Wheatbelt Disability Community Forum in Northam, Western Australia | Medical and health

Wheatbelt Disability Community Forum

Locality: Northam, Western Australia

Phone: +61 8 9621 4444

Address: 25 Holtfreter Ave 6401 Northam, WA, Australia

Website: https://www.wheatbelt.com.au

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• Disability service

25.01.2022 #adhd #types #wheatbelt

24.01.2022 Restrictive Practises Post #3 - Supported Decision Making (it's long, sorry!) From my list of the themes to explore: "Disabled people have the same rights to fr...eedoms and decision making that the rest of us have. Example: Disabled people are allowed to leave their home for a walk, or go on a date. Action: We need to respect and honour that, but also recognise when we need to impinge on that right." UNRCPD - Equal recognition before the law Australia has signed (ratified) the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disability. This means that all of our Australian laws need to respect that Convention. Article 12 of the Convention says that disabled people get Equal recognition before the law, and that means they must be treated equally and respected by the law just like everyone else and that disabled people have the same right to make their own decisions about important things as everyone else. It also says that disabled people should have the proper support they need when making decisions and that if a person really does need someone else to speak for them there should be rules to make sure this is done properly. Here’s the full official stuff on Article 12 (worth a read): https://www.un.org//article-12-equal-recognition-before-th So, to put restrictive practises into context... Providers and planners and folks get pretty hung up about Restrictive Practises, and with good reason, but I want to take a step back and make sure we’re looking at the woods, not just the tree. Like I wrote above, people with disability have the same rights as the rest of us to certain freedoms that most of us take for granted in Australia the right to access our own money and blow it on the pokies, drink til we puke, eat and get fat, smoke til we get cancer, have consensual sex with a random, or do stupid things on a skateboard and end up with a broken limb. These are all legal and we have the right to do what other people might consider to be poor decisions. And let’s be fair EVERYONE reading this post has made decision that plenty of other people would call poor. Before you scream at me. Hear me out. Many disabled people have what we would consider impaired decision making where cognitively they may not understand all the potential consequences of their actions. But we shouldn’t be automatically, or forever, taking all those rights away, just because we think they won’t make exactly the same decisions as we would. What we NEED to do is give extra support to those people who need it that’s sometimes called Supported Decision Making (http://www.supportfordecisionmakingresource.com.au/). Support to make decisions is also part of the UN Convention. Lorikeet Boy (and me sucking as a parent) My son likes to wear bright, bold, what I would consider inappropriate and mismatched clothing. When he was younger, I controlled this (at the time, potential) issue without even realising it might be an issue, by buying clothes that *I* considered looked good on him. As he got older, he started choosing some of his own clothes, often with a support worker, and I used to get him to text me a pic of his choices for my blessing before his purchase. Then I realised at the time what other 17 year old boy needs a parent’s clothing choice approval? So I backed off, and while I still sometimes cringe at his choices, I am reliably informed by other, younger folk, that his style is very acceptable and an expression of his uniqueness. Now, of course, wearing an outfit that *I* think makes someone look like a lorikeet is unlikely to get him killed, or hurt anyone else, but I do think we, especially as parents, really need to step back and think about the restrictions we put on our kids. For my lad, If I was really worried about him being ridiculed, or hurt, I could have addressed his clothing choices by teaching him about clothing, colour palettes and current fashion styles. I could have pointed him in the direction of fashion model videos that he might want to copy. Essentially, I could have supported him so that he would know what is traditionally appropriate clothing for certain situations. Obviously this is not a life or death situation, but I want to step away from those dangerous decisions for the moment, and look at all the little decisions that are often taken away from disabled people. Practising Making Decisions When children are very young, they don’t get to make many decisions maybe they choose what toy to play with, or whether or not to spit out their cereal. But as they get older, they get more say in things. As parents, its hard when they spend all their pocket money on Smurfs (showing my age here), or chose a first boyfriend we don’t like, or don’t get enough sleep. But our job as parents is to slowly give them more and more control over their own lives, so that when they leave home, it’s not a complete disaster and they have some skills, which will develop as they age, we hope, to make decisions. Never had a chance to make decisions! Many disabled people have what we would consider impaired decision making where cognitively they may not understand the potential consequences of their actions. But often, they haven’t had a chance to practise decision making. We choose their clothes, their meals, their mealtimes. For goodness sake, sometimes we even choose when they go to the toilet! Anime, Video Games, and Junk Food I know a number of young adults with intellectual disability who, according to their parents, were going off the rails, blowing their pensions as soon as they landed in their bank accounts fast food, anime books, video games, you name it their fortnightly pensions were gone in a few days. The parents were talking about effectively hiding a proportion of their pension somewhere their children couldn’t access it. That would effectively be considered a Restrictive Practise and would need approval from their state body, and/or orders for their funds to be managed by a trustee. None of the families wanted that level of scrutiny and receipt keeping, nor to completely take away their childrens' rights, so they got the young people and parents together and over dinner, discovered these young folk were keen to move out of home. While these young people have low numeracy skills, when they came together with parents to talk about these issues, they were able to learn, and to work with their families to decide to save a proportion of their pensions, so they could move out of home. Will they be 100% immediately successful? Not likely! But they will start to learn and be supported to make decisions that will help them reach their goals. OK, this post has gone on too long, and is probably too preachy, so I apologise for that, but I wanted to use some real examples to look at Restrictive Practises not just from a We need approval to lock the front door perspective, but also those lesser restrictions placed on many with disability, often unnecessarily. Stay tuned - there's much more to come in future posts. And I'm keen to hear your thoughts in the comments below! This post is Copyright of The Growing Space 2020, but you are welcome to share it here on Facebook, with credit and no edits. If you to share it elsewhere, please ask first! pic desc: thanks to WA's Individualised Services Inc. is a boardmaker graphic titled "Supported Decision Making Principles" At the centre it features Understand me and my preferences, and then lists the following, accompanied by an appropriate icon style graphic: Assume I can One decision at a time Are the right people involved The right assistance for me Experience to explore Explore all options It's up to me I can change my mind from http://waindividualisedservices.org.au//supported-decisio/)

20.01.2022 Thanks for the chat Ann #community #wheatbelt #humansofthewheatbelt

20.01.2022 I have the right to be in control of my own life, make mistakes, make my own decisions and have real choices. We have created some Easy Read guides to assist people with Mobility and Transport. https://buff.ly/3dVnXCu... Other Easy Guides are available for the areas of Purpose, Love, Money, Home, Community and Life. buff.ly/3ioaTsY #wheatbelt #resources #tipsforgreatlife

18.01.2022 I have the right to love, be loved, have friends and relationships. I have the right to sexuality and intimacy. We have created some Easy Read guides to assist people in the area of Building Relationships https://buff.ly/2VDyOLa... Other Easy Guides are available for the areas of Purpose, Love, Home, Freedom, Community and Life. www.wheatbelt.com.au/linkability #wheatbelt #resources #tipsforgreatlife

17.01.2022 A great article on ableism and what we can do to be better allies to the millions of others around the world who make up the disabled community. #disability #wheatbelt #ableism

15.01.2022 Dear Colleagues, I wanted to provide you with an important update about our efforts to support participants during the recent COVID-19 situation, as well as some more general Agency news. Extension of COVID-19 temporary support measures...Continue reading

13.01.2022 Thanks for the chat Trevor #wheatbelt #inclusion #celebrate

12.01.2022 Thanks for the chat Wendy #community #inclusion #wheatbelt

11.01.2022 Kellerberrin - Disability Information Roadshow... Monday 1st February 10 - 2pm Centenary Park. We can provide information on.. ... - disability supports you might like to access - any issues you are having with school, community, housing, agencies, neighbours, police or the law - information about NDIS - access, supports, services - whether you would be eligible for a Disability Support Pension or Carers Allowance Contact person - Logan 0488 221 009 Come down and have a chat.............. #wheatbelt #kellaberrin #disability People With disabilities WA Moorditj Koort

11.01.2022 This is Nang. Working out isn’t just something he does for himself, he is an Adaptive Personal Trainer and supports other people with disability to increase the...ir fitness too. ACROD Bays are a necessity in his life, helping him be where he needs to be. This bay is Nang’s day. Park right, day and night. Thanks to our story partners City of Mandurah, Mandurah Forum, BDPT Basement Gym and Department of Communities. #ParkRightDayAndNight #ThisBayIsSomeonesDay #NDS #ACRODParkingProgram #DepartmentofCommunities

11.01.2022 Thanks for the chat Part 2 Angi #wheatbelt #community #humansofthewheatbelt

10.01.2022 NDIA Feedback Session 2.... What’s the session about? The NDIA recently released two consultation papers outlining the research, recommendations and background on the Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) reset:... The Early Childhood Early Intervention Reset Project consultation report and Supporting young children early, to reach their full potential. This session will provide an overview of the recommendations in the papers, the questions we would like your feedback on, and explain how you can give your feedback. #wheatbelt #NDIA #earlyintervention

09.01.2022 Do you have a disability? Are you in the workforce? Would you like to be interviewed? Geraldine is seeking Wheatbelt participates........ The Lives We Lead is a social media project to influence the community to better understand the contributions that people with disability are making economically, socially, culturally and politically.... The project captures and shares up to twenty video and photo stories of people with disability going about their lives achieving ordinary and extraordinary things. A reference group of people with disability use a co-design approach to curate their stories. Currently we are seeking stories of people and their work in regional WA for our new chapter of the project called Workforce. If you think you have a story to share with us contact Geraldine by email at [email protected] or call 0466 305 652. Great stories happen to those who can tell them. Ira Glass, author, journalist, host of This American Life Dive in. Enjoy. Be provoked. Get thoughtful. Share these stories. Start a conversation. Facebook - @thelivesweleadstories Instagram - @theliveswelead_ Twitter - @theliveswelead_

09.01.2022 The first story for 2020... Thanks for the chat Maddie #wheatbelt #inclusion #humansofthewheatbelt

09.01.2022 Thanks for the chat Charlie #community #inclusion #humansofthewheatbelt

09.01.2022 "My Support worker has an ABN and wants me to pay the full NDIS rate. What should I do?" Such a great question, and a topic of much debate. I’m keen to hear you...r take on this, too! ***Using a Registered Support Worker Agency*** When the NDIS decided that the current rate for an hour of support work during the day is about $54 (as stated as the cap in the current NDIS Price Guide), they figured that based on including a heap of stuff (oncosts) in that thinking. That rate needs to cover stuff like: Take home pay for the worker Federal and State taxes Superannuation Training for the worker Workers Compensation insurance Public liability insurance Professional indemnity insurance Bonus/incentives Rostering Manager/person salary Bookkeeper salary HR person salary Quality Control person salary Rent, electricity, internet, water, toilet paper etc at their offices Computers for office staff Phone allowances Manager/s/CEO salary etc Admin salary to ensure clearances and first aid certificates are up to date Annual staff dinner/events Staff awards Audit costs for registration Professional and peak body memberships And a heap more ***Independent Contractors (NOT employees)*** When a Support Worker runs their own business (with ABN) and works as a genuine contractor (eg not regular shifts and not just one client etc etc (check https://www.ato.gov.au//how-to-work-it-out--employee-or-c/ to help figure that out) do still have organise and pay for themselves some of those expenses above, like: Pay in their pocket Income tax Superannuation Own training Workers Compensation insurance Public liability insurance Professional indemnity insurance But their expenses of doing business are generally quite a bit lower. They generally don’t have to fund a rostering person, extra rent, extra phone charges, a bookkeeper, or most of the stuff listed above, but there may be some extras not included here. So, it makes sense that Independent Contractors will not generally require to be paid the full $54/hour, as relatively, their expenses are usually lower (there will always be exceptions, of course). ***When participant/nominee Self Employs a worker*** If a participant or nominee self employs their worker in an employee relationship, then on top of the worker’s take home pay, the participant/nominee will need to claim from the plan the ancillary (extra) costs of employment, like Federal income taxes Superannuation Specific Training for the worker Workers Compensation insurance Public liability insurance Professional indemnity insurance Bonus/incentives Plus, they *may* need/choose to also cover Bookkeeper/HR person/app (like Ability8 or Xero for example) Phone allowances etc So, when a participant/nominee self employs a worker as an employee, the worker’s pay rate is almost always lower than the charges if they were contractors, because the employer (the participant/nominee) has other stuff they must cover. Here’s a list of the award rates for support workers for reference https://www.fairwork.gov.au//social-and-community-services Of course, there are always exceptions - If you are self managed and have a team of workers and want to pay an especially good and trusted one to run the team, then you might well want to pay them more than the others, maybe even more than the NDIS rate and that should theoretically, be balanced by the savings you make on the other’s workers pay rate if you self employ them. ***So the point of all this?*** Negotiate with your support workers and don’t feel obligated to pay the full NDIS capped Price Guide rate for Independent Contractors or your own employees (or maybe even an agency). Some Support Workers will be worth it, but have a think about your funding and what it needs to cover, and see how and where you might want to make it stretch. If you are self employing your support worker/s, or are worried that your Independent Contractor might be considered an employee under the law, please get professional advice from Fair Work Australia, an HR Consultant and/or lawyer and/or accountant. The above post is NOT professional advice The Growing Space are NOT lawyers, HR professionals, accountants or the Government or anything like that stuff! If you want to hear from a bunch of disabled people who use support workers, some of whom employ their own, check out our Learning Team’s e-learning videos and workbooks all about Support Workers at https://learning.TheGrowingSpace.com.au This post is copyright of The Growing Space 2020. You're welcome to share it here on Facebook, with credit and no edits, but if you want to share it elsewhere, please ask us first - thanks!

08.01.2022 Thanks for the chat Frank #wheatbelt #community #inclusion

07.01.2022 Great info YDAN

07.01.2022 What is a restrictive practise in real life? Post #1 (more to come in the coming days) When someone tells me something is a restrictive practise, the best wa...y for me to understand that is to think If that were happening to me, as an adult, would I be p*ssed off and think You have no right!? The common examples used to explain this for disabled people are things like > Deadlocking a door so someone can’t leave without permission > Locking the fridge so someone can’t eat what they shouldn’t > Giving someone calming medication to make things easier for others or prevent harm to themselves or others These are sometimes necessary to keep a disabled adult safe, but are only allowed with approval and a behaviour support plan in place. But there are a heap of other, more subtle, less obvious restrictive practises that happen, especially to disabled people. Here are some examples I’ve heard recently... > Not being allowed to take their phone outside because it might end up in the pool > Being told that if they don’t have a blood test they will go to hospital and die > Being told to go to the beach with everyone else when you don’t want to, because there’s not enough staff to stay at home and look after you > Being told you only have $50/week spending money (and not knowing about the $17,000 in your savings account) I can hear some of you protesting already! I am talking about adults here, and I’m NOT saying these things shouldn’t ever happen, I’m just saying that they ARE restrictive practises, and should not happen without other things being tried and supported first. If anyone tried to tell *me* I wasn’t allowed to take my phone outside, or I had to go to beach when I didn’t want to, or I was lied to about my health or financial situation, I’d be pretty pee’d off, and so would you. That should be our barometer, I reckon... We need to work harder, as a society, to recognise, and avoid restrictive practises whenever possible. As a parent of a young adult, I recognise I do these things too, and it's hard when you know you're protecting your kid, so this series is helping me work through this stuff as I go. Join me in the discussion? I’ll talk more about this over the coming weeks. Think of this as a thought starter. This post is copyright of Sam at The Growing Space 2020, you’re welcome to share it, with credit and no edits, here, but if you want to use it elsewhere, please ask first. Thanks!

06.01.2022 Many people struggle to access digital technologies, and are missing out on the opportunities that being digitally connected provides. The department of Premier... and Cabinet want to hear about your experiences in accessing and using digital technology and the internet. They encourage you to provide your feedback on the draft Digital Inclusion Blueprint for Western Australia https://www.wa.gov.au//have-your-say-digital-inclusion-wes See more

05.01.2022 Thanks for the chat Gloria #community #inclusion #humansofthewheatbelt

04.01.2022 On 1 December 2020 Western Australian disability services will come fully under the NDIS National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). This will mean that Interc...hange WA along with all other service providers will be operating under NDIS standards. These standards are designed to ensure services are high quality and your rights and views are respected whilst also keeping you safe. The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission is an independent agency with the goal to make things better for NDIS Participants. They want to improve the quality and safety of NDIS supports and services and help you with any problems you might be experiencing. For further information about the NDIS Commission and how they can help visit https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au//NDIS%20participants%20-

04.01.2022 Listen to "Episode 39: 2021 - Wonder what’s coming up" by CripChat Podcast | Your weekly podcast on everything disability, hosted by Anchor #disabilities #chat #information

03.01.2022 Good morning everyone, The new addition to the equipment available at the pools. This Aquatic Wheelchair arrived last week and is available for use. Simply ask one of the staff and we will help you get your loved one/patient in and out of the pool

03.01.2022 Thanks Charlie for part 2 #community #celebrate #wheatbelt

03.01.2022 Looking for feedback #ndis #strategy #wheatbelt

02.01.2022 Thanks for the chat Part 2 Darren... #community #inclusion #wheatbelt

02.01.2022 Thanks for the chat Darren #community #inclusion #humsnsofthewheatbelt

01.01.2022 Thanks for the chat Trevor - Part 2 #community #inclusion #celebrate

01.01.2022 Are there any accessibility issues that need to be raised? #wheatbelt #inclusion

01.01.2022 Thanks for the chat Angi #wheatbelt #community #humansofthewheatbelt