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Easter Seals Joins the United Nations to Observe the International Day of Persons with Disabilities
Northcott Disability Services receives $3.5 million to Northcott’s 2009/2010 budget in new funding
St Giles is now Tasmania’s largest disability service provider
Easter Seals Joins the United Nations to Observe the International Day of Persons with Disabilities
(Chicago. Dec. 3) Recognizing that people with disabilities have an important role to play in their communities, and that empowering people with disabilities to contribute plays an essential role in global development, Easter Seals commends the United Nations for its work on this International Day of Persons with Disabilities. To successfully achieve the Millennium Development Goals, we, as global citizens, must address development challenges from a comprehensive perspective -- one that respects the needs and rights of all populations, including the 10 percent of world citizens who live with a disability. We applaud the efforts of the United Nations on this day, and we express our solidarity and support of the advances made on behalf of persons with disabilities.
Since 1919, Easter Seals has sought to make the vision of our founder Edgar “Daddy” Allen a reality. Allen began an international movement, and wrote in 1922 that “We have but one life to live. We get nothing out of that life except by putting something into it. To relieve suffering, to help the unfortunate, to do kind acts and deeds is, after all, the one sure way to secure happiness or to achieve real success. Your life and mine shall be valued not by what we take … but by what we give.”
Today, Easter Seals in the United States and Puerto Rico, with our affiliate Ability First Australia and our global partner Easter Seals Canada, are working together to meet the needs of millions of children and adults with disabilities and their families. Easter Seals President and Chief Executive Officer James E. Williams, Jr., states that “Today, our vision is to grow our services and our expertise to serve millions more, and to lend a hand wherever we are able.”
About Easter Seals in the U.S.
Easter Seals is the leading non-profit provider of services for individuals with autism, developmental disabilities, physical and mental disabilities, and other special needs. For nearly 90 years, we have been offering help and hope to children and adults living with disabilities, and to the families who love them.
Through therapy, training, education and support services, Easter Seals creates life-changing solutions so that people with disabilities can live, learn, work and play in their communities.
To learn more, visit www.easterseals.com
About Ability First Australia
Ability First Australia was formed in 2002 when the following state-based organisations agreed to join forces to better meet the needs of children and families living with disability.
The founding organizations are Cootharinga North Queensland; MontroseAccess, Queensland; Northcott Disability Services, New South Wales; Novita Children’s Services, South Australia; Rocky Bay Inc, Western Australia; and St. Giles Society, Tasmania. Member organisations offer an impressive profile of services, supporting 65,000 Australians with a disability and their families nationwide.
A combined workforce of 2,000 employees and annual combined operating costs in excess of $100 million support the complex needs of the individuals who receive services from Ability First Australia members. In addition, more than 3,000 Australians volunteer their time and expertise each year to assist member organisations to achieve their goals.
Visit www.abilityfirstaustralia.com.au to learn more.
Ability First Australia’s Chief Executive Officer Glenn Gardner says “Today more than ever we value working in partnership with others whose aim is to see that persons with disabilities are provided with opportunities which enable them to make, wherever possible, their own life choices “
About Easter Seals Canada
Easter Seals Canada is a federation of 10 provincial Easter Seals organizations who have served Canadians with disabilities for more than eighty years. Working together this network is the leading provider of services to children and families living with disabilities, assisting more than 100,000 Canadians annually. Programs and services provided by Easter Seals organizations across Canada include, specialized summer camps and active living programs, respite facilities, and the provision of mobility, access equipment and family support services.
For more information visit: www.easterseals.ca
“Our goal for the future is to enable full recognition of diverse abilities within more accessible Canadian communities” said Max Beck, CEO of Easter Seals Canada.
Northcott Disability Services receives $3.5 million to Northcott’s 2009/2010 budget in new funding
In the last few months, Northcott has been successful in securing funding for a number of new programs. These include:
South West Sydney Therapy – Two new therapy programs will be established in Liverpool, Fairfield and Bankstown. A transition to school program will support children with disabilities and their families in the six months prior to starting school and six months after starting school, to ensure they are provided with the necessary therapy support they need to achieve independence, inclusion and participation at school. A school aged therapy program will also be offered to children with disabilities at primary or high school, with similar goals of maximising independence and inclusion at school.
EarlyStart – Diagnosis Support – This new service will operate from locations in Newcastle, Central Coast, Coffs Harbour, Ballina, Tamworth, Penrith, Parramatta and Hornsby. EarlyStart - Diagnosis Support is an innovative program that will provide time limited intervention and support to families in the diagnosis period, until ongoing support is provided by specialist or mainstream children’s services.
EarlyStart – Additional Support – Northcott will be providing a range of therapy and support services in Illawarra (Dapto) and Nepean (Penrith) for pre-school aged children and their families. Options will include both individual and group based therapy services. EarlyStart is preventative in focus, aimed at promoting the well-being and resilience of children with a disability and strengthening support for families. This includes linking children and families more effectively into mainstream services and ongoing local community supports and activities.
Therapy – State-wide – Northcott received two direct allocations for therapy, one of which will provide 200 therapy places over three years across the state, and therapy pilot projects in metropolitan and regional areas, which will focus on targeting previously under represented groups. The pilot projects will have a strong focus on research and the development of therapy models which can be replicated in the future.
Teen Time – Dubbo and Wagga – Two new teen after school and vacation care services will be established in regional areas of NSW. This new funding will offer nine recurrent places daily in Dubbo and six recurrent places daily in Wagga Wagga. The services will be offered 5 afternoons per week during term time and 5 days per week during the school holidays, to ensure working parents and those requiring a break are provided with various solutions.
Leaving Care Mentoring Program - The Leaving Care Program assists young people with a disability to transition from the parental responsibility of the Minister for Community Services. As part of this transition, young people access stable accommodation and flexible types of support to help them live as independently as possible. This also includes access to vocational activities including employment, higher education, Transition to Work and Community Participation Programs.
The Mentoring Service will offer additional support to young people with a disability leaving care when there are potential gaps between formal or professional care and the informal care provided by families and friends in assisting young people with their journey to adulthood. Northcott will provide this service throughout NSW.
The Mentoring and EarlyStart programs are new state government initiatives and Northcott will be instrumental in ensuring these new service models are established effectively throughout the state.
The funding for these new programs will contribute more than $3.5 million to Northcott’s 2009/2010 budget, greatly enhancing Northcott’s capacity to meet the needs of people with disabilities and their families throughout NSW.
St Giles is now Tasmania’s largest disability service provider
St Giles has been appointed by the Department of Health and Human Services to manage the Southern Children’s Allied Health and Rehabilitation Service from 1st July, 2009.
This amounts to an additional $3,500,000 recurrent government funding.
The Service supports more than 1,600 children with disabilities and their families across the South West and South East Regions of Tasmania.
The Service was established by the Tasmanian Government in the 1930’s in response to the polio outbreak and formed a part of the public health system. The service was sold to Calvary Health Care in 2000 when they also acquired a number of public hospitals. Calvary Health Care is one of Australia’s largest private health providers.
St Giles successful tender acknowledged the excellence of our northern Children’s Allied Program and the value of our associations through Ability First Australia and Easter Seals Disability Services USA.
The Southern Service includes: Assessment, Therapy, Early Intervention, Hydrotherapy, Communication, Speech and Language for Pre Schoolers and Development Disability Paediatric Services. Associated Clinics include Orthotics, Podiatry, Seating, Spina Bifida and the Southern Community Equipment Scheme in addition to outreach services including the new and about to be established Hazlewood School.
The State wide Autism Assessment team will operate from St Giles Southern Service Centre.
St Giles will also take over the Children’s Assessment Unit from the State Government and has received an additional $300,000 recurrent funding to consolidate our State wide Seating and Equipment Service.
These developments are in addition to new Federal Government Funding for our Speech and Psychology preschoolers programs.
St Giles is now Tasmania’s largest disability service provider supporting 5,000 children and adults and reaching out to around 10,000 families and carers. (Tasmania has a total population of just in excess of 500,000 people.)
St Giles now offers a comprehensive State wide Allied Health Program to complement our State wide Community Services program.
American Early Childhood Autism Expert Introduces Innovative PLAY Project to Australia through Northcott Disability Services
1 in 160 Australian children aged between 6 and 12 years have an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). With no cure for this challenging disorder and only a few treatment options, ASD lasts a lifetime. For families, these treatments may cost up to $60,000 each year.
The PLAY (Play and Language for Autistic Youngsters) Project, a cost effective and innovative early intervention program for children (18 months to 7 years) with ASD will help reduce these costs.
Dr Richard Solomon, Medical Director and Creator of the innovative program will hit Australian shores from America April 2009 to introduce the PLAY Project to the first Australian organisation, Northcott Disability Services.
Dr Solomon, who has been diagnosing and treating children with autism for over fifteen years, has taught parents and professional the fundamentals of this intensive home-based intervention, which uses play-based approaches. Popularly known as ‘Floortime’, this model encourages parents to get down on the floor and play with the child at their level.
The methods and techniques are designed to help children resolve the three core deficits of autism: self-isolation and impaired social skills, language delay and impaired communication, and stereotyped or repetitive behaviours.
Dr Solomon’s interest in young children with autism and their families began even before he went to medical school in 1977. In 1975, he worked with elementary school age children, many of whom had autism, in a small special education program in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The type of intervention was play-based and, as a ‘mental health worker’ he spent 8 hours per day, 5 days a week for two years, interacting with children. Dr Solomon is now a board member of council and a medical editor of the Interdisciplinary Council of Developmental and Learning Disorders. Dr Solomon’s research has been recently published in Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice.
In comparison to other treatment options, the PLAY Project trains parents within their homes to provide the hours of intervention their children need in a familiar setting, reducing the cost to around $3,000 per year. By emphasising the importance of helping parents become their child’s best play partner, the child gains important social and language skills while reducing stress and pressure on the family.
The PLAY Project training is made available thanks to a grant provided by the Commonwealth Bank. Parents will be able to access the project through the ‘Helping Children with Autism’ package’, the first national Federal Government initiative aimed at addressing the considerable need for support and services for children with ASD.
Northcott Disability Services provides early intervention services to children with autism and their families’ state wide. For more information on the PLAY Project or Northcott’s Early Childhood Autism Service, please contact Northcott’s Autism support line 1800 004 957.
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