Kelly Vincent MLC

Inclusive Directions AGM

19/10/2010

Thank you for inviting me here today. I’d like to first congratulate you on the wonderful work that you do. I recently put up a post on our busy Facebook page, asking whether any of our members had used your services. It feels great to be able to share with you that overwhelmingly positive comments were made – and in a community of people who are so often excluded from so much in their lives, it was so heartening to read these positive stories.

I’m going to focus my talk today on inclusion for people with disabilities, but want you to know I am aware of, and thankful for, for the work you supporting young people with other barriers or cultural or special needs, to be included.

So what, really, is inclusion? – well, the dictionary will tell us that it is a noun which means the act of including, or the state of being included.

Inclusion is important – So what is inclusion for people with disabilities?

Inclusion for people with disabilities is the same as social inclusion for all people. People with disabilities desire many of the same things that “regular” people want – to have fun, to get an education, enjoy family and friends and to be as much or as little a part of their communities as they choose.

When a group of “regular” people want to go out for dinner, they call a restaurant and make a booking. When you want to go to the theatre, you book online, and when you sign up for a yoga class, you make a quick call, or just show up at the door. A ten year old who wants to play with friends might hop on his bicycle or walk to a school mate’s house around the corner.

Life isn’t like that for most people and children with disabilities – people with disabilities are frequently “barred” from activities that the rest of us take for granted. There might only be two spaces available at a certain theatre for people who use a wheelchair, or the cinema might be completely inaccessible up a flight of stairs. A karate instructor might send away a child with an intellectual disability from his class for “taking up too much of my time” and a school might stop a child with disabilities from going on the class camp – and plenty of schools will guilt families into sending their kids elsewhere so that the “burden” doesn’t affect the other children. Those children might be sent to a school many kilometres away, and have little to no opportunity to develop local friendships.

But, the most disabling barriers are often not physical – but the negative attitudes expressed by others. Stereotyping and prejudice can have the most long-term and damaging effects.

One d4d Facebook member recently wrote about exclusionary attitudes: “It tends to be people who make me feel excluded… When they decide to not notice me first and when they decide I can not make my own decisions… Then the things they chose for me to do are things I can’t do… People’s attitudes exclude me …”…

I guess this is where you guys come in. The work you do, in supporting kids with disabilities in regular child care settings, is, in two words: Absolutely. Essential.

Families with children with disabilities may shirk away from regular mother’s groups – worried about their little one looking or acting differently, or those faintly competitive conversations about the latest toddler milestones which are so very hard to hear. Some parents might start to isolate themselves, and thus isolate their children.

But your work gives an opportunity for young people to be included in mainstream child care settings – which in turn brings families to mainstream settings, too.

One of my Advisors has a young son with Down syndrome. While she made many friends in the “disability community” after her son’s birth, she shared with me a most powerful moment of inclusivity.

They joined a music class for babies and toddlers, and at the age of two and half, little Ben took his first ever steps to walk across the circle to one of his “typical” friends. The entire class started cheering and clapping, led by a bunch of two year olds, one of whom yelled out – “YAY! Ben can walk with us now!”

Such is the power of inclusion.

When children with disabilities are included the benefits are widespread – aside from the obvious cost and convenience savings in promoting inclusive education in later years – the children themselves have peers to model and learn from, they are provided with realistic life experiences and have opportunities to make friends. Children without disabilities and their parents, can learn about individuals with disabilities – that they are “More alike than different”. Parents have greater opportunities to develop relationships with families of typically developing children – people who can provide them with meaningful support. And all families have the opportunity to learn about difference and tolerance and, most importantly, acceptance (and dare I say it, the chance to embrace disability as part of the human continuum)

…

So we have come a long way in society by enacting laws, but there is still a sense of exclusion felt by many people with disabilities. We need to work on changing attitudes… and that is harder than changing the law.

And that is where we rely on the good work of organisations like yours – to make inclusion a reality. For this I thank you.

As the famous Civil Rights Activist Rev Jesse Jackson once said: “When everyone is included, everyone wins.”

Wolery, M. and Wilbers, J. (Eds). (1994). Including children with special needs in early childhood programs. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Recipient of Benefit	Description of Benefit
Children with Disabilities	They are spared the effects of separate, segregated education-including the negative effects of labeling and negative attitudes fostered by lack of contact with typically developing children. They are provided with competent models that allow them to learn new adaptive skills and/or learn when and how to use their existing skills through imitation. They are provided with competent peers with whom to interact and thereby learn new social and/or communicative skills. They are provided with realistic life experiences that prepare them to live in the community. They are provided with opportunities to develop friendships with typically developing peers.
Children Without Disabilities	They are provided with opportunities to learn more realistic and accurate views about individuals with disabilities. They are provided with opportunities to develop positive attitudes toward others who are different from themselves. They are provided with opportunities to learn altruistic behaviors and when and how to use such behaviors. They are provided with models of individuals who successfully achieve despite challenges.
Communities	They can conserve their early childhood resources by limiting the need for segregated, specialized programs. They can conserve educational resources if children with disabilities who are mainstreamed at the preschool level continue in regular as compared to special education placements during the elementary school years.
Families of Children with Disabilities	They are able to learn about typical development. They may feel less isolated from the remainder of their communities. They may develop relationships with families of typically developing children who can provide them with meaningful support.
Families of Children Without Disabilities	They may develop relationships with families who have children with disabilities and thereby make a contribution to them and their communities. They will have opportunities to teach their children about individual differences and about accepting individuals who are different.

Comments directly quoted from facebook:

Kym Grainger my son gets help from inclusive directions he has spd with a speech delay

Kylie Mobbs I used Inclusive Directions for my eldest son in child care (he has autism) Inclusive directions were good not that i can say the same for the childcare centre, They just used this extra person as an extra staff member and they didnt help out my son at all! i used to sit out the front of the centre and watch them (he was only in child care for social interaction) was very dissapointed!

Tarny Martin yes a while ago, the child care centre I used were great, both my sons accessed this service for speech delay and autism.

Cass Adams-Duffield I have had help from Inclusive Directions for my son in childcare. I found them to be really helpful and providing enough extra care for my son. I have nothing but good things to say about them and have been grateful for the open communication.

Emily Jakas Took us a year to get extra help for ella through inclusive directions… ended up ringing the minister and the next day she was there she had the extra help. But a fantastic program.. only thing that is lacking is the fact that my daughter really needs one on one support all day not just 5hours of an extra staff member. But there is no program to support her for that until she is in kindy.

Kris Duncan found that they were really good when my son was at childcare over 4 years ago now..also they have been very helpful with queries about afterschool care as well. As he access’s the afterschool program once the week there isnt a need for any support but their maybe if they have a holiday program.

Philippa Dominish When my son was in childcare about 10 years ago they were great. They provided funding for extra staff at the centre and lots of toys and equipment. They came out regularly to check how everything was going. When he started at after school care they were just as good. Once the staff at OSHC got to know him and what he liked they were able to provide the toys etc. The support from Inclusive Directions then was reduced to extra funding only but we were all happy with that by then.

Melanie Pfeiler Yes for my daughter who has autism…I found them to be of no help and the child care just loved the extra funding they supplied to give there staff more hours…..my interaction with them was annoying phone calls making sure I was doing what I already had done….there was no benefit for my daughter just the staffs pay packets…

Kym Grainger my chilcare centre uses the extra staff member as exactly that a extra staff member to get my son involved in group activities so i dont mind as much. The extra staff member is someone that he has beome attached to and he actully listens to her (not as much with the other staff members) she works with him one on one when he strays from the group not wanting to participate and trys to re introduce him back in

Marlaena Payne my eldest son which is 3 is in the process of being diagnosed the pediatrician says he is in the spectrum of autism,,,, my childcare are great with my son they got extra staff member in and she is awesome with him, she helps out alot…. im happy with what ive seen so far,,,,

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