NDIS Information

Goals

With this in mind, if your child receives NDIS support you may wish to consider including the following goals in your plan:

Goal 1

I would like to learn to recognise and manage anxiety (meltdown) triggers, so that I am able to better emotionally regulate at home and in the community.

Goal 2

I would like to develop my communication skills so that I can increase my participation in social and community activities, and create and maintain new and existing relationships.

Goal 3

I would like to challenge myself with new activities and develop positive self-esteem and confidence in my strengths, and acceptance of my difficulties and differences, to enable me to be more independent.

Goal 4

I would like to improve my social skills to increase my social and community participation and reduce my social isolation and vulnerability.

It is advisable to discuss the outcomes and benefits of attending a camp with members of your key support team (Paediatrician, Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Occupational Therapist, Speech Pathologist etc) and, if they are happy to do so, have them endorse the benefits in terms of capacity building from your attendance at a camp in their report for your NDIS planning meeting.

Short Term Outcomes

• Participants experience a ‘safe’ environment alongside other Autistic families and supported by specialised team members. They share stories and experiences with people who have lived experience of Autism or are living within an Autistic family.

• Participants feel a sense of relief from social isolation and form new valuable and reliable social connections with people from their Autistic community.

• Participants are able to ‘just be’ while at camp. The neuro-normative expectations of day-to-day mainstream life are put to one side, and they are encouraged to celebrate their Autistic identity and Autistic culture. Participants engage with positive role models and experience inclusion, acceptance and autonomy.

• Participants are engaged in therapies, education, skills development and peer-to-peer support as part of the program. They benefit from increased knowledge, understanding and training.

• Participants in the programs build capacity in confidence, self-reliance, independence and self-advocacy skills.

Medium Term Outcomes

• Participants form long and lasting friendships. They meet with, and talk with new friends, and reach out to other members in their Autistic community. They have increased social supports. They foster a strong sense of belonging and increase their social cohesion, connection and functioning within their ‘safe’ Autistic community.

• This new sense of inclusion, acceptance and autonomy is empowering for participants. Their new approach is transformative, reducing anxiety and building self-worth. Participants experience an improvement in their mental health.

• Autistic young people are able to participate more at school. Their new found confidence helps them navigate the often confusing idiosyncrasies of neurotypical behaviour and social situations become easier.

• Siblings have a greater ability to maintain informal support of the Autistic young person, to advocate for, and support them to participate and contribute to community and enjoy an enduring and mutually sustaining relationship.

• Parents experience an increase in confidence and this enables them to explore new opportunities like volunteering, work placements, training and apprenticeships, as well as practical assistance and supports.

Long Term Outcomes

• With their new Autistic family friends, participants feel supported to try new things. They have much higher engagement and participation rates in mainstream social and community activities. This results in a much stronger sense of connectedness in their broader community, and in turn, gives them the confidence and connections to access support networks, community services and other new opportunities of social, civic and economic participation.

• Participants experience a sustained increase in self-worth and wellbeing and improvements in mental and physical wellbeing. They regularly engage in self-care  and are better able to care for and support themselves and their family members.

• Participants experience a cumulative increase in confidence, community connection, skills, knowledge, training and independence improving readiness for economic participation, employment and education. Reduced levels of welfare dependency in the long-term.

Ultimately, all of these factors will impact on life expectancy, which best-case scenario, based on three international studies, is currently 53 years of age.

The Autistic Young People Program combines group therapy sessions with adventure and art/craft filled activities.  All activities are capacity building, encourage communication, teamwork, self-confidence, self-care, peer-to-peer relationship building, emotional regulation and most importantly, access to their Autistic community.

Individual activities and their direct benefits:

• Proprioceptive/Sensory Play - supporting cognitive development, improvement in fine and gross motor skills and processing, boosting creativity and self-discovery, social competence, improved social interaction skills;

• Movement/Rhythm Therapy – integrative dance – improvement in gross motor skills and processing, connection, social and community participation, communication (especially for non-verbal young people), improved social interaction skills;

• Social Skills Support & Learning – new friends - social and community participation, improved family relations, confidence, social competence, improved social interaction skills;

• Equine Assisted Learning – improvement in gross motor skills and processing, assertiveness, emotional awareness, empathy, stress tolerance, flexibility, impulse control, problem-solving skills. self-actualisation;

• Art Therapy – improvement in fine motor skills and processing, behavioural management, process feelings, emotional release, stress and anxiety relief, increased self-esteem, self-discovery;

• Rock Climbing Wall – improvement in fine and gross motor skills and processing, increased flexibility and muscle extension, encourages internal regulation, develops the vestibular system, problem solving, decision-making, ability to think sequentially, improved focus on cognitive tasks, cardiovascular exercise and general health and fitness;

• Kayaking – improvement in gross motor skills and processing, balance and mobility, problem-solving skills, independence, confidence gaining, cardiovascular exercise and general health and fitness;

• Colour Play/Nature Craft – improved cognition and fine motor skills and processing, social and community participation, confidence, develop interactive skills, stress and anxiety relief, increased self-esteem, self-discovery;

• Coastal Birds and Kite Making/Flying – reduced anxiety, improved cognition, fine and gross motor skills, social and community participation, confidence, develop interactive skills, increased self-esteem, self-discovery; and

• Group Interaction Out of Hours - social and community participation, improved family relations, daily living skills, choice and control, confidence, improved social communication and social interaction skills.

Activities at ACA programs are aligned with an individual’s capacity building  outcomes and their personal NDIS goals and aspirations. At ACA we will develop an Individual Capacity Building - Camp Plan for each participant and goals will be documented, actions monitored and success measured at the initial phone meeting and at the end of the camp. A comprehensive report is provided after attendance at camp.