Making the Transition from School to Work on 7:30SA
12/07/2013
7.30SA 12/7/2013 Making the Transition from School to Work
INTERVIEWEES:
Sandra Bruys, Lauren’s Mother;
Robert Styling, Phoenix Society;
Kelly Vincent, Dignity for Disability;
Adele Freeman, Josh’s Grandmother;
Josh Freeman.
ROYAL
The long awaited trials of the National Disability Insurance Scheme have been rolled out around the country. In South Australia the trial focusses on children under 2 and while that will be extended over the coming years, as Alina Eacott reports, there’s concern that students making the transition from school to work could be stranded.
SANDRA BRUYS
Lauren loves computers, she loves travelling and she’s autistic. So she is just a lovely teenager, but she does have the disability of autism.
REPORTER
17 year old Lauren Bruys was diagnosed with autism just after her 2nd birthday.
SANDRA BRUYS
The main reason for that was initially we thought she was deaf, but then obviously that was excluded and she got the diagnosis of autism due to the behaviour that she was presenting.
REPORTER
After attending mainstream schools for most of her life Lauren transferred to a special school at the start of last year in preparation for her transition into employment, a process that was at first daunting for her parents, Sandra and Roger. While in her final year at school Lauren is spending two days a week at Phoenix, a supported employment facility that also runs a school to work transition program. Lauren’s parents say make the change a gradual one has been crucial.
SANDRA BRUYS
She wouldn’t have coped, no way. Her transition to employment or to a meaningful life actually started when she was diagnosed, but the real nitty-gritty of everything coming together and everyone working as a team started when she actually started her work experience here at Phoenix.
ROBERT STYLING
Able bodied students at school have work education programs and they do a lot of work in transitioning from school to university to TAFE to work and people with a disability shouldn’t be any different.
REPORTER
Phoenix currently employs about 500 people. They work in areas including general assembly and packaging, timber construction and the printing and mailing out of advertising for organisations and political parties. In the 9 years since the transition program began 1100 students have taken part, with more than 170 going on to be employed at Phoenix, but not all South Australian students are getting that opportunity. Phoenix is forced to turn away many schools each year.
ROBERT STYLING
Whilst we’re running it in its current form it is probably about 60% of what we would like it to be. We would like to start it earlier and we would like to commit to formal probably Certificate 1 level training for this group of students, but we just don’t have the resources at the moment to do that as well as what we’re doing.
REPORTER
Despite the program’s success and huge demand for it the organisation hasn’t been able to secure any government funding.
ROBERT STYLING
We’ve had to arrange our own fundraising programs through a specific lottery that we run. Although various Government Ministers like it it crosses three portfolios, so it’s very easy for everybody to like it and nobody to put their hand up to fund it.
KELLY VINCENT
That is incredibly foolish on the Government’s part given that, as I’ve said, the earlier we can allow people to transition into later life the less likelihood there is that they will be dependent on expensive services.
REPORTER
Dignity for Disability MP, Kelly Vincent, says investment should be made into the vital transition stage.
KELLY VINCENT
It is a lot to suddenly become responsible for and that is why I believe we need more transition programs to actually empower people with that knowledge earlier on so that it is not such a maze later on in life.
REPORTER
How the National Disability Insurance Scheme will impact on such programs is not yet clear, with Tasmania trialling the school leavers’ age group. It’s hoped the scheme, which is aimed at giving people more control over their funding, could allow families to direct some money towards their child’s transition. Ms Vincent says government investment in the programs would still be wise, given the Government is currently finding ways to fund the NDIS, which will cost more than $22 billion a year once it’s fully operational nationwide by mid-2019.
KELLY VINCENT
New stats from the Productivity Commission shows that if we get people with disabilities and their families back into the workforce, where they haven’t been empowered to do so before, a large sum of the scheme could in fact be paying for itself within a decade.
REPORTER
A prime example of that philosophy is 19 year old Josh Freeman. Josh took part in Phoenix’s transition program while he was a student at Henley High School’s Special Unit. He’s cared for by his grandmother, Adele Freeman, who says without the option of transitioning into supported employment she’s not sure what Josh would have done.
ADELE FREEMAN
I think he already had his mind set that he was going to work because we always told him you’ll work and you get paid, like you know, but it was just finding what kind of work that would fit in with him.
REPORTER
After finishing school Josh began working two days a week before gradually increasing to full time.
ADELE FREEMAN
He got full time work, which he wanted to do because he’d set his eyes on a pump truck and he wanted to learn this pump truck and shifting pallets and all this boys’ work and he just loves it.
JOSH FREEMAN
It was fun and I learnt new skills on it, like not using it too fast and all that.
REPORTER
Ms Freeman’s hope is the work will hope Josh forge an independent life.
ADELE FREEMAN
I try and make him independent as I can so that when we’re not around he can be out there on his own maybe one day and do what he wants to do.
REPORTER
A goal shared by Sandra and Roger.
SANDRA BRUYS
We would like to see her independent living by the time she’s 25; by the time she’s 30 she should be independent of us completely and then hopefully..
ROGER BRUYS
We can have a holiday.
SANDRA BRUYS
We can have a holiday, yeah [laugh]. I want her to be happy, that’s all.
