ILC’s HACC Allied Health Service opens up to Perth metro area
ILC’s new Allied Health Service, funded by the WA Home and Community Care (HACC) Program, is now available across the whole of the Perth metropolitan area.
Our allied health professionals can provide short term occupational therapy and physiotherapy services in people’s homes.
The focus of the therapy is on regaining or maintaining an individual’s physical, functional and cognitive abilities, which supports their safety and maximises their independence and quality of life.
Service already making a difference to people’s lives
Dora recently engaged our HACC Allied Health Services for her 93-year-old mother Halina, with great success. Dora kindly took the time to write about the difference allied health services have made to her mother’s life.
"Genna (occupational therapist) and Lauren are two delightful young women who obviously are passionate about their work. Their input in how to improve the quality of mum’s life has been invaluable. The work Lauren has done has changed all our lives – taking it from once being a stressful, worrying time, to being a joyous, laughter filled time with our darling mum." Read Dora's full story here...
$50,000 grant assists pensioners The ILC was fortunate to receive a $50,000 grant from the Theodore and Isabella Wearne Charitable Trust recently. The grant will assist older West Australian pensioners living with a disability, who are not eligible for other government funding, to acquire assistive technology through the ILC’s equipment grants programs. Previous funding provided by the Trust has enabled people to benefit from items including wheelchairs, mobility scooters, recliner lift chairs, pressure care mattresses, shower commodes and minor home modifications.
A client who has recently received a grant for an electrical adjustable bed from the Wearne Trust wrote about the difference this bed will make to her life.
Assistive technology users lead new project to improve AT information
What is assistive technology (AT)? How can it help me? How can I find out about what’s out there? What’s new? How do I know what AT is best for me? What do others use? How can I access it? Is there funding available? How do I access this funding? Where do I find out the answers to all these questions?
Assistive technology is increasingly enabling people with disability to perform tasks they could not otherwise do, to perform tasks more easily, and to perform them more safely and securely. It is allowing many people with disability to reach their potential at home, in their community and in the workplace.
At the ILC an exciting new project is underway that aims to create better pathways for people to find out information about AT. And who better to lead this project than people who use AT themselves?
The ‘AT Capacity Building Project’ team, who are all users of assistive technology, includes Joscelyn Franciscus, Zel Iscel, Danielle Loizou-Lake and Nick Passanisi. Together they work as a steering committee, applying the principles of co-design ensuring the project is user led. Read more about this exciting project and meet the team by following this link...
Have you tuned into 6iX recently and heard our new radio ad?
If not you can listen to it here
Many benefits of a Noah's Ark Toy Library membership Noah's Ark WA is a unique service that connects families, therapists and educators with toys, resources and information to support play and development.
Our professional staff provide advice on how to optimise learning through play. Support is provided to select resources that link a child’s goals and interests and allows families to incorporate play into everyday routines.
Library memberships offer access to a wide range of toys, games, play equipment, assessments and specialist resources to support the development of a range of skills, including fine and gross motor, language, literacy, numeracy, concepts, sensory, communication and switch access.
In addition, Story Time is held at Noah’s Ark every Tuesday morning during school term. This play and learning session includes a story with language development strategies, an action song and a variety of developmental or sensory activities. Topics this month have included ‘Hide & Seek Colours’ followed by lots of playdough activities and easel painting and an obstacle course; and ‘I Am the Music Man’ incorporating an obstacle course and lots of music activities.
If you are the parent of a child with additional developmental needs, a therapist, a teacher or an early childhood educator, you may want to find out more about becoming a member of Noah’s Ark WA.
ILC Scholarship recipients work towards improving support for people
ILC staff members Iris Burtenshaw, Rachel Everison, Amanda Hudson and Amy Litton were recently awarded the 2017 Independent Living Centre WA Scholarships to support the work they do with people with disability and older people.
The recipients will undertake studies in the areas of dementia, assistive technology for people with hearing impairment, accessible environments and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) assessment, prescription and intervention. Improving knowledge and skills in these areas will greatly benefit people with a disability and older people. Read more here..
Communication and staying involved in the lives of family and community is vital to everyone’s health and wellbeing but it is not always easy for everyone.
John Nakulski from Konnect has shared a heart-warming story about how Graham, who has a hearing impairment, uses assistive technology to stay connected with his family and friends around Australia and the big difference it makes to his life. Read the blog post here...
ILC WA has a Konnekt Videophone at our Nedlands display centre if you would like to trial one
"Konnekt was very responsive and kindly provided a Videophone. I’d encourage Perth locals to visit us to see it. We can make two-way video calls to our iPad here, or to Konnekt’s head office in Melbourne. It really is very easy to use and would help those living independently or within an Aged Care home" — Nicole De Faria, ILC WA Occupational Therapist.
Teletalk for Teens
Written by one of our occupational therapists, Emma Van Chastelet, Teletalk for Teens gives an overview of the project - Kids Tele-Talk Tools: Equipping school aged children with skills and equipment for successful telecommunication.
The article details why the project was initiated and the positive outcomes after training for young people with disability and those that support them.
Emma’s take home message is “Whilst a device can help to support a young person with disability in life skills and to safely access the community, time must also be spent in upskilling them and those around them in how to use the device safely and to its full potential.
“Technology is not so scary - in fact once you are confident in using it, it may prove very helpful,” she said. Read the full article here...
Daniel's story - How the right communication system for Daniel has changed his life Having the right assistive technology and communication aids, along with a good support team, can make a big difference to a person’s life. In this video, Daniel and his mum Joanne share with us how the right communication system for Daniel has changed his life.Watch it here
To see the full range of videos produced by the ILC check out our YouTube channel and please share them amongst your friends, family and colleagues and help to spread the word about how assistive equipment and technology can make a big difference to people’s lives.
The ILC offers a range of interesting and diverse training topics that are relevant to the health, disability, community, aged care and education sectors.
Our health professionals are qualified to deliver training on a range of topics covering the areas of assistive equipment and technology, home modifications and assistive learning technologies in education.
Scooter Safety Workshop - Thursday 27th AprilHave you, or a family member, recently started using a scooter (gopher)?
This workshop is aimed at existing scooter users, both novice and experienced. It will not only boost attendees’ confidence in using their scooter to access the community surrounds, but it will also increase safe driving skills to reduce the risk of being involved in an accident.
A recent survey indicates that one in four scooter users have an accident at some time. The ILC encourages users to receive training and education on scooter safety and the importance of maintenance and insurance. Follow this link for more information and to register.
Fundamentals of Assistive Technology: Enabling front line staff to understand consumers AT needs - Monday 22 May (Cockburn) and Tuesday 11 July (Nedlands) The ILC is offering a NEW Workshop - Fundamentals of Assistive Technology (AT).
This hands on workshop covers the fundamental skills and knowledge for good AT practice for support staff to make safe AT decisions for the people they support.
This workshop is essential for support workers, support coordinators, nursing staff, RAS assessors, local coordinators and planners, activity officers, residential care staff, allied health staff who are new to AT, therapy assistants, pharmacy assistants, suppliers and retail staff. Follow this link for more information and to register...
Scope – Communication & Inclusion Resource Centre Due to popular demand, ILC are pleased to welcome back Scope for a third year.
Scope are presenting an Easy English Workshop: An introduction on Thursday 11 May. Easy English is specially designed to make sense to people who have difficulty reading and understanding English. This workshop will provide you with an introduction to the basic skills in writing documents in Easy English for people with non-functional literacy.Follow this link for more information and to register.
On Friday 12 May, Scope will present My Plan – How to write Individual Support Plans in Easy English. This workshop will focus on how to write an individual support plan in Easy English and explore techniques to make the plan ‘easy to read.’
ILC are also offering key word sign basic workshops, Pragmatic Organisation Dynamic Display (PODD) introductory workshops plus much more! Visit our 'What’s On' page to see other upcoming workshops and information sessions.
Support available for young carers Do you know of a young person who provides care and support to a family member with a mental illness, disability, dementia or frailty associated with ageing?
More than 300,000 of Australia’s carers are young carers, with approximately 150,000 under the age of 18 years. Often these young people are caring for a parent, sibling, grandparent, or other relative or friend, all whilst trying to complete their high school education.
ILC’s Young Carers Program assists these young people under the age of 18 years who need support to better manage their education and caring responsibilities.
If you are a young carer or you know of a young person with caring responsibilities please contact us on 1800 052 222 or visit our website here for more information.
ILC's Resources Go Global!For students with impaired physical, sensory and cognitive abilities it can be difficult to identify and develop a reliable and independent access method to enable them to participate in classroom activities and therefore access the curriculum.
The development of mainstream and specialised assistive technology in recent years provides students with more opportunities to participate in classroom activities independently.
As part of the Unlocking Abilities Project, the ILC has developed a series of handouts with information on three different access methods - touchscreen, switch and eye gaze - and ideas for developing these skills within the classroom.
Following sharing these resources on ILC’s Facebook page and a US blog PrAACtical AAC, many people around the world, including those living in the United States, Russia, Canada, the UK and India, have accessed them.
If you are interested in hiring an equipment kit short term for one of the access methods (touchscreen, switch and eye gaze) contact ILC Hire, or for further information on the equipment kits please contact one of our friendly occupational therapists on (08) 9381 0600.
Essential Assistive Equipment and Technology ResourcesNED -the Australian National Equipment Database- is the place to start your search for assistive equipment and technology products. Whether you have a disability, are ageing or are providing care for someone, make an informed choice about assistive equipment and technology options suitable for your individual circumstances and goals. Start your search with NED.
Equip Myself– a free tablet app that supports Australians with disability to identify assistive equipment and technology options that could assist them in their lives.
WA NDIS agreement finalised
In February, the State and Commonwealth governments signed a Bilateral Agreement that will see the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) rolled out in WA under a nationally consistent, locally-administered model.
ILC Head Office
The Niche, Suite A, 11 Aberdare Road, Nedlands WA 6009
Phone: (08) 9381 0600 or 1300 885 886 (the cost of a local call from anywhere in WA)
Recently the Independent Living Centre had the privilege of meeting Helen and working together with her to achieve the goals she set in her NDIS plan.
The ILC was fortunate to receive a $50,000 grant from the Theodore and Isabella Wearne Charitable Trust recently. The grant will assist older West Australian pensioners living with a disability, who are not eligible for other government funding, to acquire assistive technology through the ILC’s equipment grants programs. Previous funding provided by the Trust has enabled people to benefit from items including wheelchairs, mobility scooters, recliner lift chairs, pressure care mattresses, shower commodes and minor home modifications.
Noah's Ark WA is a unique service that connects families, therapists and educators with toys, resources and information to support play and development.
The ILC is offering a NEW Workshop - Fundamentals of Assistive Technology (AT).
Due to popular demand, ILC are pleased to welcome back Scope for a third year.
Do you know of a young person who provides care and support to a family member with a mental illness, disability, dementia or frailty associated with ageing?
