parentto Parent

MAGAZINE • WINTER 2014

parafed

video storiesthree families tell their story on film

an organisation that makes it possible for anyone to get active

Mission StatementEmpowering families and whanau of people with disabilities and health impairments through support and information

Our ServicesOur services to families include:

• Contact with a parent who has a child with a similar condition

• Written information on a condition or need

• Sibling Support programme

• Seminars and training workshops

• Advocacy support

• A range of family support programmes

• altogether autism - specialist autism information service

Contact usParent to Parent operates a network of 11 regional offices throughout New Zealand.

PO Box 234 Waikato Mail Centre Hamilton 3240

national@parent2parent.org.nz

0508 236 236 +64 7 853 8491

parent2parent.org.nz

facebook.com/parent2parentnz

twitter.com/parent2parentnz

BOARD MEMBERS:Helen Johnson (P), Martin Gallagher (VP), Susan Warrington, Peter Campbell, Andrea Lee, Jim Craig.

Patron:Rob Hamill

Life Members:Heather Alford, Linda Davies, Sally Duncan, Ian Evans, Janice Gordon, Helen Henderson, Ray Murray, Gwen Sadler, Russell Wilkinson, Christine Zander.

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of Parent to Parent New Zealand Inc.

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PresidentHELEN JOHNSON

Spring is on its way, and with it the promise of some much anticipated warmer weather. I hope that our Parent to Parent families have taken some time out to enjoy some of the pleasures that winter can bring.

Awareness week was held in August, and saw our staff and volunteers out in the community telling our stories and sharing what services we provide through a diverse range of events and activities, including a face painting party and the successful Nigel Latta evening, which attracted over 500 people in Hamilton.

Every interaction of awareness week further spreads the awareness of our organisation and invites more families to receive support and information.

Parent to Parent National Board are committed to being informed about new initiatives and programmes in the sector. The Enabling Good Lives presentation by Gordon Boxall, Ruth Jones and Irene Andrell in Christchurch recently gave us insight into the new way people are going to be supported.

The National Board are going on a roadshow to all of the regions we have a presence in, and sharing our new strategic plan with our members and Support Parents. This roadshow will mean we will get to visit all our regions before our annual general meeting on Sunday 19 October.

Membership fees have been set at a minimum of $20 annually per member. This small donation from members covers some of the costs for producing the Parent to Parent Magazine and organisational communications to our members. The national board encourages members to support The organisation by becoming financial members.

On behalf of the national board, I trust that you have felt supported by our service, and that our members will continue to network with your wider community so they may in turn benefit from the Parent to Parent and Altogether Autism service.

Helen JohnsonNational President

parentto Parent

MAGAZINE • SPRING 2014

Parent to Parent has filmed the stories of three families who are involved with Parent to Parent, to be used for raising awareness of our services and as an educational tool for use in our learning systems.

Parent to Parent talks to Parafed Development Officer Carol Armstrong about how Parafed supports athletes with physical disabilities and visual impairment from grass roots level through to the elite, and helps to grow and nurture their talents.

Awareness Week 2014 featured a number of great events around the country, one of the bigger events was Parent to Parent Waikato’s sold out Nigel Latta evening held in Hamilton.

Kitchen Table networks are held around the country by Imagine Better and SAMS - Parent to Parent is starting its first network meeting for adult siblings who have attended our Second Generation workshops.

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HELEN JOHNSON

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Parafed development officer Carol Armstrong believes that there is a sport or physical activity out there for everyone, and the benefits of sport are both mental and physical.

Carol hails from Ireland, and the early childhood educator came to New Zealand in 1998 with the intention to visit her long time pen pal for a couple of months; 15 years later and she says that New Zealand is now very much her home.

It was during her early years in New Zealand that Carol discovered Boccia, and was one of the driving forces behind the development of the referee training programme that is now used in both New Zealand and Australia. Carol has trained several referees, eight of which have gone on to become international referees. The highlight of her career however, was managing the gold medal winning New Zealand team at the 2005 international games in Rio de Janerio. Carol also won 2014 PWC Official of the Year at the recent Parafed Waikato awards.

It was through her involvement in Boccia that gave Carol an insight into disability support in sports, “there is no limit to what you can achieve, and there is always something you can do from the very active to a more sedentary activity. There are staff and equipment out there to help”.

Carol had seen what Parafeds could do to enable people with physical disabilities to achieve, so when a position became available at one of the country’s leading Parafeds, she applied. Carol is now the Waikato Sportsforce Parafed Development Officer based at Brian Perry Sports House in Hamilton.

Parafed is not a programme, but a support agency that enables clubs, sports, schools and other groups to adapt sports that enable people with different levels of ability to participate. Parafed supports athletes with physical disabilities from grass roots level through to the elite, and helps to grow and nurture their talents. Athletes that display extraordinary talent move on to compete at international level and the

Paralympic games. Parafed also supports people with disabilities caused by accidents to rehabilitate and get involved in sport and physical activity.

David Klinkhamer from the Waikato Parafed has a passion for getting everyone involved in a physical activity, no matter what their level of ability. David hosts a bi-weekly gym group for people with a physical disability to get involved in sport - these sessions have enabled many people to take up an organised sport.

Focussingon ability

parafed:

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Carol says that “Parafed normalises people’s differences, and our kids are now celebrating athletes with disabilities that succeed. With the Paralympic games being broadcast on television, people now know that once the Olympic games are finished, its not over yet, as the Paralympic games are coming up.”

“Adapted equipment is becoming more well known thanks in part to televised sports, and more people are now asking how rules have been made to give consistency to athletes competing.”

Athletes that compete in paralympic sports are given a classification based upon their abilities and medical conditions - this makes the competition fair for people competing with others that have a similar level of physical ability.

“I encourage parents to talk to their school or club about how they can adapt their sports to fit the abilities of their child. Don’t be shy! If your school or club needs support, they can contact their local Parafed who have the staff and knowledge to help make their sporting programme all inclusive.”

“Sport can give people better physical and mental health. No matter what their level of ability, there is always something out there for you to get involved in. Parafed is here to help enable people with physical disabilities or vision impairments to get involved in sport and recreation.”

Waikato Parafed Development Officer Carol Armstrong, has a passion for getting everyone involved in physical

activity, but her number one passion is Boccia.

18 year old Hamilton based para-athletics athlete Jacob Phillips is an up and coming star. He was a finalist in the recent Parafed awards.

PARAFED ASSOCIATIONSIn general, the mission of ParaFed Associations is to “provide opportunities and encourage all people with physical disabilities to participate in sport and recreation”.

There are currently 11 Parafed Associations operating around New Zealand, who have staff that can assist you or your child to get involved in sport or physical activity.

Parafed can also assist your local school or club with adapting sports to suit the needs of the people participating.

Visit www.paralympics.org.nz/parafeds to contact your nearest Parafed.

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telling our

It has been scientifically proven that stories are a very effective way to communicate. Stories have been a way that humans have shared ideas and passed on knowledge for thousands of years.

Stories are authentic human experiences. Stories are how we think, they are how we explain how things work, they justify our decisions, they are how we persuade others, and create and teach social values.

Parent to Parent has been around for over 30 years now, yet remains to be an organisation that is only really known about by the people who access our services. For Parent to Parent, being exposed to a wide audience of people means that we can support more families in New Zealand who are raising a child with a disability or health impairment. However, along with many other not for profit organisations, the services we provide are vast and cannot be summarised into a snappy one sentence catch phrase.

It was time for Parent to Parent families to start telling their stories.

Parent to Parent are wanting to be as accessible as possible to families of New Zealand, and so we have been investing a lot of time and resource into our online presence; we have now got an active web and social media presence, as well as offering our education programmes via eLearning. The next natural step was to compliment this with telling our stories in an accessible and relevant way. Thanks to IHC, we now have three stories from three different families recorded and professionally produced and available on YouTube.

The clips tell the stories of: the Slade Family who are raising a boy with Autism, the Terry family that have a son with Down syndrome who is now living independently in his own home, and the story of

Four year old Cory and his dad Mark enjoying the see-saw during the filming of their family’s story.

storieson film

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telling our

Tiffany Wilkinson who is a Sibling facilitator for our SibSupport programme and has a brother with a disability.

The stories are real, and told in the words of the people that have lived the experience. Parent to Parent asked these three families to participate because they have all, at one time or another, been involved with a different Parent to Parent service.

The clips are going to be used for a multitude of uses - as a training tool for both our eLearning and classroom learning programmes, as a tool to explain how Parent to Parent works for families who may need our services, and as a way to give hope and optimism to families raising a child with a disability or health impairment.

The stories are moving because they are real. The stories leap frog all of the technology and social media hype, and bring us all to the core experiences of all the families that took part in this project.

Thank you to the Slade family, the Terry family and the Wilkinson family for agreeing to share their stories. You can visit the Parent to Parent website or Facebook page to view the stories.

The crew from IndieFilm with all the gear pointed at the Terry family on winter’s walk along the Waikato river.

Tiffany Wilkinson talking about her brother and the SibSupport programme at the University of Waikato, where Tiffany is studying

storieson film

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survival guide

Following the success of our 2012 fundraiser, Parent to Parent Waikato brought Nigel Latta to Hamilton for a night to present his popular ‘Modern family survival guide.’

The 550 seat Clarence Street theatre was sold out a week before the show, much to the delight of Waikato regional coordinator Carol Maynard.

“It was a great night, with a lot of laughs. All the people I spoke to really enjoyed the night” said Carol.

“The event wouldn’t have been possible without the Southern Trust and 20 local businesses that donated goods and services - the raffles totalled $1,400 in value and raised a lot of extra funds for Parent to Parent”.

Waikato regional coordinator Carol Maynard, presenting Nigel with a gift of a box of fudge

The audience loved Nigel’s show - full of humour and some cheeky language

photos by shifting light photography

familynigel

latta’s

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Charlie Czespanski was MC for the night, and did a stellar job

The sell out crowd could barely fit into the theatre lobby

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Kitchentable

networks

The family leadership alliance of Imagine Better, SAMS and Parent to Parent have been organising a series of get-togethers around the country called ‘Kitchen Table Networks.’

The get togethers have been held in locations all over the country. The groups are for people who want to see people with disabilities get more involved in their communities, and form a think tank and come up with new ideas and initiatives.

Parent to Parent is facilitating kitchen table networks as a follow up to our Second Generation workshops for adult siblings - the first network is happening in Hamilton in the coming weeks. It is hoped that we can establish a group in Southland after our upcoming workshop in Invercargill.

The first few network meetings of the sibling-based groups are being facilitated by Parent to Parent sibling facilitators, with the view to the groups being sustained by their members into the future. Parent to Parent will provide resources and guidance to the groups to self sustain.

If you are interested in being a part of a kitchen table network in your area, contact Parent to Parent national office.

notice is given ofThe annual general meeting of

parent to parent new zealand inc.

to be held at 10:30am onsunday 19 october 2014 at

hamilton airport motor innairport road • hamilton

you are invited to join us for lunch following theannual general meeting

please rsvp your attendance at the meeting and lunch by 8 october and/or register your apology to:

national@parent2parent.org.nzph 07 853 8491

Meetingannual

general

Conferencealtogether autism

2015

save the date22 & 23 july 2015

holiday inn auckland airportauckland

altogetherautism.org.nz0800 asd info

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in your area

Second Generation12 -14 September

Kelvin Hotel, INVERCARGILL

Brothers and sisters can be the key to the long term happiness and wellbeing of their sibling with a disability. The Second Generation workshops help families to plan for the future of their family member.

September

Annual General Meeting19 October • 10:30am Airport Hotel, HAMILTON

The Annual General Meeting of Parent to Parent New Zealand.

October Moving on - success in transition conference12 - 14 November

Te Papa, WELLINGTON

A showcase of national and international approaches to support full, meaningful and inclusive lives for people with disabilities.

Visit imaginebetter.co.nz or phone 0800 787 587 for more info or registration.

November

Altogether Autism Conference22 - 23 July 2015

Holiday Inn Auckland Airport

Save the date for the upcoming Altogether Autism conference in 2015

SibCamp Greater Canterbury31 October - 2 November

Blue Skies, KAIAPOI

A weekend camp for siblings aged 8 - 18 who have a brother or sister with a disability or health impairment. A chance for siblings to meet other siblings, share feelings and experience outdoor adventure activities.

November

Personal Support Course8 November

Village on 17, TAURANGA

Meet other parents in your area for a very supportive day. Grief, stress, building your support networks and family resilience, and hope for the future good life of your family member are explored.

SibCamp Hawkes Bay7 - 9 November

Camp Tukituki, HAVELOCK NORTH

A weekend camp for siblings aged 8 - 18 who have a brother or sister with a disability or health impairment. A chance for siblings to meet other siblings, share feelings and experience outdoor adventure activities.

For more informationTo view all the upcoming Parent to Parent events visit our website, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter

@parent2parentnz

Events

Save the date

MOVING ONSuccess in Transition

A conference to explore what it takes to create success during times of change.

Register online at www.imaginebetter.co.nz

Te Papa Wellington12th - 14th

November 2014