Linking people and communities
with opportunities
28 Jul 2016
A history of domestic violence had left Flo with back injuries and depression. She had anxiety about an upcoming court appearance, and felt isolated, with some communication barriers contributing to her feelings of isolation.
Flo said she would like to make friends with people from her country of origin, being the Philippines. Flo reported being unable to drive long distances and identified that as a barrier to her achieving those desired social connections, given that the only relevant multicultural group that she was aware of was a relatively long drive away, in Newcastle. Read more about conversations...
17 Jul 2016
Ability Links NSW now has a video showcasing what Linkers do, and just a few of the awesome outcomes they achieve for people they support in local communities!
12 Jul 2016
Warren is a 16 year old boy living with autism who loves to play chess and wanted to share his skills with others who were interested in learning the game.
Sydney Linker Michael Bones introduced Warren and his family to the Bowen Library at Maroubra. Staff there were keen to start a chess club and needed enthusiastic tutors.
Warren fitted the bill perfectly as he loves teaching people and has very few opportunities to do this at high school.
Warren’s father John says he loves that everyone who comes to the chess club wants to be there.
“The people Warren helps are very cooperative and thankful for his input and support and he’s just so happy in his afternoon role,” John says.
Congratulations to Warren and the Bowen Library!
23 May 2016
When 14-year-old Bowden first heard about a Jam Session being held in his town, he jumped at the opportunity to get involved.
Having struggled at school and socially all his life due to his Autism, music was the one thing that allowed Bowden to be free.
The event, which was thought up by local Linker Natasha Bearman, was part of annual Youth Week celebrations and aimed to bring local youth together to play music alongside local music scene icons. Read more.
23 May 2016
We never want to give up the things we love, but for Kathy Fuller repeated eye infections from dust, wind and smoke gave her little choice.
Prior to the eye infections, Kathy who is vision and hearing impaired, was a keen gardener and volunteer for Riding for the Disabled, however, the pain from the infection was too excruciating and took a toll on her confidence, until it got to the stage that she decided to give it all up. Read more.
5 May 2016
Reliving childhood trauma is rarely easy.
So when Michael, who suffered institutional trauma as a child and left school as soon as he was able, decided to return to the classroom after talking to a local Linker, he was naturally apprehensive.
On meeting with the local Linker, Michael identified that he wanted to learn more about IT in the hope it would help him to find employment. Read more.
3 May 2016
Linkers are renowned for asking “why not” rather than telling people “you can’t” and for Chris, this was very much his experience when he made contact with a local Linker.
Some years ago, Chris suffered a large stroke. The stroke left him unable to have full use of one of his legs, an arm and also caused him to have difficulty with speech.
Chris’s stroke also robbed him of one of his passions - or so he thought. Read more.
12 Apr 2016
Life has not always been very simple for Lyle.
Although only in his early 20s, Lyle has been forced to deal with issues many people wouldn’t have to face in their entire lifetimes.
Growing up, Lyle had to deal with issues around homelessness, domestic violence, and family trauma.
Furthermore, due to neglect as a child Lyle’s education was very limited which didn’t allow him to make strong friendships and made him very isolated after leaving school. Read more.
10 Apr 2016
We all need to have a space where we can take time out in from time to time, but it is especially important for children with special needs, such as Autism.
So when teachers at Harrington Public School found there were no ‘exit strategies’ in place for teachers to assist children who needed to take themselves out of sometimes noisy, overwhelming moments in classrooms, they decided to act. Read more.
19 Mar 2016
Have you ever had an idea but not known what to do with it or who to approach?
When Dean, a manager at the local Woolworths developed an idea to include people with a disability in his Woolworths store, he wasn’t sure where to go.
So when Dean found out his former employee had become a Linker for Ability Links, he took the opportunity to pitch his idea. Excited by the opportunity the Linker looked for a group of people that may be interested. Read more.