Move over Kandinsky

Alex has been making a new bunch of paintings for his next markets:






The 'collaborartists' will be busy this week making new cards from Alex's stamped art work.

Post Script:
Alex had a successful stall at the monthly Lions Club Markets in Kings Parade, where he sold another 5 art works and quite a few of his cards.

St Patricks Day

Alex has been enjoying some Irish music in town so it was a given that he'd be out & about on St Patrick's Day. First we listened to the music at Shanahan's over dinner, then moved on to Jack Duggan's and joined the crowd that spilled out onto the footpath.

Another night, another pub. Dinner at the Knickerbocker sees him furthering his quest to visit every pub in town.

Sofala Show

Alex had a happy and successful day at his first art stall. 

          

He sold 5 paintings (that's 4 more than Van Gogh during his lifetime!!) as well as cards, wooden candle holders and key rings and attracted a steady flow of interested customers to his stall.

We were interviewed about the stall and even filmed while there, so it was an interesting day out.

        

Alex at work

Here's Alex's "CollaborArt" workshop, where he's been hard at work preparing for his Sofala Show stall.

He's enjoyed the woodwork machines while helping to make these garden tealight candle holders for the stall.

Spray Paintings

Alex has recently begun making some more art works in addition to his cards. He does these with a spray bottle and enjoys doing them. He will be displaying his cards, his spray paintings and, we hope, a few other creations at the Sofala Show on March 1st.

Here are a few more of Alex's cards:

Pub Music

Alex has been enjoying becoming a 'regular' at a number of local pubs. The acoustic music at the Irish pub has become a favourite and we had trouble getting him to go home after his last visit there. Alex wasn't shy about going up to the singers, stealing one's guitar for a moment, making requests or singing along.

Alex set for new opportunities in '09

As many who know Alex will know by now, he will be receiving Community Participation funding next year and has successfully registered with an agency which will oversee the self-managed model (see 'Alex's LifeBiz' post below).

People who will receive support through the Community Participation Program qualify for a particular funding level, whichever kind of service they'll seek. Then they choose a provider and register.

The way this 'self-managed' model will work for Alex is that an agency will support us (his family) to map out a 'plan' of what Alex would like to do, what will offer him the best opportunities and what will help him meet people and develop his skills. Whatever we think will benefit Alex can go into that plan. Then we can advertise for a team of support people for him to help him pursue those things. We can interview and select people suitable to work with Alex but they are directly employed by the agency, with all the usual award protections and conditions. The support team positions are permanent part-time ones.

In practice, this means that if we want to try to find a young support worker to take Alex to dinner with friends at a pub or listen to music on a Saturday night, we can do that. If we want someone with some artistic background to help him with his art cards, we can look for such a person. Some people might work in pairs to support him with swimming etc and some may work substantial hours. Others may only work an hour a week. That's the kind of flexibility we can offer, because everything is tailored to what Alex wants to do.

Graduation

Alex attended his school's Graduation Celebration last night. It was lovely to hear the applause when he was presented 'on the red carpet'. As their gift to their Year Adviser, Year 12 donated money to Tear Australia to fund assistance to people with disability in Afghanistan, Laos, Nepal or Thailand.

Pub Trivia

Alex has discovered the enjoyment of regular attendance at pub trivia nights. He loves catching up with friends and enjoying
the social occasion.

Final week of school

Alex's time at school is coming to an end. It's a long time ago that this little cutie first started out in kindergarten:










School has been a pretty happy experience for Alex.
There have been surprisingly few obstacles to overcome in making sure he was able to enjoy a pretty typical experience. Having been in ordinary classes since beginning school has given Alex a very rich experience of school that would not have been possible for him in the usual educational settings created specifically for people with disabilities. He's got to know a huge range of kids in his different classes. He's learned so much language and so many concepts from working in groups and pairs with other kids. He's been to excursions, to birthday parties, concerts, you name it.

Now we come to the last week of Year 12 school classes.

These photos are from the Year 12 & Staff dinner and the end of year concert:


Next term Alex will receive some ongoing support from school to start his post-school life in the community.