Rocky Bay provides support for people with disabilities in Western Australia. The organisation’s Getabout programme is an ‘alternative to employment’ scheme for adults with disabilities and staff have begun using Towards Independence with school leavers and other adults on the programme.
The modules learners have worked through so far are Multi-sensory Experiences and Out in the Community, with nine more being introduced, including Current Affairs, Sports Studies and Using ICT. The centre has identified a number of benefits of using these modules, such as recording and identifying skills. Students’ portfolios provide a ‘handover’ tool that take a snapshot of their abilities at a particular point, and then can be maintained and built upon.
Team leader Alana Francas-McNee said the course has also helped build relationships between learners. “Steps such as ‘invite someone to go with or share an activity with a friend’ has led to people relating to their fellow members at Getabout on a deeper and more meaningful level,” she explained. “The Out in the Community module has provided structure around researching what is available in the community. People have been researching and visiting venues to get to know the facilities and what is on offer. Deciding how to get there has inspired people to use other forms of transport such as train or ferry rides, where in the past they may have simply relied on their car.
"Multi-sensory Experiences has helped them to explore new activities, creating visual programmes and focusing on the benefits of music therapy.”