Mentor Program
The Mentor program provides individual and/or group support to children and young people up to 25 years, who have a sensory impairment including people who are blind/vision impaired, Deaf/hearing impaired or those who are Deafblind.
The program offers the child/young person opportunities to build their skills and their capacity to increase their confidence, self-esteem and independence to increase socialisation and access to the community through having access to positive role models.
These role models also assist young people to develop positive relationships with peers, family members and the wider community to develop their capacity to cope with the challenges presented by their sensory impairment.
Support offered
Each program will be short term and have specific outcomes to be achieved. They can be offered within the family home or community, depending on the desired goal. The mentor will work with the child/young person and/or family in partnership to achieve specific and agreed goals. The outcome of each of the programs will be focussed on promoting self-esteem, self confidence and independence to enhance social participation and inclusion in the broader community and to support the transition into adulthood.
The mentor programs are developed in conjunction with the child/young person and/or family to achieve the following goals;
- Communication –To support the child/young person to become confident in communicating with their family, peers and the wider community to ensure that their needs are met
- Socialisation/Life Skills – To assist a person to develop friendships/networks and independence to promote social inclusion and participation.
- Transport Support – To assist a child/young person to gain the skills to become confident when travelling independently.
- Recreation/Leisure – To assist the child/young person to learn the necessary skills to become confident when participating within a group environment and the skills required to maintain networks beyond the support of the mentor.
- Employment Support - To support the young person with identifying what type of employment the young person may want to pursue and the most appropriate agencies where the young person could go to seek employment and options available.
- Transition to adulthood – To provide support, information and strategies regarding individuals issues during the transitional stages, particularly into adulthood and offer strategies to cope with these challenges.
- Teritary/Study/Training support - To support the child/young person to gain the skills and confidence to make informed decisions about the choices available when leaving school and the options that can be pursued.
- Support for Parents – To support the family to understand how the child/young person feels about his or her sensory loss and strategies/information to support the person.
Who are the mentors?
Mentors are adults (over 18 years) who can demonstrate a range of life skills to assist children; young people and their families acquire the knowledge and skills to assist their development and inclusion across life domains.
Further Information:
Please contact Mentor Coordinator
Phone (Voice): 8298 0953
TTY: 8298 0950
Mobile/SMS: 0408 820 147