Simon, who lives with an intellectual disability, loves pictures of cars and drawing.
He used to attend the Lakelands Community Centre to make copies of car pictures and his drawings with the photocopier, but he would often leave immediately without engaging with anyone.
One day Alana, coordinator of the Kanwal Hub – an interactive community initiative at the centre operated by The Benevolent Society – engaged Simon in conversation to find out more about him and look at his drawings. Eventually she asked Simon if he would like to see anything special happen at the community centre, as a way for him to do more there.
Simon’s response was that he would like to do some games and drawing with people, so Alana encouraged him to help her set up a new group for adults living with an intellectual disability. Together they devised a survey about ideas for the group, and Simon distributed it among his friends. The result was ‘Good Times Tuesdays’.
The program creates a safe space for people living with intellectual disabilities (ID) to access everyday environments and promotes prosocial behaviour in a community setting. It also gives people who are living with an ID opportunities to improve their cognitive processes, specifically in relation to decision-making, collaboration, ownership and control, and empowers them to identify and make lifestyle choices based on their values, preferences and beliefs.
As a result of the group, Simon has found a new purpose and is interacting socially a lot more. ‘‘Alana listened to me and made me feel important and that I had something special to say,” he said. “She gave me a roster, so I could come up and spend time with her three days a week and help with more ideas for the group. She is a great boss.""She made me excited about life again and I’m very happy with all my new friends at the community centre.”
These days Simon is a lot more outgoing. He uses the community centre services, makes cups of tea, draw pictures for the centre, talks to members of the community access aid, helps Alana care for the plants, and puts out the community centre sign and flags three times a week.
Evidence shows that giving people more choice minimises unwanted behaviours, while helping them to develop communication tools to express their emotions appropriately improves their feelings of wellbeing and quality of life.
“I used to only come in to use the photocopy machine and leave. Now I make jokes and smile with everyone I see. I wear a suit every day when I come and help Alana at the centre. I feel much happier every day. I have more confidence and I will start conversations with people on my own now.”
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Good Time Tuesdays are held at our Kanwal office (Lakelands Community Centre, 3 Literary Close, Kanwal NSW 2259) every Tuesday from 1pm to 3pm.
*Names and images have been changed to protect members of the family