Strong Voices

IHC Chair Tony Shaw says this year the organisation will focus on providing a clearer role for IHC Associations and the Member Council and improving communication with all members.

In December, Tony told members that an independent review of the IHC Member Council and IHC Associations had suggested some changes in approach.

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For years IHC has been telling the Government that disabled students are not getting the education they are entitled to.

Now, just when IHC’s 14-year-old education complaint is getting close to a hearing in the Human Rights Review Tribunal, there has been a change of heart.

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If you have visited the IHC website recently, you will have noticed some changes.

While you were enjoying a summer holiday, we were quietly launching a new website designed to make it easier for families, whānau and everyone else to find what they are looking for.

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IHC is expanding its Family-Whānau Liaison team in Northland and Auckland to make sure more families caring for people with intellectual disabilities can get the help they are missing out on.

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Out of challenges can come great opportunities and that is certainly the case with IHC Media.

IHC Media is an online platform launched in 2022 with content created for and by people with intellectual disabilities.

Warren Erickson is a beef and sheep farmer from Gore who hasn’t done a lot of bike riding since he left school. That’s about to change.

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Young game testers have put their stamps on a new simulation game designed to make it easier for young disabled people to manage money. One thing has led to another – and resulted in some paid work for these young testers.

Not everyone could handle it, knowing that people were depending on you to raise $14 million in a year. But IHC’s National Manager of Fundraising Greg Millar likes having a target. “It’s always somewhat challenging,” he says.

The last time we had comprehensive information on the health of New Zealanders with intellectual disabilities was a Ministry of Health report in 2011. That is about to change. After hearing there was no plan to update the Health Indicators for New Zealanders with Intellectual Disability report, IHC has commissioned a research team to do the job.

Rochelle Waters and Joel Forman are part of Move, a programme run by Christchurch-based dance company Jolt.