PATH training

Development of the Path training is progressing nicely. It is going to be lots of fun and learning for all. I look forward to meeting all our new Facilitators and Graphers.

Registration now open for PATH facilitator training

We are now taking registrations for our PATH facilitator training.

Workshop Dates
Session 1: Tuesday 28 April 2009 - 6.00-9.00pm (Deakin)
Session 2: Saturday 2 May 2009 - 10.00am to 5.00pm (Page*)
Session 3: Saturday 9 May 2009 - 10.00am to 5.00pm (Deakin)
Session 4: Tuesday 12 May 2009 - 6.00-9.00pm (Deakin)

Please contact the PATH Coordinator, via email to register.

21st Birthday Celebration

The year was 2007 and Nathan was 20. Brimful of grand ideas but in the dark about just what his next step might be. Nathan had recently become a “Big Issue” vendor based at Belconnen Mall and was thriving on it. He had left Black Mountain School just before Christmas, spent some time on Post School Options, worked in the ANU Bike Co-op and was still searching.

Nathan sat in his lounge room surrounded by family and friends and for 3 hours, Nathan’s future was everybody’s concern. Aided by a trained facilitator and a grapher, Nathan started by articulating his vision or visions for the future. At this stage no-one looked for practical difficulties or concerned themselves with how these things might be achieved. They just helped him find the words to articulate his ultimate hopes and dreams. The grapher wrote these words and some simple pictures, deftly catching the essence of Nathan’s ideas for his own future.

Then it was down to comparing these visions with the actual situation as it was on the day. Where to be in a year’s time? Where to be in 6 months? And so on, back to what to start on tomorrow. But you can’t work miracles on your own and so much thought was given to finding the people who might help Nathan be the high achiever he’s hoping to be. His father, sisters, auntie, friends, support worker were all listed as allies in the great task Nathan wished to take on. And we found a short term goal; Nathan hoped to save enough money for a Spit Roast 21st birthday party. He had about 12 weeks to do it… He did it in six.
All of this was captured as a colourful diagram approximately 1 metre wide and 2 metres long. At the end the grapher and facilitator rolled up the PATH and gave it to Nathan. It was a bit like “this is your life”, but the future, not the past.

A Trip to Melbourne

Over the past 12 months we have seen some quite remarkable outcomes from our participating PATH finders and their families. Young people with disabilities, both physical and/or intellectual, often have a strong desire to be more independent and have the freedom that we all expect in adulthood. Although many adult pursuits may not be realistic for these young people, such as gaining their driving licence or live on their own, it may be possible to identify other ways that they can be more independent by thinking outside the square with the people prepared to assist.

One PATH finder’s dream was to get his driver’s licence and have his own car but because he has an intellectual disability this was unlikely to ever be possible. However, when the PATH team explored with him what he desired from being able to drive, it became clear that what he wanted was to be independent from his parents. After all, what 21 year old male wants to be collected early from a night out with your mates by their parents!?!. So this PATH finder, with his parents and friends tackled the question of independence in a different way. Instead of having to wait up to go and collect their son after a night out, they now had to wait for their son to come home from a flight from Melbourne (that he had booked himself) after a five day stay there with another friend (who also had a disability). No parents in sight …