What is a Support Worker?
Our Support Workers at Deaf Connect work with the Deaf and hard of hearing communities to achieve their full potential and live the life they choose.
They support participants to:
- develop communication skills and strategies for participating in everyday life
- participate in social or community events
- be involved in activities like shopping, budgeting, and public transport
- develop the ability to travel independently on public transport
- develop independent living skills like cooking, cleaning, and personal maintenance
- learn new skills
What do our Support Workers do?
Our Support Workers:
- create a comfortable and safe environment for participants to achieve their goals
- are patient with participants
- work with participants to explore different options for what they’d like to do
- support participants in finding the information that they’d need to make important decisions
What goes into providing the right support?
Our Support Workers take pride in doing their job well by:
- ensuring that they have as much information prior to the appointment
- checking in with the participant to make sure they are happy with the support they are receiving
- being open to feedback, from the participant and from Deaf Connect
- keeping a clear record of appointments and important information
- ensuring they do all required training.
How do we match participants with the right Support Worker?
We do our best to match the participant with their preferred Support Worker.
Our friendly Support Workers have a variety of interests, skills and communication methods including Auslan, visual and deafblind communication.
We ask participants what attributes and skills they would like in a Support Worker. We listen to what the participant wants, and we assess who would be a good match. Our best practice is to identify at least two Support Workers to work with each participant. This is in the event the Support Worker is unwell or on leave, the other can support.
How are Support Workers different to interpreters?
An Interpreter’s role is to be a communication and cultural bridge between people who do not share the same language and culture. They have professional training and are NAATI-accredited. The interpreter is there for the benefit of both parties, not just the Deaf person.
Support Workers are not Auslan interpreters. Their role during appointments is to support the participant. This could be support to participate in everyday life activities, learn new skills or to develop independence.
Contact us
Email us and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Download information in flyer form here.
