Disability Care Australia (NDIS) the first step towards full social inclusion

Exploring possibilities

The introduction of Disability Care Australia is a revolutionary concept that is designed to encourage and enable greater community inclusion of people with a disability.  Through the promotion of individual choice and the first real opportunity for people with significant disability and their families to have self-direction for their life based on their own hopes and dreams for the future. It is hoped where feasible people with disabilities will engaged in all aspects of community life give the right early intervention and support systems in their lives.

This is a move away from traditional values and attitudes that have previously seen people with disabilities  become isolated in their community either through disability or the time commitments involved in caring for a family member who has a significant disability meaning even family members have been excluded and isolated.

As we walk towards the implementation of Disability Care Australia previously known as the NDIS the challenges before us are great.  However our biggest challenge before us is to change the way we limit and define what is possible for a child or adult with disabilities, we in the past our expectations have been low and very limiting.

Along with improving physical access to buildings, the workplace and public transport we to need to see a major shift in attitudes towards people with disabilities and the inclusion of their families. If our attitudes, especially those of us who work in the disability sector are not challenged and expanded than the hopes and dreams of thousands of NDIS campaigners will be lost at we stand a the precepts of a revolution to ensure the social inclusion of people with disabilities.

This includes one of the biggest challenges for us, employment. People with disabilities tell us they want to work, however at the same time they have the right to meaningful employment and fair wages, not just the type of employment opportunities offered by sheltered workshops in the past.  Working towards full inclusion will require us to expand our horizons of what is possible even in the workplace and even force us to look for alternative ways to achieve our goals and work results, as seen in this story. 

 ABC journalist breaking new ground - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation):

'via Blog this'

I personal believe we have much to learn about ourselves, our attitudes and the self determination of people with disability and their families before earn even begin to let go of out previously preconceptions of what is possible and deactivated this inbuilt tendency to overprotect those with disabilities.  

Let us be excited about the possibilities tomorrow can bring .