Celebrating International Day of People with Disability

When International Day of People with Disability is celebrated this Thursday (December 3), the staff at Intereach will be able to reflect positively on the contribution they are making in their communities.

For example, there’s the story of Tommy (not his real name) who was showing developmental delays in multiple areas. He was referred to Early Childhood Intervention support after his family expressed concerns about Tommy’s development compared to his peers, especially in the areas of social skills and communication.

Tommy’s assessment indicated he met developmental delay criteria, and as a consequence, he was supported by the Murrumbidgee Early Childhood Early Intervention team to access the National Disability Insurance Scheme and develop a funded plan.

The ECEI team worked with Tommy’s family, helping them understand the importance of early childhood intervention. This included identifying the areas where Tommy was doing well, and also those which needed development. The team worked with the family to identify priorities for Tommy, helped them navigate NDIS access and linked the family to appropriate early childhood intervention providers. Throughout the entire process, a family-centred approach was adopted.

Tommy reacted positively to the supports he received. He started school and was able to quickly develop strong friendships – which was important to his family – and was fully participating across his school environments, including having no trouble with communication. In fact, Tommy’s improvement was so significant that his family wanted to transition out of the NDIS as all their goals had been met.

It is this type of success that makes the Intereach team proud of the work they do across a large footprint in southern NSW and northern Victoria.

On International Day of People with Disability, team members will receive a range of resources and content, enabling continuing discussions with peers and networks on the way we think about disability and to see the ability in disability.

Intereach believes every person with a disability deserves to live their life as an equal and valued member of the local community. It works alongside its participants, their family and carers to identify a person’s dreams, goals and hopes, and put practical actions in place to achieve this.