By Tyler Wright
Hills-based NDIS participants are being urged by the Interchange Outer East (IOE) Recreation Services team to express their interest in a regular social group, after one resident expressed concerns about the lack of disability recreation services within the community.
Catriona Knothe, who lives in Emerald with her son who has a disability, said her son’s NDIS funding for community participation has gone primarily towards one-on-one activities with a support worker rather than group programs, because there are none based in the Hills.
“This can be compounded by geographic isolation, and poor public transport for those that are able to use it, (but there’s a lot that can’t use that as well),” Catriona said.
“The other thing about not having group activities is [it] means if you’ve got an NDIS package for support, which might include group activities, you tend to spend a lot more of the funds on one to one.
And while it’s good to have one to one, I think it’s important to have a balance.”
Disability service provider Interchange Outer East (IOE) facilitates social groups in Ferntree Gully and Lilydale, but has seen a gap in services for adults with disabilities in Emerald, Gembrook, Menzies Creek and surrounding areas.
IOE Recreation Services Team Leader Karina Fry said accessibility to programs run in the City of Knox and Lilydale can be difficult for Hills residents to access, so the organisation is looking at a more localised approach.
“If we’re running an activity from the base in Ferntree Gully, and they’re meeting here at five o’clock, and they’re going into the city to see a band, and they’re getting back at 11 or 12 o’clock at night, that’s a lot for a parent to have to do for an adult child in terms of driving around,” Karina said.
“Taxis and Ubers aren’t always an option for people, or may not feel safe at that time of night.
We do have a lot of feedback from families stating that our services are either too far away, and [they] would like something more local; plus within your own community you know a lot more people, it’s easier to make friendships, easier to maintain friendships with people that you can see who might be close by.”
The social groups will be based around maintaining and developing friendships with other people alongside a permanent recreation leader, with the goal of potentially meeting as a group without the extra support.
“[The meetings] might be about going out to dinner, if that’s something they love to do, they might go to different restaurants when they catch up, or if they like to talk about Dungeons and Dragons, or football,” she said.
There might be a group that’s into sport and into the footy… they might catch up and talk about footy and then and then they might plan to go to a couple of the games, with a meeting point close by to where they live.
It can start off really small and it can evolve.”
To be eligible to join this social group, you must be aged 18 or over, have core funding available in your NDIS plan, and be supported within a group at a ratio of 1:2 or 1:3.
To register your interest, contact Karina Fry at karina.fry@ioe.org.au or on 9758 5522 by Thursday 15 September.
