The experience of Vela Microboards Australia is that the trial of the Microboard model in WA has been successful in enriching the lives of a small number of individuals in the Perth metropolitan and Albany areas.
“The influence of our son’s Microboard on our lives over the past two years has been extra-ordinary, to say the least. Firstly, our son has moved from being a weekly user of out of home respite and disability based services to being a young man with an extremely active social life. We find ourselves needing to book time with him as my partner and I often find ourselves missing him and looking forward to the next time we will be doing things together as a family. This was not how I was expecting to be feeling at this time of transition to adult life. Other parents of children with very high support needs have told me to expect exhaustion, depression and a desperate quest for funding. On the contrary we find ourselves persistently delighted with the joy and exuberance our son has for his life and his friends, and filled with energy and excitement for the future as it unfolds.”
The VMA organisational model has evolved, and is neither totally voluntary nor totally commercial in the sense of it being a fee-for-service transaction. It is a collaborative arrangement which is deeply grounded in ideals about citizenship, contribution, social justice, community & family leadership. The group’s concept and experience of VMA as a community is unique and vastly different to the more typical disability service agencies that exist in Western Australia. The opportunity offered to families to contribute funding to VMA, is seen as an integral part of respecting and supporting their right to choose the kind of model they want for their family member. It enables them to have more of a say in how their needs can best be responded to. In addition to their funding contribution, families are expected to contribute to other VMA families & the VMA community in a variety of ways.
What happens next
