfactory support worker behaviour

Most support workers are dedicated and caring people who want the best outcomes for those they support.  Very occasionally support workers do not seem to meet the standards set by the centre or their employer. Where the person concerned is employed by a referring organisation or an agency, then supervision and action should be taken by that agency. The best response of the education provider is to talk to the worker first outlining the concerns and then if needed you can take it further to the employing organisation.