Help people with a disability to find groups and networks

Posted in: Blog | 30 Jan 2018

At Charlton Brown, we’re committed to teaching our students to provide the best possible care and support for people living with a disability. Its about helping these people to live their most dignified, fulfilling, and best lives. Ensuring that people with a disability live their best lives is important for everyone, as it has a profound effect on society at large.

So, we’ve put together some advice for anyone who’d like to help someone they know with a disability to start taking advantage of social networks they have available to them. This involves helping them to identify their strengths, interests, abilities and support requirements so they can engage with these networks in a meaningful way.

There are lots of different networks available to people with a disability, so to get started on finding the right one, it’s a good idea to go through an informal appraisal process with them.

  1. Identify their interests – What are their favourite things to do or talk about? Are they into movies, sport, books, animals, video games, history, art?
  2. Look for some groups who share their interests – It doesn’t matter what your interests are these days, there will be a group of people who like the same thing. A quick search on Facebook or Google will help you find them.
  3. Learn about the location they meet – If the group has regular meetings of any kind, find out where they are. Can a person with a disability get access to the building? Is there reliable public transport nearby? Are there any other potential physical obstacles in the neighbourhood such as stairs?
  4. Help them gather resources – If it’s a sport or a sport supporter’s club, there may be some kind of uniform involved. They might need a hat or a backpack if they’re heading outside for a long period of time. Go through the process of them attending a group and work backwards to determine exactly what they need to participate.

Sometimes, however, the person might not want to get involved in an organised group, and that’s OK. Everyone is different. Being social does provide great benefits to a person’s physical and emotional wellbeing so it’s still a good idea to ask them a few questions about who they could be interacting with.

  1. Who do they enjoy spending time with? Are there particular family members or friends they look forward to seeing?
  2. Where could they make a difference? Is there a particular charity they’d be interested in helping out at? Working with the homeless or in an animal shelter could provide a great sense of fulfillment.
  3. Who could they learn new knowledge from? Is there a particular topic they’d love to know more about? Who could they speak or listen to in order to keep learning?
  4. What roles could the person take? Whether it’s paid or unpaid employment, volunteering work, teaching, mentoring, or even helping another person with a disability, there are plenty of roles out there for a person with a disability to fill.
  5. Who can provide them with support? Depending on what the person decides to do, it’s good to find out of there will be someone besides you to provide them with assistance and guidance.

If you’d like to get started in the growing Disability Care sector, it’s essential to choose an industry trusted training provider with a solid track record of getting people qualified and established in a rewarding new career in the care of others. With a proud 30-year history of providing industry-best training, Charlton Brown has developed more than 18,000 quality graduates who now work across every facet of the Disability Care sector. Combining our core competencies and expertise in the care industry with strategic partnerships and support from government, NGOs and large care providers, we’re the ideal starting point for your new career in this growing industry.

Get in touch with us today to find out how you can get started on one of our qualifications that combine the latest theory with hands-on learning from industry work placement opportunities.

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