BUSHkids 2017-18 Annual Report

Introductions

Practical support for kids and parents on the Darling Downs Katherine West has worked as an Occupational Therapist (OT) in our

“Working with children and watching them develop new skills is a rewarding part of the job. Something that recently gave me a great sense of achievement was watching a boy I’d been working with write his name for the first time without help. It meant so much to him and his mother. “It’s also seeing the change in parents. I was supporting one family where the mother preferred household chores to playing with her kids. Working with parents and showing them practical ways to support their child’s development is a big part of our job. Parents are a child’s first teacher. They perform a vital role in supporting their children’s education and development, and play is an important part of a child’s learning. “Seeing the change in that family over the time we’ve been working with them, seeing the joy the mother now experiences from playing with her children and the smiles on her kids’ faces is rewarding.”

Dalby service centre for two years and is thrilled to have seen many positive outcomes for families. “I grew up on the Darling Downs so it’s good to be able to support communities around my ‘hometown region’,” says Katherine. “I really value working as part of a multidisciplinary team supporting rural children and their families, particularly those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to receive support. BUSHkids plays a really important role for families across such a large area like the Darling Downs.”

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Tabina Russell helps get families NDIS support Tabina Russell has been working for BUSHkids since January 2018 as a social worker with our new NDIS Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) team in Rockhampton.

Yolanda can clearly see the love in eye contact Speech Pathologist Yolanda Maudsley works out of our Warwick service centre, applying lessons learned from her early life in rural regions of Victoria.

“I really enjoy working with children with developmental delay and disability to help them reach their full potential,” Tabina said. “Before joining BUSHkids I worked for a fostering agency that supported foster placements for children with high and complex needs. Some of the more complex children received extra support in the form of a youth worker, and I worked as a casual youth worker while I completed my social work degree at the University of South Australia. “I enjoy meeting new families and helping empower them to benefit from the supports they need through the NDIS. Applying for support can be quite a daunting effort, with lots of paperwork to fill out, but we’re there to help. “It’s important to me that children benefit from the supports that are available to them and that they don’t miss out on opportunities because of their location or other disadvantages.” “Families share with me the struggles and challenges they face, which is emotionally touching. They tell us how desperate they are for some help and it is heart-warming when to some degree we can provide that for them. “One of the things I really enjoy are the community events we take part in which target children with disability and promote inclusion. “In an informal, non-clinical way we get to speak to families in need and tell them about the services available to them, while also meeting children and engaging them in fun activities. It’s a great way to tell people about the NDIS and BUSHkids.”

“I understand first-hand the need for services in rural areas,” said Yolanda, “because after graduation I worked for a rural health service providing healthcare for children, families and adults. “I spent most of my time providing early intervention services and when I moved to Queensland BUSHkids was a perfect fit for me. The core values of the organisation, its provision of early intervention to children living in rural communities, and the opportunity of working as part of a multidisciplinary team all appealed to me. “I love working with families to put together strategies in a child’s natural experiences that can help their development. It’s amazing how even small things can bring about profound improvements. “Earlier in 2018 the OT and I collaborated to help a two-year- old girl with a developmental delay. We were working closely with the child’s mother to implement communication and sensory strategies to assist her daughter; she was so supportive of her little girl. Each week seeing the progress the youngster was making and how beautifully her mother interacted with her daughter was really rewarding to see. “ “Most of all it was fantastic to see the power of non-verbal communication improvements, including the little girl’s increasing ability to give her mother eye contact. “Her mother expressed such joy about her daughter’s improving eye contact, and this reminded me how things we can see as being so simple, like looking into a little pair of eyes and seeing the love there, can have such a positive impact for a child and their family.”