Research: Rebecca Armstrong
Presenter: Val Ockenden
Produced by Louise Ratcliffe and FreeFM89.0

Guests

Carolyn Jury
Support and Information Co-ordinator

I have been involved with Parent to Parent for 10 years, first as a requester looking for support and information, then as a volunteer support parent and now as the Support and Information Coordinator at National Office in Hamilton. I have previously worked as a medical professional, but in recent years I retrained as a counsellor, graduating in 2015 with a Bachelor of Applied Social Science from Wintec in Hamilton.

Ruth Taylor
Executive Co-ordinator

Ruth has been connected with Parent to Parent since 2008 as a programme coordinator and trainer. She is currently responsible for coordinating a range of workshops, seminars and support events, including the unique SibSupportNZ programme.

Jo Eastwood
Executive Manager

Jo is passionate about providing the right tools to help people with disabilities and health
impairments live the lives they choose. With a Diploma in Comprehensive Nursing (1989) and working as a Registered Nurse in Australia and New Zealand, Jo met her desire to help people.

Programme Synopsis

• Connecting parents - Parent to Parent operates a parent support network for families raising a child with a disability in New Zealand. We have a network of more than 600 speciallytrained volunteer support parents. We connect families with support parents who have a family member with the same/similar disability or issue. The role of the support parent is to be the ‘listening ear’ who can empathise and understand the challenges and joys of raising a child who is different.
• Sibling Support –The longest relationship a person with a disability has is with their brother and/or sister. Living with a brother or sister who has a disability can be a blessing and a challenge. The SibSupportNZ programme offers young people support to thrive in their own unique family environment through SibCamps, SibShops and SibDays. Our SibSupport programmes are run by facilitators who are assisted by leaders who have also grown up with a sibling with a disability, again sharing that ‘lived experience’ level of understanding.
• Information Service - Our dedicated research team provides free, researched, evidencebased information to families, and those involved in a family’s care, on nearly 4,000 conditions each year, from the very rare to the more common. The information is designed to be easy to understand, written in plain English (also available in different languages) and is tailor-made for your child’s individual condition or issue.
  There is no limit to the number of requests a parent can make for medical conditions
  themselves and related-issues, from diagnosis to adulthood. Parent to Parent can provide information for early childcare learning centres, schools, workplaces and any organisation that works with, and for, people with disabilities and health impairments.

Music

“Retail Blues” by The Mutes (from Mars)

Links

• themutes.bandcamp.com
• facebook.com/themutesfrommars
• enablinggoodlives.co.nz
• Safesquares
• Parent to Parent New Zealand Inc
• Altogether Autism
• Care Matters or 0508 236 236 freephone service for carers
• Mana Whaikaha – MidCentral only