Across the Spectrum - Issue 68 - Winter 2010 - Spectrum Care

across thespectrumfor the people, families and communities of Spectrum CareIssue: 68 – Winter 2010Whats inside:■ A job well done for theSunflower Express!■ Pippa enters IHC NationalArt Awards■ Spectrum Care managerjoins Pasifika DisabilityLeadership group■ Circles of Support■ Frank Matatahi nominatedfor Coach of the Year■ Spectrum Care pioneersOutcomes Brokers role■ Know How Day grand prizewinner announced!■ HDC announces nationaldisability conference■ Welfare Guardianship, Trustsand Property Management■ Spectrum Care Art Exhibition 2010■ Anthony’s got a bird’s eye view!Aspirations stages FIFA WorldCup in MasseyAspirations Services staged its own version of the soccer World Cup at the Massey Gymnasium on Thursday 12 July.The two FIFA Cup teams were Paraguay against our All Whites and a total of 22 teammates lined up for a fabulouscontest, refereed by Nora Butler.Each contestant was labelled with the name of the true World Cup player and their position of play.A full ceremony was observed, beginning with our national anthem and the traditional haka.The game itself was played with great enthusiasm and speed – and thankfully with no penalties or injuries!The eventual winners were the All Whites – appropriately all dressedin white – winning the World Cup over Paraguay (in red).Aspirations Services provided a gold replica of the World Cuptrophy, which was made by wiring together two empty pots andapplying papier-mâché over a balloon, which was then formed andreshaped with further layers of papier-mâché.Player of the Day was awarded to Ian Sangsterand the All Whites’ captain was Bradley Houia– both from Mt Tabor Trust.The photos really portray the joy of the event.Andrew Geddes – CSWPeople with Disabilities Living Great Lives

A job well done forthe SunflowerExpress!On Sunday 27 June, our own Aaron Overington – aka the SunflowerExpress – ran in the Capital City Marathon in Wellington to raise fundsfor Spectrum Care.After successfully completing last year’s event, he was challenged to runit again in full sunflower attire and the challenge was duly accepted.Aaron raised over $1400 this year and the Sunflower Express can nowhang up his petals for a well-deserved and well-earned rest.This year, all monies raised will go towards the annual Aspirations andPasefika Christmas party, an event that benefits over 350 service usersand one they all look forward to each year.Congratulations to the Sunflower Express!Pippa enters IHC National Art AwardsHi, my name is Pippa. I wanted to enter the IHC National Art Awards heldin Wellington this year, so I went to the computer for ideas. I thoughtabout fairies, flowers and butterflies. Then I went to the paint and paperto try my ideas.I had a lot of fun and came up with some lovely work. It was hard to pickwhich work to take down to Hamilton, but – in the end – I picked abutterfly and flower one.On the 25th of June, I went down to Hamilton with some of my fellowworkmates. It was very wet, but we got there and took the painting in –it was nice to get it safely there.Hamilton is the regional competition and I hope to be one of the 10 worksthat get picked to go to Wellington.Here I am at the SANDZ Studio in Hamilton. This is my exhibit’Colourful Flowers’.Spectrum Care manager joins PasifikaDisability Leadership groupThe Ministry of Health has set up a group of Pasifika leaders to ensure that the Pasifika National Disability Coordination Service is in place to deliverthe National Pasifika Disability Plan 2009-2013, which will address disability issues with Pasifika people and their families.This group, called Le Va, sits within Te Pou and is made up of 12 Pasifikaleaders across New Zealand whose job is to develop the Pasifika workforceand ensure that mainstream disability services are responsive to Pasifikaneeds. There is also the additional bonus of Le Va investing time andeffort in the development of these leaders.After a careful process to ensure that the right people were selected, we’revery pleased to announce that Amerika Wilson (Spectrum Care’s ServiceManager for our Central region) will be representing not only Pasifikafamilies, but also our sector, region and workforce, and Spectrum Careas an organisation in this prestigious role.

Circles of SupportOn Tuesday 21 September 2010, the founder of the ‘Circles Initiative’,Jayne Barrett, will present an overview of what ‘Circles of Support’means to the people we support and their families/whanau, friendsand advocates.A Circle of Support is a group of people who meet on a regular basisto help a person to accomplish their goals in life. The Circle acts as acommunity around that person who, for one reason or another, isunable to achieve what they want in life on their own and decides toask others for help.The members of the Circle, who may include family, friends and othercommunity members, are involved because they care enough aboutthe person to give their time and energy to helping that person toovercome obstacles and increase the options which are open to them.Presented by Jayne Barrett, a leader within the community livingmovement in Southern Australia, this is an exciting opportunity forfamily/whanau and advocates to learn ways in which to nurture thefriendships and Circles of Support.Admission is free, but space is limited to 60 attendees. Please bookearly to avoid disappointment.To register, simply email your name and contact details toinfo@spectrumcare.org.nz , with ‘Circles’ in the Subject line.When: 6.30pm-9pm Tuesday 21 September 2010Where: Spectrum Care, 270 Neilson Street, Onehunga, Auckland 1061Cost: FreeLight refreshments will be provided.Frank Matatahinominated forCoach of the YearFrank Matatahi, a CSW with Spectrum Care’s Pallant House, has beena volunteer coach for Special Olympics Manukau since 2008, when– as a support worker for young people in our residential service –he was introduced to our Special Olympics basketball training andcompetition programme.His passion for sports and for taking maximum advantage of appropriaterecreational programmes running in the community saw Frank quicklybecome a regular Special Olympics volunteer at the Otara LeisureCentre during the winter months and at Omana Park, Papatoetoe, withour athletics training in the summer.His dedication, however, stretches beyond Special Olympics. A keenbasketballer, Frank also involves our athletes in some of his own sportsactivities, raising not only the athletes’ experiences in regular competitionbut, more importantly, the community’s awareness of our athletes andtheir potential to achieve!Frank has also become a respected and valued committee member,contributing his thoughts and ideas into the running of our 130-strongathlete membership.The photo below was taken at the Papatoetoe Sports Awards, held onSunday 11 July at the Papatoetoe Cosmopolitan Club.Nominated by Caroline Leong, Coordinator of Special Olympics Manukauand Team Leader of Spectrum Care’s Child, Youth & Respite Services,Frank proudly accepted his nomination award in theCoach of the Year category.The guest speaker at these awards was RickiHerbert, All Whites coach, whoalso presented thefive nominationawards in thiscategory.Also inattendancewere MayorLen Brownand DeputyMayor GaryTroop.Caroline Leong– Team Leader(Child, Youth& Respite)

Spectrum Care pioneers OutcomesBrokers roleAn exciting new resource has been introduced to Spectrum Care which will be of significant benefit to the people we support – Outcomes Brokers.The primary focus of the Outcomes Broker role is to link the people we supportwith the community networks/resources that help them meet their Outcomes’goals and ‘live a great life’.Person centred and Outcomes focusedWe’re committed to providing person-centred services and the ‘Outcomes’approach stems from this commitment. The approach is based around twokey questions, asked of the people we support: What do you want to achieveto have a great life? How can we support you to make this happen?The objectives or ‘Outcomes’ each person wants to achieve are then broken intoshort- and long-term goals, which are recorded in their Outcomes Plan. Progresstowards achieving these Outcomes and the organisational (and community)supports that are provided to assist the individual are regularly assessed.Know How Day grand prize winnerannounced!On Thursday 27 May 2010, Spectrum Care hosted a stand at the annualKnow How Day, held at North Harbour Stadium.Know How Day is a free information day for people who care for children andyouth with disabilities, learning differences and special needs.The Outcomes philosophyThe Outcomes philosophy is a major shift in thinking and focuses primarilyon individuals achieving their own goals and ambitions.It challenges the traditional approach to supporting people (ie ‘one size fitsall’) and makes it essential to focus on each person as an individual. Outcomesendeavours to reveal and encourage their aspirations and major expectationsin life, and support them to achieve these within the context of building agreat life in the community.How can I find out more?For more information on Outcomes and how the philosophy is incorporatedinto all Spectrum Care services, contact Debbie Thorne, Project Manager –Outcomes on 09 634 3790 ext 414.The event specifically catered to parents, carers, family/whanau, health,disability and education professionals, and those who work with children andyouth with disabilities.As an incentive for visitors to our stand, we offered a special prize to those whoprovided their contact details and Karen Knight, the parent of a prospectiveTransition Services student, was the proud winner of our grand prize.Karen received of a Hewlett Packard LaserJet M1120n multi-function devicethat prints, scans and copies at up to 20 pages per minute!Congratulations to Karen and well done to the team that manned the standover the day!HDC announces national disability conferenceMaking it Easy to Speak UpThe Health and Disability Commissioner is hosting a National DisabilityConference on Monday, 6 December 2010 at the Waipuna ConferenceCentre in Auckland.Whos it for?Disabled people, their family, friends and wider networksFor further information, contact Mauryse Dix on 0800 11 22 33 oremail Mauryse at: mdix@hdc.org.nz.Whats it all about?It is to give you information that will make it easy to speak up for your rights,so that:■ You can get the service that best suits your individual needs■ You can help service providers to make improvements that will benefityou and other service users■ You can develop a strong and respectful relationship with your service provider■ You can help improve the quality of disability support services inNew Zealand

Welfare Guardianship, Trusts and PropertyManagementThere is a great deal of confusion around Welfare Guardians, Power ofAttorney, Property Managers and Trusts.Please be advised that no one in our service with an intellectualdisability should have either a Power of Attorney or Enduring Powerof Attorney. The people in our service should only have a Welfare Guardianand/or a Property Manager. Furthermore, a Property Manager should onlybe appointed if an individual has more in assets than just the WINZ benefit.I also want to note that a Welfare Guardian cannot make decisions aroundanything of a financial nature.Feel free to advise families that I’m more than happy to sit with them andexplain the process and support them through applying to be either a WelfareGuardian or a Property Manager.It’s free to apply, unless a lawyer is used or when applying through thePublic Trust. I have packs available and will endeavour to provide trainingaround these topics in the not-too-distant future.Helen Mulford – Coordinator of Advocacy Services.Phone 09 634 3790 ext 312Spectrum Care Art Exhibition 2010This year’s Art Exhibition will take place from Monday-Friday, 23-27 August2010 at the old Makatoa House at 13 Cranmere Cresent, Mangere,Manukau City.The exhibition will be open for viewing from 10am-4pm daily and weencourage all families/whanau, friends, advocates and support workers tocome along and enjoy the show!The categories are:■ Flowers■ Open art■ Open craft■ Open photography■ Abstract■ Person/AnimalPrize-giving will be on Thursday 26 August at 4pm and winners will receivea certificate and/or a trophy, along with a gift bag. A silent auction will alsobe available to those who wish to purchase art works on display.We look forward to seeing you there!What else will happen on the day?■ You will receive a Welcome Pack with lots of useful informationand goodies■ There will be some fun, interactive activities after lunch■ There will be an exhibition of various disability aids and equipments■ There will be conference dinner in the evening for social networkingProgramme detailsThe conference programme and registration details will be announced soon.vision:people with disabilities living great livesvalues:person centredResponsive to the person; individualised services and supportinnovationPioneering and looking for better wayscommitment and passionCreating and maintaining a high-performance culture, where we arepassionate about what we dopartnershipWorking successfully together with others, valuing each othercontributionexcellenceLeading the ways

Anthony s got a bird s eye view!Service user Anthony Brophy achieved one of his many goals for this yearwhen he went for a helicopter ride and enjoyed the beautiful scenery ofAuckland’s picturesque North Shore and eastern suburbs.It certainly was glamorous 30 minutes that he experienced in the sky, andwe thank his parents – Vicky and Keiron – for funding the trip.Thanks also to the Service Coordinator Christine Cleave and staff of YoungCottage for supporting Anthony to achieve this stunning goal.Naveen Kishor – Key WorkerAcross the Spectrum available by email. Register now!As part of achieving Spectrum Care’s ongoing vision of ‘people with disabilities living great lives’, we’re constantly looking for opportunities to streamlineour activities and provide higher-quality support to our service users.To this end, Across the Spectrum is now available via email, with the aim of making more resources available to support our service users in living great lives.If you’d like to receive Across the Spectrum by email, please send your email address to: newsletter@spectrumcare.org.nz, or simply go to our website(www.spectrumcare.org.nz) and join our mailing list in one easy step.