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SSI MPN MODEL

Case studies

David

David

1/11

David has lived experience of both intellectual disability and acquired disability resulting from a work-related injury.

David 2/11

David has been heavily involved in both the disability sector and his own Chinese community motivated by the challenges he initially faced in finding relevant information to access the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

In 2018, David leveraged his experiences to establish a Chinese disability peer support group to connect others with available information and supports.

David 3/11

The group grew to include over

40 families

and

100

individuals

mostly older people with disabilities, meeting once a week to share information and resources related to the NDIS process.

David 4/11

Through this group, several people have been supported to navigate and access the NDIS process. This includes a recent success story where an individual who had been waiting

28 years

for accommodation was able to access

appropriate housing.

David 5/11

It was through this peer group that David was connected to SSI both as a participant and volunteer with Ability Links – a free program delivered by SSI to support people with disabilities, their family, and carers.

Through his volunteer work at SSI, David found out about the

Multicultural Peer Network (MPN).

David 6/11

He was one of the first few people to participate in an MPN group, he was later trained as a facilitator through the program.

David felt this program was a perfect opportunity to extend on the existing success of his Chinese disability peer support group and engage young people with disability.

David 7/11

“From the beginning…this project… provided some community, especially for the multicultural community.

The people become a leader of something…

we attended the training first, then when we got the certificate (to become a) Facilitator.”

David 8/11

David saw an opportunity to engage young people with a disability through a multicultural youth led disability peer support group and allow them to cultivate their own space to meet, learn, and socialise.

David 9/11

Each session was facilitated by two of the youth participants who would jointly present on a topic they had researched together. For the young people he helped bring together, it was an opportunity for them to build confidence and communication skills as they led sessions their own way.

David 10/11

David found the ‘sandwich approach’ for peer-to-peer evaluation a very successful tool in enhancing confident and communication skills among participants that led group sessions.

This is a Toastmasters technique where group members state the positives of the session’s leadership by the peer facilitator, suggest an area or two for improvement and, finish with another positive comment.

David 11/11

Through the MPN sessions, different speakers were invited to come in and talk about their services and supports –

such as career and training opportunities. This allowed the young people with disabilities in the group to connect and access relevant programs and providers.

The MPN program provided David the opportunity to foster a community and contribute his skills and expertise to other people with disabilities.

Participants