Welcome Jessica Kramer, our new Research Associate! Jessica is Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Florida, and director of the Youth and Young Adult Empowerment, Leadership, and Learning (YELL) Lab. Dr. Kramer’s research draws upon theoretical concepts and methodologies from occupational therapy, disability studies, education and rehabilitation to: 1) Partner with youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in the development and evaluation of rehabilitation products; 2) Develop community-based interventions that equip youth with I/DD and their families with the skills to identify and resolve environmental barriers to participation; and 3) Design high quality patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) using contemporary measurement approaches. 

Welcome Dana Anaby, our new Research Associate! Dana is an Associate Professor at the school of physical and occupational therapy at McGill University. Dana’s research encompasses the areas of participation and well-being among children, youth and young adults with physical disabilities, with a special focus on leisure participation and the impact of the environment. Her studies, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), involve developing and testing intervention plans to improve community engagement such as the PREP (Pathways and Resources for Engagement and Participation), as well as enhancing measurement tools to assess Participation and Environment for transition-aged youth (such as the Youth and Young adult Participation and Environment Measure, Y-PEM). 

Jessica and Dana will be restarting our CP-Achieve Webinar Series on September 1st at 9am. RSVP for free, with the button below:

Written by: Lily Collison and Kara Buckley
Published by: Gillette Children's Healthcare Press

All proceeds from the book go to physical disability research.

Available: Amazon Australia (and all Amazon marketplaces), and to order through bookstores. 

"He had a lot of trouble, until he was five, at actually communicating and talking."

After trying out mainstream clubs without much success, Mr Larkins took his then 11-year-old son to the Festival of Football for Paralympian footballers at Perry Park in Brisbane. 

"No-one else his age turned up, he was thrown an old basketball jersey and told he was on the team," Mr Larkins said.

"That was the first time he represented Queensland."

The 2022 Victorian Youth Congress will play a key role in implementing the new Victorian youth strategy, due to be released later this year. The Victorian Youth Congress is the Minister for Youth’s advisory body and gives young Victorians the chance to learn more about government, positively influence change, develop professional skills and build networks with other young people interested in making change.

Applications are open now until Monday 13 September. Further information and details on how to apply are available on Youth Central: https://tinyurl.com/y9wp29x7

Members are expected to attend a 3-hour meeting each month (alternating online and in-person in Melbourne CBD, (COVID-19 restrictions permitting), and undertake 5-9 hours of project work each month. Members are remunerated for their time.

You can also register for an online information session to be held at 12-1pm on Tuesday 17 August. An information session for young people interested in applying will be held at 5-6pm on Monday 23 August.

If you’d like to discuss the opportunity or learn more, please email Emily De Rango, Policy Officer, Office for Youth: emily.derango@dffh.vic.gov.au.

Her Project, "Increasing physical activity among young adults with disability" will address environmental barriers to physical activity participation for young people with disability in community gyms. 

Our team is seeking the views of parents of children with disability and the views of adolescents /young adults with child-onset disability to help us develop the agenda.

We are inviting you to participate in an interview or to be part of a small (6-8 person) focus group which aims to understand your thoughts and priorities in relation to disability research in Australia. We would like to hear from as many people as possible from a broad range of backgrounds so that we have a clear understanding of the areas that people think are important for research. 

To find out more about the project or to find out about other consultation activities please email the RCH Project Coordinator: georgie.rose@mcri.edu.au or view the National Disability Research Agenda website here.

Opportunity 1: Evaluation of involvement of people with cerebral palsy in CP-Achieve research

Part-time scholarship (domestic students only) to evaluate the processes, authenticity and impact of involving adolescents and young adults with cerebral palsy and their families as research partners and team members in the research activities of CP-Achieve. These stakeholders are involved in advisory groups, as researchers and on working groups to inform the methods, implementation and outcomes of research with the aim of enhancing the rigour and translation of research.

Opportunity 2: Building supportive environments for adolescents and young adults with cerebral palsy

This research aims to enhance the transition from adolescence to young adulthood through the development and testing of educational lifestyle modules that may assist young people with cerebral palsy maximise their participation in life activities. We anticipate recruiting a high-quality allied health, nursing, psychology or medical professional into this PhD position. Lived experience or professional experience of disability is desirable.