This blog post was written by Sharon F. Sharon is a disability care trainer from Inspire Education and has many years of experience training people in disability care and working at disability care facilities. Having worked for over two decades in the disability, aged and mental health industries, she is driven by her passion to support people in achieving their goals. She enjoys art, nature, reading, water, theatre, singing and dancing, and has went ‘where the wind takes her’, which brought her to Brisbane.  

A day in the life of a disability support worker is varied and are lots of fun.  No two days are the same because we are working with people whose needs, interests and moods of people change regularly. For this reason you need to be adaptable and flexible in your approach to work.

Disability Care Means Life Enhancement for People and their Families

As a disability support worker, you can work in many areas of the sector, and with a broad range of ages and people with varied abilities, including:

• Early intervention – working with babies and toddlers up to age 6

• Respite – providing support to people with a disability so that their families and carers can take a break from the caring role

• Community access – assisting people with a disability to have access to the community, education, vocation and employment

• Day programs – working in all sorts of leisure, recreation and skill building activities to enhance the quality of life for people with a disability

• Residential care – working in a group home within the community to provide day to day care and support, so that people with a disability can live their lives as independently as possible

The career of a disability support worker is very rewarding, as you will be involved in supporting a range of people gain a better quality of life and to live their lives in a way that meets their own needs and goals.

Disability is a Word and not a Sentence For People Living With Them

Some of the fun times that I have had as a disability support worker include:

• Happy Colours, Happy Day

One day as I was working in a day programs environment which involved an arts program, I was assigned as the leader of a group of 6 people with disabilities. I was to support them in creating a variety of artworks that were to be included in an art show at a local gallery.

This program was lots of fun and we all got our creative juices flowing, sharing our visions and exercising our creative expression. A lady in the group, who had an intellectual disability, came to me and said “I like that t-shirt you are wearing”.

I replied “Thank you, these are some of my favourite colours… pinks and oranges, they are happy colours”.  She replied “They are happy colours… thank you for wearing that t-shirt today”.  I smiled, feeling very pleased that I had made someone happy by simply wearing happy colours. I thanked her for being so polite and we continued on with our work for the day.

• Words As Sweet As Honey

On another occasion, I was caring for a 4-year-old girl with cerebral palsy. She was so cute, and I had her in my home when my partner turned up to join us for lunch. I welcomed him home by saying “Hi honey”.

Later as we all sat at the table to eat our lunch, my partner yawned and this lovely little girl said “aww honey tired”.  I thought this was very funny and very clever as she had clearly remembered that I had referred to my partner as “honey”, and she must have thought that this was his name – what a clever little girl.

I’ve had many outings in the community with people who have disabilities: Picnics, swimming, going to the movies, taking people shopping, going to the gym, gardening, cooking, bowling and other sports, traveling with a person who has a disability to support them in having a holiday and so much more – and all while being paid!

I love working in the disability industry and would recommend this career path without hesitation.

Will your days sometimes be challenging?  Of course, just like any other job…. BUT will you have fun? You sure will.

Working as a disability support worker is all about getting to know the individuals that you work with and supporting them with their individual needs, interests and goals – I can’t think of anything more fun and rewarding than that….can you?

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Adrian

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