The RASAID Journey

We are nineteen families from the Ryde area in Sydney's North West. We all have sons and daughters with an intellectual disability. These adult children of ours are in their twenties, thirties, forties and fifties ... continue

Gatekeeper and Triage

In a recent press release, Peter de Natris, DADHC's Regional Director for Southern NSW, referred to the one hundred new case management positions that his department is creating across the state. The role of a case manager, he said, ... continue

The Right Hand and the Left Hand

In New South Wales, the Minister for Disability is also the Minister for Ageing. While the states are not responsible for aged care, they administer areas like Seniors Card and Seniors Week. As Minister for Ageing, Paul Lynch, ... continue

Valour

Valour is extraordinary courage and bravery, especially on the battlefield. It somes from the Latin meaning strong. Parents who have raised a disabled child know about battlefields, particularly in a country in which suitable support services are not in place ... continue

No place for our Loved Ones to go

There is a great and growing crisis in Australia that few people know about and even less are talking about, says Sydney mother and working carer Estelle Shields. There is nowhere in the ‘lucky country’ for its citizens with severe dependent disabilities to go ... continue

ADHC Good News Story

The good news stories keep coming and it is enlightening to read how the disability dollars are spent. One story that caught my eye this month was the story of Stuart, whose family has achieved the much-sought-after prize of supported accommodation ... continue

Definition of Abuse

We need to think closely about the definition of 'abuse'. My dictionary says that abuse is 'hurting by treating wrongly'. I see around me people with an intellectual disability placed in housing alone with minimum drop in support, stranded without access to a vehicle ... continue

Blog in The Australian newspaper - May 2009

Australians are fair-minded and generous to a fault. That they are served by a piecemeal and inadequate disability system is largely the result of their ignorance of the subject. ... continue

Report Enquiry into Better Support for Carers

If you made a submission to the Enquiry into Better Support for Carers and mentioned, as I know many of you did, the total lack of supported accommodation for adults with a disability in this country, you will be disappointed with the report which has been released today. ... continue

Skirting the Fringe - Family Advocacy

Family Advocacy presents a philosophy that could be best described as the radical fringe of disability thinking. In its view, inclusion of a person with a disability in every facet of normal life means that anything special is wrong. ... continue

The Right of Choice

It is with much regret that I read that Hazel Hawke has been placed in a high care facility because her care needs are now beyond the capacity of her family to provide. I wish to pay tribute to ... continue

Letter to Anne Bryce - 2008

Dear Ms Bryce, May I congratulate you on your forthcoming appointment as CEO of the merged entity of the Achieve and Crowle Foundations and may I wish the NewCo every future success. ... continue

Letter to Ethel McAlpine - 2009

Dear Ethel, The keeping of waiting lists for desperate families who need supported accommodation is not counterproductive to maintaining family and community ties. You well know that what is counterproductive is the Vacancy Management System that your department ... continue

Stories for Bill Shorten - 2009

Dear Bill, I want to tell you three short stories from the world of intellectual disability. It is important that you, as our parliamentary representative, get to hear tales from the coal face. ... continue

Letter to Jenny Macklin - 2008

Dear Ms Macklin, I am sure you don't remember me. We spoke briefly after the signing of the CSTDA in Sydney. I told you how desperate we are for supported accommodation for our intellectually disabled sons and daughters and that we need it now, ... continue

Winds of Change - Letter to Eddie Bartnik- 2009

I was lucky to have a trip to India recently. Unfortunately, I have to travel by myself because unlike other couples, my husband and I cannot get away together. However, single is better than not going. Driving along the highway in Rajasthan is a fascinating experience. ...' continue

Good News Stories for DADHC - 2009

If you have just read this month's DADHC newsletter, you will have seen what Northcott has submitted as "Good News Stories".  You will read about Valerie, the devoted lifelong carer of her 46 year-old son. She suffers with glaucoma and doesn't drive, but the Northcott worker ... continue

Resilience Fatigue - Article in June 2009 Link Disability Magazine SA

Estelle Shields was left breathless by a NSW academic’s project on resilience in families with children with disabilities ... continue

Rally 2009 Speech Transcript

I have some questions for Paul Lynch, Nathan Rees, Kevin Rudd and anyone else who wants to listen. I want to know why it has to be so hard. You would think that it is difficult enough to raise a disabled child without having to take to the streets in search of basic services for that child. ... continue

Inclusion

Daniel Shields stands in front of the kitchen notice board where the pictorial program for his recreation group hangs. "How many more sleeps before I go out with my group?" he asks, for the third time today. Because of his severe intellectual disability he has no literacy or numeracy, so he is not really asking ... continue

Submission to National Carer Stratgey

Carers are supposed to be supported by a system and the system that carers of people with a disability operates within is the disability support system. At the outset of this submission, I would like to restate the word that has often been used to describe Australia's disability support system. It is a disgrace. ... continue