Tribute for Disability Support Work

Christine Wilson should win some sort of new prize, which is awarded for work in Aboriginal services that is considered exceptional.

One of her work duties involves identifying hearing impairment or disability in Aboriginal children or adults and putting support systems in place to assist them and their families.

Wilson has done this through Disability SA, a division of the Department for Families and Communities, Government of South Australia.

Christine Wilson commenced DEN with Interwork with a Hearing Loss as her primary disability, with other barriers due to clients’ disability i.e., inability to perform basic computer skills.

Her support worker is 25 years old, from Interwork Pty Ltd, Hindmarsh office. He's devoted over two years of his young adult life to boosting the skills and confidence of the disabled.

"My first Disability Support Worker was one of the many people to support me with a hearing problem and he has helped me to do some amazing things that I never dreamed of doing before he came," Christine said.

Christine has needed hearing aids for her whole life. Despite the really tough, and at times, sad moments she experienced growing up with this disability, she has proven to the rest of the world that she can grow up to become a successful career woman and that she can do anything she puts her mind to.

Christine Wilson also makes the time to occasionally travel throughout SA to visit her clients, including Aboriginal communities in isolated rural areas all around Australia.

Christine's Support Worker also has several other clients throughout metropolitan Adelaide, in his important role as a Support Worker for Interwork.

Interwork Pty Ltd. has supported and helped many people look for, find, and stay in their jobs in the past 20 years.

Mr. V was instrumental in demonstrating that through the aid of advanced technologies like hearing aids and computers, even the hearing impaired can learn, perform, and execute required computer skills asked of them by their employers, and then later develop into productive workers and contributors to society.

Christine said if children's hearing problems were identified, managed, and educated properly early with the help of good teachers, they would be less likely to have developmental delays later on in their life.

And the Pooraka resident has finally been recognised by his Team Leader and was asked to be included in this month's Interwork Good News Stories.

Mr. V, only 25, recently published his first Good News Story. His article is about his commitment to Christine, who has severe hearing problems and work challenges, yet has proven herself as a permanent employee of Disability SA's Regency Park office.

"I'm just a bit overwhelmed by this," he said. "I feel quite honoured to be asked to write a story for this."

Also a casual tutor, Mr. Varona "got his spark" in the middle of 2009, while at university.

Following his undergraduate graduation from psychology, he has devoted the past two and a half years to teaching computer skills to Christine, as well as supporting several other clients of Interwork Hindmarsh office, and auditing its office files, as a full-time Disability Support Worker.

"I feel very strongly that the disability sector is understaffed and they are having a really hard time looking for great support workers," he said. Christine also said that, “If I was asked to pick one career for him, Din would make a wonderful Teacher-of-the-Deaf. I am very happy to have Din from Interwork, who understands what I am all about, and who is willing to be patient with me when teaching me new things. It would be hard, and I would be sad to let someone like him go.”

Mr. Varona said if basic computer skills were taught, practised regularly by Christine, and corrected, she would be less likely to have delays in completing her work, and may even outperform her own co-workers later on. Despite his own daily career demands, Mr. V has continued to passionately support his several clients from Interwork, as well as undertaken further Postgraduate study at Flinders University, and plans to continually use his combined transferable skills to help more people that will need him, wherever he goes, whether it be locally, or interstate, nationally or who knows, one day, maybe overseas.